South Australia’s coming renewable energy revolution- Craig Wilkins at Parliamentary Inquiry
Investigators prove how easy it is to get “dirty bomb’ nuclear material
Investigators Fool U.S. Nuke Agency Into Providing Material for ‘Dirty Bomb’
Nuclear Regulatory Committee granted license for key materials to dummy corporation, Washington Free Beacon BY: Adam Kredo July 15, 2016
Undercover inspectors working for the U.S. Government Accountability Office were able to fool the United States’ top nuclear regulator into granting it licenses to acquire material necessary to build a “dirty bomb,” or crude nuclear device, according to a newoversight report.
The GAO concluded in a new oversight report on the Nuclear Regulatory Committee, or NRC, that it had improved security measures, but still has “not taken some measures to better control some dangerous quantities of radioactive material.”
As part of a covert GAO test, the accountability agency established several dummy corporations and attempted to procure licenses needed to purchase dangerous radioactive materials, including those needed to build a crude nuclear explosive device.
The accountability agency did not take steps to make it appear as if these dummy corporations were legitimate businesses, according to the report, which showed that the NRC granted a license to the fake organization in one of three test cases.
In each case, the GAO attempted to acquire the licenses needed to purchase increasingly dangerous radioactive materials, the most dangerous of which are known as category 1 materials. The least dangerous materials are dubbed category 3, but all are classifications that include hazardous nuclear substances coveted by terror groups and other criminal outfits……..
The findings are particularly concerning as GAO “made no attempt to outfit the [fake business] site to make it appear as if a legitimate business was operating there.”
The NRC handed a paper license to an undercover GAO operator during the undercover operation.
“Our application was approved and the paper license was handed to our GAO investigator posing as a representative of our fictitious company at the end of the prelicensing site visit,” according to the report.
The NRC also believed several lies by these undercover inspectors.
“During the application process and site visit, the regulatory official accepted our written and oral assurances of the steps that our fictitious company would take—to construct facilities, establish safety procedures, hire sufficient qualified staff, and construct secure storage areas—after receiving a license,” the report states.
“The official from the regulatory body accepted our assurances without scrutinizing key aspects of our fictitious business to the extent that the other regulatory bodies had,” the report adds.
The GAO was ultimately able to use this license to get commitments to obtain enough category 3 materials to reach a category 2 quantity of radioactive material, which the GAO says is an attractive source for use in building a dirty bomb…….http://freebeacon.com/national-security/investigators-fools-u-s-nuke-agency-providing-material-dirty-bomb/
Dear Prime Minister: David Ritter’s letter on Climate Change
Dear Prime Minister, Our Kids Are Trusting Us On Climate Change, David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia, July 15, 2016 We must not let them down.
Dear Prime Minister,
Sincere congratulations on your re-election.
I am writing to you today, though, not as a voter addressing Australia’s leader, but as a father to a grandfather…….
I agree with you. Anyone who seeks a position of public responsibility is a trustee for their grandkids — indeed for all the children of the future. It is a solemn but beautiful duty to build and nurture a world that will enable the descendants of the Jacks, the Islas, the Rachels and the Josies, and all of their generation, to flourish long after we are gone. It is the greatest gift we can give……..
Like many Australians, I rejoiced when you took the prime ministership from Mr Abbott because I know you understand the need for a proportionate response to global warming. For whatever reason, your predecessor did not. But I won’t lie — I was badly disappointed in the first Turnbull Government for failing to do what is needed on global warming, and I’ve been publicly critical of that failure. Nothing personal of course, and nothing partisan either — I’ve had a go at plenty of ALP politicians in the past too, because my organisation is an independent watchdog in our democracy…….
The Australian prime minister who secures our country with a swift, fair and just transition away from fossil fuels will take their place as one of the giants of our national story. Any such leader will be able to look a child of our country in the eye and say with honour that they did all they could; that they did what was right in the face of the evidence; that they fully discharged their trusteeship.
My seven-year-old daughter, Josie, asked me recently what would happen if the grown-ups didn’t find a solution to global warming. I looked her in the eye and promised her that the grown-ups would sort it out; that we would not let her down.
