Looking back: the week in climate and nuclear news in Australia
Media delight. The Australian media had a beaut time with William and Kate, and little Prince George (yes he WAS cute with the Bilby). And after that they had an even beauter time with the ANZAC festivities, (yes, I AM sad for all those young lives destroyed).
Late on Anzac eve, hidden between all this fun, Australia’s Minister Against the Environment, Greg Hunt, put out the trash – revealed the government’s policy white paper on climate change, with Direct Action, and the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). Clive Palmer and other right-wingers oppose it. As Paula Matthewson, corporate adviser said , if the legislation looks like not passing, Tony Abbott will be thinking – “Please don’t throw me in the briar patch” (e.g No action whatsoever on climate change)
Also ignored midst the fun, the panel to Review the Renewable Energy Target was announced. As I reel from the discovery that Abbott’s top adviser, Maurice Newman is both a Climate Denialist, and a believer in Intelligent Design (Creation Science) I was pretty much numbed by learning of who’s been appointed to this panel – ACIL Allen, Brian Fisher, Shirley In’t Veld all straight from fossil fuel lobbying. The panel is headed by Dick Warburton, climate sceptic and nuclear advocate. That rampant left wing radical, Bernie Fraser, former governor of the Reserve Bank is very disappointed in the government’s attack on renewable energy.
Nuclear power. Don’t let’s forget, beneath the hype about Royals and ANZAC Day, and even the pre-Budget discussions, the pro nuclear lobbying goes on. A pity when Westinghouse, which wanted to export 81,000 Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, pulled right out of this plan. But that doesn’t deter Australian enthusiasts, including our new Governor General Peter Cosgrovel.
Uranium mining. Toro Energy ‘s quarterly report shows the continued fall in uranium prices. Tio Tinto might be bailing out the cash-trapped ERA with its closed Ranger mine, but as yet I do not have a definite source to confirm this deal. (USA mines are stockpiling uranium due to the abysmal prices. )
Climate Change. Aboriginal ‘climate ambassadors’ are assessing impacts of climate change on the natural environment and traditional communities. They are coming up with important findings about plants and animals in local areas across Australia
Uranium industry not economic for Mt Isa, and fraught with environmental problems for Queensland
Uranium debate heats up in Mount Isa Queensland labour senator Jan McLucas says the state’s uranium deposits are too small to warrant developing the industry. ABC Rural By Virginia Tapp, 1 May 14
“These mines at Valhalla and Westmoreland are not huge deposits, they will not employ large numbers of people like Mount Isa, Cloncurry and Century have done.
“These are small mines and I don’t think they are the answer to the question of employment in the Mount Isa region.”…….Senator McLucas also claims there is not enough information about managing uranium mines in areas that experience intermittent periods of very high rain fall and flooding.
She says parts of the abandoned Mary Kathleen uranium mine, situation between Mount Isa and Cloncurry, are still radioactive.
“The residents of Mount Isa are still living with the results of that mine and the inadequate capping of the spoil and the contamination of the land that even graziers today won’t go near.”…….
[Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines and the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection joint statement] ……”We are still assessing the condition of the Mary Kathleen site and looking at whether it could be mined again in the future.
“Contamination issues at the site may not have been properly addressed in the past.”…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-01/uranium-debate-queensland/5423232
Tomioka- one of Fukushima Prefecture’s ghost towns, as radiation persists
AP: “This town is dead”… Locals feel Fukushima plant could explode any minute; Yearly ‘safe’ radiation levels exceeded “in a matter of a few hours” — TV: “Fukushima evacuees complain of health problems”; Nearly 70% of households affected http://enenews.com/ap-this-town-is-dead-we-feel-fukushima-plant-could-explode-any-minute-says-evacuee-yearly-safe-radiation-levels-exceeded-in-a-matter-of-a-few-hours-tv-evacuees-complain-of-health?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
NHK WORLD,, Apr. 30, 2014: Fukushima evacuees complain of health problems […] nearly 70 percent of households that evacuated after the March 2011 disaster have members who complain of health problems. The prefecture polled more than 62,800 evacuee households. About one-third responded. [68%] said one or more of their members complain of health problems such as lack of sleep or depression.
AP,, Apr. 30, 2014: […] It’s difficult to imagine ever living again in Tomioka, a ghost town about 10 kilometres from the former Fukushima Dai-chi nuclear plant. […] The streets were abandoned […] The neighbourhood was eerily quiet except for the chirping of the nightingales. […] The long-term goal is to bring annual exposure down to one millisievert […] considered the safe level before the disaster, but the government is lifting evacuation orders at higher levels. It says it will monitor the health and exposure of people who move back to such areas.
