Australian to head Green Climate Fund
29 October 2016. The Green Climate Fund will this year approve hundreds of billions of dollars towards projects that help poorer nations mitigate the effects of climate change and transition to low-emission technologies.
Howard Barmsey, a former Australian climate change envoy and former head of the Global Green Growth Institute, will lead the GCF which will play a role in trying to fulfil the Paris Agreement to limit the world’s temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/green-climate-fund/7976180
The Road to a Treaty
By Jeff McMullen https://newmatilda.com/2016/10/27/the-road-to-a-treaty/
27 October 2016: “Our nation’s future lies in settling the demons of our past.
A Treaty with Australia’s First Peoples is the best path to get us there,
writes Jeff McMullen. …
“This leads me to my major proposal.
To end the continuing tragedy of the poverty and widespread inequality endured by our First People in their own land,
a national Treaty should recognise Indigenous law and custom,
immediately settle the remaining Native Title claims stuck in the courts and
also guarantee Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the sub-surface mineral rights to the wealth of their lands.
“My logic is that the depths of poverty, welfare dependence, chronic illness, housing shortages, unemployment, over-incarceration and suicide
impacting so many of Australia’s 750,000 Indigenous people, can only be overcome through
a transformational shift of some of the bounty of this land that is rightfully theirs. … “
Queensland mine: Ben Lomond uranium mine hit with an Environmental Protection Order
October 29, 2016. A CONTROVERSIAL Queensland uranium mine site has been ordered to tighten safeguards against the release of radioactive pollution…. (subscribers only)
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/uranium-mine-told-to-tackle-toxins/news-story/c42e9a75b8091dba8c5984d8a5c1d50b
India to Replace Coal with Cheaper Solar Power by 2022
Renewable Energy: India to Replace Coal with Cheaper Solar Power by 2022 http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/30601/20161024/renewable-thinking-india-replace-coal-cheaper-solar-power-2022.htm by Monica Antonio Oct 24, 2016 India is taking the lead in creating a country powered by renewable energy by replacing expensive imported coal with affordable solar power in just six years’ time. But how will they do it? According to a report from Eco Business, India is aiming to alleviate poverty by providing the entire population with cheap electricity while, at the same time, not contributing to global warming by turning its back on fossil fuels and fully embracing solar energy.
The report says the key drivers in the rising demand for energy in the future are population growth and the doubling of GDP.
Turning Its Back on Fossil Fuels As a solution to the ballooning of energy consumption, India’s government has recently updated its National Solar Mission Target. By the year 2022, the country aims to achieve 175 GW of renewable power, including 100 GW of solar power. This means that India’s capacity for renewable energy needs to be seven times bigger, from 3 GW to 20 GW per year.
However, a big feat as it may seem, this new focus on renewable energy will benefit 600 million people with electricity by 2040. Ajay Goel, president of solar and chief of new businesses at ReNew Power said,”Especially for the 400 million Indians who have no access to electricity, solar power would mean access to clean and affordable energy.”
Is a Solar-Powered India Possible?
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, if India manages to create photovoltaic ground-mounted systems, the country will have an energy source that’s more affordable than imported coal. By using the levelised cost of energy (LCOE), the outlet notes that in the future, solar energy will be more economic than using coal.
Apart from giving access to cheap electricity, solar energy will also provide livelihood and “generate more than 675,000 jobs in the Indian solar industry,” Goel notes.
New South Wales households lose feedin tariff benefits
Households face steep hike in power charges as solar subsidies end, The Age, 28 Oct 16 Brian Robins Tens of thousands of households are facing a surge in their electricity bills from the start of the new year as the NSW government’s subsidy for rooftop solar panels expires.
This could add more than $1600 to the annual electricity bill as the so-called ‘feed-in tariff’, the price received for surplus electricity sold into the electricity grid, is slashed by as much as 90 per cent in some cases.
Under the original government program, households which installed solar systems received as much as 60¢ a kilowatt hour for surplus electricity sold into the grid. This will fall to 6¢, or possibly less, depending on the deals done with your electricity retailer. The state government’s pricing regulator IPART, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, has recommended electricity companies pay 5.5-7.2¢ per kilowatt hour for electricity bought from households with solar systems…….http://www.theage.com.au/business/households-face-steep-hike-in-power-charges-as-solar-subsidies-end-20161028-gscu4s.html
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 