From a father to a grandfather, I wish you the best of good fortune in leading our nation well. http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/david-ritter/dear-prime-minister-our-kids-are-trusting-us-on-climate-change/?utm_hp_ref=au-homepage
83-Percent Of south Australia’s Electricity From Wind last weekend
South Australia Just Produced 83-Percent Of Its Electricity From Wind Energy HTTP://WWW.HEXAPOLIS.COM/2016/07/16/ BY: SUKANYA MUKHERJEE JULY 16, 2016
Thanks to a particularly windy weekend, South Australia recently saw nearly 83-percent of its total electricity coming solely from eco-friendly wind energy. Although the harsh weather conditions led to power outages in some of the places, its advantages far outweigh the temporary inconvenience. According to officials, wind turbines installed in the area captured much of the ambient energy, which was used to meet more than two-thirds of the region’s total electricity demands last Monday.
When it comes to renewable power, South Australia is one of the front runners, boasting both solar and wind energy. Investments of up $6 billion have resulted in the installation of as many as 638 wind turbines in the area. According to Alicia Webb of Australia-based Clean Energy Council, an organization dedicated to improving renewables and conversion efficiency, the industry has also generated “hundreds” of jobs. Given the current trend, the region will soon see wind and solar power overtaking conventional fossil fuels. Webb said:
Southern Australia…is in the midst of a remarkable transformation, with more than 40 percent of its power needs coming from renewable energy last year. It is clear that modern economies can run on increasingly higher levels of renewable energy, and it is clear from South Australia’s example that other mainland states can go much further with no loss of reliability.
With oil and volatile gas prices skyrocketing in recent years, wind turbines in South Australia actually help produce electricity at lower costs, especially during windy weather. As pointed out by Webb, the area’s total “installed solar capacity” will likely reach five gigawatts in the coming months. These steps are part of the government’s efforts to meet the targets declared in the Paris agreement. In addition to renewables, researchers in South Australia are coming up with new, innovative technologies that could in turn help reduce environmental pollution. Via: CleanTechnica
Greening of south-east Queensland – City of Logan leads
Logan becoming south-east Queensland’s greenest city , Brisbane Times, July 17 2016 The greener side of Logan is starting to show through, with the south-east Queensland city embracing solar energy, recycling initiatives, DIY kits and sustainable living workshops.
Energex statistics from June revealed Logan was ahead of nearby cities when it came to solar power, with more than a quarter of all properties having solar panels on their roofs.
This was compared to 17 per cent in Brisbane and 18 per cent on the Gold Coast.
The city of more 308,000 residents is 70 per cent rural or semi-rural, an appealing factor for those in the area who enjoy their open spaces…….
“A lot of schools are becoming a lot more sustainable, Calvary Christian College at Springwood have their own chickens and sell their eggs, the children involved in gardening, selling produce, checking the eggs,” ………..http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/logan-becoming-southeast-queenslands-greenest-city-20160717-gq7mp0.html
A climate report that we ignore at our peril
Though it does not actually say so, the report of the Committee on Climate Change (Report, 12 July) is a salutary reminder that a capitalist economy based on infinite economic growth, as expressed in terms of consumption-led GDP, is unsustainable and, if allowed to continue in its present form, will ultimately devastate the entire planet.
Moreover, unless we cease using fossil fuels for energy and replace them with renewables at the earliest possible opportunity, the voluntary agreement reached at last year’s COP 21 climate summit to limit increases in global temperatures to less than 2C will be little more than hot air.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/14/a-climate-report-that-we-ignore-at-our-peril (Letters here from Bert Schouwenburg, David Lucas and John Nissen.)
Wind power overwhelmingly popular among American public
Wind power strongly supported by Americans across the country July 16, 2016 reveProfessional anti-renewable energy fabricator Robert Bryce is at it again, spreading a laundry list of false, debunked claims about wind power.
American voter-supported wind energy is one of the country’s leading sources of new electricity: more wind came online than any other new electric generating capacity in 2015, including solar and natural gas. That’s partly because wind power has seen such drastic price reductions, with costs that have fallen 66 percent in the last six years. That’s led to wind power becoming the cheapest source of new electricity in some parts of the country and cost-competitive in many.
Naysayers like Bryce are left repeating the same tired inaccuracies.