In the yellow restricted zone […] a visitor exceeds one millisievert in a matter of a few hours. […] “The prime minister says the accident is under control, but we feel the thing could explode the next minute,” said Michiko Onuki, who ran a ceramic and craft shop out of their Tomioka home. “We would have to live in fear of radiation. This town is dead.” […] “I can survive anywhere, although I had a plan for my life that was destroyed from its very roots,” said [Tomioka city assemblyman Seijun] Ando, tears welling up in his eyes. […]
Australians waking up to the opportunity to control electricity bills through solar energy
Solar PV’s potential just starting to dawn, SunPower chief says http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/solar-pvs-potential-just-starting-to-dawn-sunpower-chief-says-20140501-zr2my.html May 1, 2014 Peter Hannam Environment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald Solar photovoltaic systems will continue to spread across Australian rooftops because of rising electricity costs, “great irradiation” and cheaper finance, the head of the second largest PV producer in the US has said.
SunPower Corporation has picked Australia as one of two sites globally for a pilot storage program combining solar PV and batteries that the company hopes will one day make it economic to leave the power grid.
“The tariff structure in Australia will provide a strong foundation to homeowners with the incentive to consider distributed generation and storage,” SunPower chief executive Tom Werner said.
“Consumers will go from being essentially passive to having total control of your energy bill within five to 10 years,” he said.
The Abbott government is conducting another review of the Renewable Energy Target. The goal now calls for electricity supply from clean energy sources to reach 41,000 gigawatt-hours by 2020, although many commentators expect the review to recommend a reduction or delay of the target in part because of slumping demand.
Any dilution would be “a step in the wrong direction,” Mr Werner said. “In most countries, we see them pulling in their targets and increasing them.”
SunPower has installed about 7.5 gigawatts of solar PV – or more than double Australia’s total – and boasts of industry-leading efficiency levels above 20 per cent.
The company has also attracted some big partners, including US billionaire Warren Buffett and French energy group Total. Last month, Google and SunPower invested $US250 million ($269 million) to lease solar PV systems to US residents at a cost typically less than their regular power bill. Mr Werner said the Google tie-up would bring PV to 18,000 households and was “very scalable”. While the company is yet to discuss extending the program to Australia, the potential exists.
“We find all over the world people pay their energy bills. It’s pretty intuitive that it should work well here,” Mr Werner said.
He predicted that financing would play an increasing role in spurring the take-up of PV as governments rolled back incentives, such as feed-in tariffs, and the precipitous drop in panel prices in the past few years levelled off.
In California, SunPower’s home state, the ratio of cash to finance has gone from a 70-30 split to the reverse in just three years.
“I’d be willing to say that it’s likely we’ll see something similar here,” Mr Werner said, adding that SunPower’s partnership with Community First Credit Union offered loans for solar PV at a 7.1 per cent annual rate.
The company also has a stake in a Victorian electricity retailer, owning 42 per cent of Diamond Energy. SunPower would use such a foothold to refocus more on storage and energy management for customers should the Abbott government cut support for the industry, Mr Werner said. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/solar-pvs-potential-just-starting-to-dawn-sunpower-chief-says-20140501-zr2my.html#ixzz30bFchsP8
Even pro nuclear Dale Klein and Barbara Judge think that Fukushima’s ice wall will not work
Nuclear expert doubts ice wall will solve Fukushima plant leaks http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/02/national/nuclear-expert-doubts-ice-wall-will-solve-fukushima-plant-leaks/#.U2QRuIFdWik
KYODO An international nuclear expert expressed skepticism Thursday over Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s plan to set up an ice wall to ultimately stop radioactive water from further increasing at the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex.
“I’m not convinced that the freeze wall is the best option,” former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein, who heads a supervisory panel tasked with overseeing the plant operator’s nuclear safety efforts, said in an interview with Kyodo News.
“What I’m concerned about is unintended consequences,” Klein said.
“Where does that water go and what are the consequences of that? I think they need more testing and more analysis,” he said.
Former British Atomic Energy Authority Chairwoman Barbara Judge, who was also present at the interview in Tokyo and is part of the panel, said there is a need to assess during summer whether the ice wall method would be effective. The remarks by the two overseas experts came at a time when concerns over the plan are being raised by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority and engineering experts. Their opinions may cast a shadow on Tepco’s plan to begin operating the ice wall by the end of next March.
“No one has built a freeze wall this long for this period of time. Typically, you build a freeze wall for a few months,” Klein said.
Faced with a string of problems including radioactive water leaks at the Fukushima plant, Tepco is attempting to freeze 1.5 kilometers of soil around the basement areas of the Nos. 1 to 4 reactor buildings.
The ice wall is envisioned to block groundwater from seeping into the reactor buildings’ basement areas and mixing with highly toxic water used to cool the plant’s three crippled reactors.
