How BHP determined Abbott government energy policy
Worried BHP CEO pressed Hockey to keep diesel rebate. Financial Review 23 May 14 BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie was among several mining executives who directly lobbied the federal government against cutting the industry’s rebate for diesel excise at last week’s budget. (subscribers only) http://www.afr.com/p/national/worried_bhp_ceo_pressed_hockey_to_byOkNSIXbue5I2qIxnFZPP
A quick meeting with the Government reassured them that by ‘everyone’ the Liberals meant the young, the sick & the poor, not big miners.
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Co-operative global effort towards 100% renewable energy – World Future Council
World Future Council going global with 100% renewable energy http://www.theecologist.org/magazine/features/2408352/world_future_council_going_global_with_100_renewable_energy.html Anne Reis 23rd May 2014
A new global campaign that advocates 100% renewable energy aims to change the political mindset and make renewable energy ‘the new normal’. The innovative World Future Council, in partnership with Japan’s Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP) and eight other organisations from civil society, industry, policy and academia, have formed the first global campaign that advocates 100% renewable energy.
Anna Leidreiter, policy officer at the World Future Council in Hamburg, serves as the coordinator for the ‘Global 100% RE’ campaign. She explains, “The goal is to initiate a dialogue about 100% renewable energy and inform people about what’s happening all over the world, proving that 100% RE is viable.” Indeed it is, and it is already working: globally, with many countries now moving towards 100% RE. Denmark, Scotland, Iceland as well as countries particularly affected by climate change like the Maldives and Tuvalu are well on the way. “All these examples show that making the transition to 100% RE is a political – not technical – decision,” says Leidreiter. “The necessary technologies and knowledge are there.”
Renewable energy initatives across Europe lead the way
The 100% RE initiative is focused on changing this political mindset, so that renewable energy becomes “the new normal”. By drawing on existing examples of good practice from around the world, it aims to prove that renewable energy is achievable, affordable and a practical solution to climate change.
The community of Skellefteå in Sweden is one example of ambitious RE targets being set and met, with renewables already accounting for nearly 90% of its energy production. The municipally-owned renewable electricity producer is one of the major driving forces, having a social mandate above its commercial pursuits.
Perpignan Méditerranée in France is another inspiring example. The region in the nuclear dominated country is aiming to be the first urban territory in Europe to meet all its electricity needs through local RE projects; 75% of the region’s electricity needs are already met by renewable energy.
In Germany, a network of 100% RE regions includes 74 regions and municipalities that have already reached 100% renewable energy status. One of these is Jühnde, the first bioenergy village in Germany. Through its biogas plant, Jühnde produces twice the amount of electricity demanded by the local area and provides heat for 70% of the inhabitants. The initiative began with a public meeting in 2001 and citizen participation continues to be the driving force.
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How wind energy is winning in the right-wing USA State of Texas
How Green Energy Won Out Over Fossil Fuels in a Red State In Texas, wind power is set to come online faster than natural gas over the course of the next decade. by Clare Foran National Journal, 22 May 14 Wind is going head to head with natural gas at the heart of the fracking boom—and wind is winning.
Fracking—a drilling technique that involves breaking open shale rock formations to extract oil and natural gas—has taken Texas by storm. The Lone Star State is dotted with drill sites and leads the nation in natural-gas production. But wide open spaces and strong gusts make it an ideal place to turn turbines. And Texas also takes the top spot for states with the most wind power.
Green energy has steadily gained traction in the deep-red state. In 2003, wind made up less than 1 percent of the power supply, according to state grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. By 2013, that share had risen to roughly 10 percent.
The complexity of climate change – may cause winter chill in USA
Warm Pacific may cause US winter freeze, study finds SMH, 24 May 14 Unusually warm western Pacific waters linked to global warming may be the paradoxical cause of a bone-chilling winter in parts of the United States this year, a scientific study said on Thursday.
The theory contrasts with other experts’ views, including that the freeze was simply a freak natural event or that it was linked to a thawing of the Arctic in recent years that sent a blast of cold air south.
“People’s reaction when they sit under 10 feet of snow is to say ‘this cannot be man-made climate change’,” said Professor Tim Palmer of Oxford University, who published his research in the journal Science. “But there is a plausible link,” he told Reuters.
He said a strengthening of trade winds had led to a build-up of warm water in the western tropical Pacific, aggravated in recent years by global warming from man-made emissions of greenhouse gases.
Thunderstorms linked to the warmth in turn disrupted the jetstream, high altitude winds which flow in vast meandering loops around the northern hemisphere, and sucked cold air from the Arctic. Detroit, for instance, suffered record snows and the coldest January since 1977.
Pinpointing the causes of the US chill, when climate change should make cold winters less likely, would help companies, farmers, city planners or even home owners wondering if they should invest in extra roof insulation.
Two other experts were unconvinced by Palmer’s study………
So far there is limited understanding of how weather in one part of the world can affect another.
Weather experts agree, however, that the El Nino weather phenomenon that mainly cools the eastern Pacific Ocean every few years can cause droughts or downpours on other continents.
Palmer told Reuters that his theory, building on a 1980s study he wrote suggesting a link between a chill 1976-77 US winter and a warm Pacific, could be tested because there are signs that an El Nino will form later this year.
An El Nino would also cool the western Pacific and that meant a cold US winter was less likely in 2014-15, he said.
A U.N. panel of climate scientists says it is at least 95 per cent probable that human activities, led by burning fossil fuels, are the main cause of warming since the 1950s, and will cause more heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/warm-pacific-may-cause-us-winter-freeze-study-finds-20140523-zrlnj.html#ixzz32fmyw5TO
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 