For example, Bryce’s “analysis” about energy incentives is deeply flawed and misleading. Despite clear line-item labeling that indicates 99.9 percent of the incentives listed in his source dataset have nothing to do with wind energy, Bryce repeatedly lumps all of the incentives received by those companies as being “provided to the wind-energy sector.”….
And here are a few of the other ways he’s off in his latest “reporting:”
- Growing wind power is overwhelmingly popular among the general public. A recent Lazard poll found 91% of likely voters support expanding wind power, and this is a bipartisan issue. That same poll found 82% of self-described conservatives support transitioning to a clean energy economy.
- While Bryce claims specific projects are unpopular in New York, a poll released just yesterday from the Nature Conservancy found89% of New Yorkers support more wind power, while Gov. Cuomo’s 50% clean energy standard enjoys support from 9 in 10 New Yorkers.
- Strong support by Americans for wind power across the country is what’s led to 29 states passing renewable energy targets called “Renewable Portfolio Standards,” or RPSs, requiring states to integrate more cost-effective, reliable renewable energy. These are so successful several states, including Hawaii, Vermont, Oregon, California, and soon possibly New York, are advancing their RPS’s to 50 percent renewable energy.
- Just today Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said, “It is my goal that by the time I leave office in 2018, 50% of our energy will come from renewable resources.” http://www.evwind.es/2016/07/16/wind-power-strongly-supported-by-americans-across-the-country/57029
South Australian Liberals keen to obstruct wind energy projects?
Libs pushing for wind farm changes
ALL new wind farm projects would have to undergo an assessment to see how they would affect the electricity market before being approved, if changes proposed by the Opposition were adopted…. (subscribers only )
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-liberals-pushing-for-all-new-wind-farms-to-be-assessed-for-their-impact-on-the-electricty-market/news-story/c52442ad2d7640d9b23ee4372b75eb6a
Small Solar Power Chargers for Electronics
Introduction to Solar Power Chargers for Electronics The benefits of solar-powered chargers, BIZ yell 18 July 16
Imagine you’re camping or trekking up on the hills, and you get stranded. But you’ve forgotten to recharge your iPhone. Or even if you’ve fully recharged it, at the end of the day or the next your phone’s batteries will be drained if you’re continuously using it. You have your power bank too that will keep you going if you’re still outdoors for a day or two (or three days), but what if it’s running out of power too? Of course, finding an electric outlet in the thick of the forest is obviously out of the question.
The sun is shining bright once you walk out of the thick forest and into the wide, open meadows, or the riverside. The sky is clear, the sun is brightly shining. You rummage into your bag and you fish out your solar-powered battery charger. You plug your charger’s USB cable into your phone, PSP, or camera, and then flip your charger’s solar panel to face skyward. This is probably a good moment to sit back and relax, go read a book, or go fishing. Or even while waving your phone high up in the air and trying to catch a signal.
Had we been in the same situation about a decade back, we would have been really lost and out of luck. These days, many companies are manufacturing solar-powered batteries and battery chargers that range from car to AA batteries. Now there are a lot of solar-powered chargers to fuel the batteries of our cell phones, smartphones, game consoles, cameras and MP3 players as well as laptops and tablets. The good thing about solar chargers is that you’ll get unlimited power to re-charge your gadgets, especially if your place has plenty of sunshine. Most of the solar-powered battery chargers are portable……..
The examples of these solar chargers in popular use today include:
1. Small portable chargers that are created and designed to recharge different ranges of mobile phones, smartphones, iPods or any other MP3 player or portable audio gadgets.
2. Solar chargers that feature fold-out models, designed to place on your car’s dashboard.
3. Solar torches, many of which come with a secondary means of gathering energy such as kinetic energy.
4. Public solar chargers that are installed at public places and venues such as parks, squares, and streets where people can re-charge their gadgets for absolutely no charge.
5. Waterproof solar-powered torch (flashlight)
6 Solar panels that are fitted to your bag or backpack.
The sun is one of the wonderful benefits of living on earth, so why not make the most of it? Aside from doing our part in caring for our environment, we can also get a free and unlimited source of energy to fuel our devices and electronics. http://bizyell.com/2015/02/introduction-to-solar-power-chargers-for-electronics/
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 