“I am much in favor of the bypass system,” Klein said, referring to the groundwater bypass system in which Tepco pumps groundwater at the Fukushima plant to direct it into the sea to reduce the amount of water seeping into the reactor buildings.
“The freeze wall is expensive,” he said, urging Tepco and the government to look at the cost of building one and whether the plan is making the “best use of limited resources.” “I would encourage them to get international advice a little bit more,” Klein said about Tepco, in terms of its decontamination work and future plans to scrap the plant.
Klein also urged the company to work with and share information with relevant authorities in the United States and Britain given that those nations are experienced in water management and decontamination efforts at former military or weapons-related sites.
A new model of small scale solar power production to be piloted in Australia
Australia to pilot new power plan GREGG BORSCHMANN, ABC Environment1 MAY 2014 Householders have the potential to disconnect from the grid under a new system proposed by Sunpower
One of the largest solar companies in the world has chosen Australia as the proving ground for a new model of power production that promises to give householders more control – and cut bills. ‘WHAT DO YOU DO when the sun doesn’t shine?’
It’s been one of the criticisms levelled at the solar panels that are now so common on residential and commercial roofs across Australia.
Australia has the world’s greatest penetration of solar photovoltaic panels (PV). By the end of 2013, more than 3,000 megawatts of small-scale solar was installed across 1.1 million households, with the average system now 3.9 kilowatts in size.
Now Sunpower Corporation – which builds solar panels but also large-scale solar plants – has flagged that it will be using Australia as a global testing ground for a new model for providing electricity.
An announcement on a pilot project in Victoria, focused on the economics of storing domestically produced solar power, is expected in the next two months.
For years, it’s been keenly understood that the next big thing – the Holy Grail if you like for solar – would be the ability to store energy generated from solar panels for later use at a reasonable cost. At the moment, domestic solar PV generators can be supplying power into the grid but only getting paid 8 cents kw/hour during daylight hours, and then be charged as much as 30 cents kw/hour if they use electricity in the early evening peak. Solar storage gets around this problem.
For consumers it could mean being able to manipulate power use – and cut bills by avoiding expensive peak electricity times.
While Sunpower operates in 10 countries across the globe, president Tom Werner has told the ABC that his company has chosen Australia as the country to prove up the economics of power generation from many small-scale sources.
“Australia has a great solar resource,” says Werner. “We see penetration rates in Australia that are higher than other parts of the world, it has frankly expensive power and therefore solar can compete, [and] it has largely de-regulated the electricity markets, so it opens the market up to innovative structures”.
Perhaps the most important of those ‘innovative structures’ is what’s called distributed power generation. “What’s cool is that the consumer will be their own generator and then they’ll use things like storage and energy management to control load. When you combine the control of load – or when you use electricity and how much you use – with generation and being able to use storage … the combination of those two become really, really powerful…
“We see Australia as a market where we can do that early on, learn from that and do that in other parts of the world”.
It seems at first blush impossible to believe. Solar PV installations have slowed since the winding back of generous tariffs for homeowners supplying power to the grid. And then there’s all the uncertainty associated with yet another government review of the 2020 Renewable Energy Target (RET).
But Werner believes Sunpower’s model could be a game changer.
“Think of transitions like wired phones to cell phones to smart phones – it’s going to take a while, but in the next 10 years the way we get electricity will be considerably different.
“To say that the landscape will look a lot different in the next five to ten years is virtually certain, I think the disruptive nature of cost effective renewable has already happened, and it’s very hard to put that genie back in the bottle, so to speak”.
He also believes that distributed solar energy generation can provide cheaper power for consumers.
“We can build distributed generation and have economic energy and that’s what consumers want, they want renewable energy, and they want it to be economic… so the more solar there is, the more economic energy is going to be in Australia. If you combine that with economic storage and energy management and then you add creative financing schemes like we have in the US, you could have an offering where the consumer has way, way more control over their energy bill than they do today”.
Disconnecting
Some retailers are already offering finance packages and loans for home solar systems. Chris O’Brien, General Manager, Sunpower Corporation Australia, says consumers can install solar PV systems with no upfront cost. The loan repayments are covered with the savings on their energy bill, and they can be ahead from year one.
If careful energy use and cheap, sustainable storage is added to this offering, it has major implications for the future of the grid – the network of poles and wires in Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2014/05/01/3995957.htm
The world’s five Nuclear Weapon Free Zone treaties (NWFZs)
Nuclear weapon free zones and banning nuclear weapons http://www.article36.org/nuclear-weapons/nuclear-weapon-free-zones-and-banning-nuclear-weapons/ May 1, 2014
This publication, issued by Article 36 at the 2014 Preparatory Committee of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, sets out a summary of the prohibitions and other obligations contained in the five Nuclear Weapon Free Zone treaties. It discusses the relationship between these treaties and a proposed new international treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons.
There are five Nuclear Weapon Free Zone treaties (NWFZs) covering the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean (the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco), the South Pacific (the 1985 Treaty of Rarotonga), South East Asia (the 1995 Treaty of Bangkok), Africa (the 1996 Treaty of Pelindaba) and Central Asia (the 2006 Treaty of Semipalatinsk). These zones combined comprise 115 states, accounting for 60% of all UN Member States, and cover the entire southern hemisphere. The NWFZ treaties are all structured and drafted slightly differently but they share many key characteristics. They all prohibit nuclear weapons in their respective regions. Globally, they provide important contributions towards the rejection and stigmatization of nuclear weapons and a strong basis for developing an international prohibition on nuclear weapons. Through their preambles these treaties envision a global prohibition on nuclear weapons, alongside all weapons of mass destruction, that provides a framework for their elimination.
This paper argues that NWFZ agreements are important building blocks that should be expanded upon through an international ban treaty. Just as groups of states within these regions worked together to develop regional agreements to prohibit nuclear weapons, so a group of likeminded states can work at the global level to achieve an international ban treaty.
Renewable Energy Target 2013 Administrative Report from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator
The report provides information about how the Renewable Energy Target is performing against its legislated objectives and details information about who and what is producing renewable energy and benefiting from the scheme.
Some highlights from 2013 report, include:
- 26 renewable energy power stations were accredited in 2013, bringing the total number accredited renewable energy power stations to 394.
- 238,769 small-scale renewable energy system installations were validated by the Clean Energy Regulator in 2013. This saw the total number of small-scale systems installed under the Renewable Energy Target exceed two million.
- 90 liable entities in 2013, who achieved 99.97% small-scale technology certificate compliance and 99.98% large-scale generation certificate compliance.
- more than 20.4 million (20,457,324) small-scale technology certificates and more than 14.6 million (14,649,036) large-scale generation certificates were validly created in 2013.
Australia’s Anti Environment Minister either doesn’t understand renewable energy modelling, or is working for the coal industry
Hunt disputes CEC modeling on renewable energy target http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/hunt-disputes-cec-modeling-renewable-target-82441 By Giles Parkinson on 1 May 2014 Every day there is a new reason for the renewable energy industry in Australia to become increasingly despondent about its future.
On Thursday, it was environment minister Greg Hunt, who ostensibly has some influence over renewables policy, taking issue with modelling released by the Clean Energy Council which showed thatconsumer bills would fall, not rise, if the RET was retained, or even increased. Hunt said he had read the report, and agreed with some of it, and disagreed with other bits. On the latter, it appeared to be the idea of a “negative cost” of the RET policy that “did not make sense” to the minister for the environment. Hunt said that if that was the case, then renewable energy projects would not need a subsidy. “Some say that it is a negative cost, but that doesn’t make any sense because you wouldn’t need subsidy if that was the case. It is effectively a cross subsidy from one form of electricity to another, ” he told the Municipal Association of Victoria Environment Conference in Melbourne, in response to a question from Surf Coast Shire Councillor Eve Fisher.
The CEC modelling said that the cost of the RET, in the form of certificates bought by retailers and the cost passed on to consumers, would be around 3-4 per cent of electricity bills – a figure agreed on by Hunt. But the CEC modelling also noted that this impact would be offset by the reductions in the wholesale price, caused by the presence of more renewable energy, which has a minimal short-run cost and forces wholesale electricity prices down. These are conclusions arrived at elsewhere in the world, including by the International Energy Agency, and for what it’s worth is the very argument presented by the fossil fuel industry, as it seeks to have the RET reduced or dismantled entirely. They fear that their profits will be eroded by the expected fall in wholesale prices. They argue that the wholesale cost reductions should not be passed on to consumers. The reason why a RET is warranted – apart from its obvious environmental benefits – is that it requires retailers to write contracts for new wind or solar farms. Without this mechanism, they wouldn’t be built, because of an oversupply of coal and gas fired generators. The incumbents simply want to keep operating these as long as they can. The fact that Hunt doesn’t understand how this works suggests one of two things. The first is that he is possibly confusing the concept of negative cost abatement with his emissions reduction fund, which will allocate money to the cheapest bid in an auction. (Hardly likely that any of those bids would be negative, otherwise it would be the private sector giving a grant to the government.) The Abbott government is already struggling with the concept of negative abatement, given its refusal to allow the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to continue despite its promise that it could do the same by unlocking vast sums of private money. It also suggests that Hunt’s instinct is to side with the fossil fuel industry rather than consumers, which is why the Abbott government insisted on the RET review in the first place, and insisted it be led by the likes of Warburton, rather than the Climate Change Authority, which made the very point that the Clean Energy Council was making this week.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 