Backing new coal power like “defibrillating a corpse”
,REneweconomy, By Sophie Vorrath on 19 April 2017 As the Turnbull government continues its push for new coal power generation in Australia, renowned US scientist and renewable energy advocate Amory Lovins has described the current coal power development pipeline as “pre-stranded assets” and compared attempts to revive the flagging industry to “defibrillating a corpse.”
“Attempting to revive coal or nuclear is like defibrillating a corpse: it will jump but it won’t revive,” Lovins said in an interview with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “The economic fundamentals are bleak.”………
“A portfolio of variable renewables, properly designed and run, probably requires less storage and backup than utilities have already bought and installed to manage the intermittency of their big thermal units,” Lovins told BNEF.
Interestingly, Lovins is currently advising the Indian government on its strategy for 100 per cent vehicle electrification by 2030, which he says is exploring not just electrification pathways but an integrated transformation of mobility services.
“It encompasses everything from urban planning through to manufacturing of electric vehicles – two-, three-, and four-wheelers – to the smart grid integration of electric vehicle charging and the accompanying regulatory and business model changes,” he said.
“It will also take advantage of India’s mastery of the infotech sector. Integrating these innovations is a high priority for India’s government under Prime Minster Narendra Modi.”
Australia’s Prime Minister, also a self-proclaimed fan of innovation, visited India – and Modi – just last week, but drew criticism from various quarters back home for courting coal magnate, Gautam Adani, during his three-day stay…….
Lovins argues that the mine will wind up a stranded asset, as countries like India shift away from coal power to cheaper, and smarter, technology and resources. http://reneweconomy.com.au/backing-new-coal-power-like-defibrillating-corpse-90543/
The great gas con: There are cheaper, cleaner alternatives
REnewec onomy, By Giles Parkinson on 20 April 2017 [excellent graphs etc]
In Canberra on Thursday, as yet another “gas summit” hosted by prime minister Malcolm Turnbull ended without a “fix” to soaring gas prices, the Energy Users Group was complaining that one industrial customer in Queensland was being hit with a new gas supply contract at the usurious price of $23/gigajoule.
Frankly, it beggars belief that Australian industry is even bothering to ask for cheaper gas prices, when there are obviously cheaper alternatives available – for both electricity and for industrial gas users.
An Australian Renewable Energy Agency report last year identified how biogas, geothermal and solar thermal alternatives could provide industrial heat at the equivalent of $5/gigajoule – less than one-quarter of the price being asked for gas now. Why aren’t they embracing these patently cheaper and cleaner alternatives?
Part of the answer is the ingrained fossil fuel mentality in Australia. For so long, the true cost of fossil fuels has been hidden by massive cross-subsidies – to electricity users in remote and regional areas, and to big industrial customers……..
Andrew Richards, from the Energy Users Association, says it is because of the complexity, and the fact that renewable options require up-front investments, rather than paying-as-you-go commodity fuels. But he thinks that business is slowly getting their mind around the alternatives and looking carefully at the technology options.
Some, like the South Australian greenhouse tomato grower Sundrop, are using solar thermal technologies, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has backed other businesses looking to exploit biogas as an alternative to natural gas.
And more technology options will be on their way: Those outlined by the ARENA report include:
- High temperature solar concentrator driven processes to convert biomass, water, gas or other fossil fuels into chemical feedstocks or new solar fuels.
- Electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen as a feedstock or fuel.
- High temperature solar thermal approaches to direct driving minerals processing and other thermal processes.
- New advanced biomass gasification systems.
- Innovative systems for purifying gas streams from gasifiers or digesters for use in sensitive direct combustion processes (ovens etc) or for injection to existing gas pipeline infrastructure.
- New advanced biomass production or collection systems.
- Targeted innovations to improve existing renewable energy technologies. http://reneweconomy.com.au/the-great-gas-con-there-are-cheaper-cleaner-alternatives-13767/
Adani talk turns club lunch sour
THE usually polite Rural Press Club lunch in Brisbane erupted yesterday with claims of anarchy, lies and fake news surrounding the Adani project.(subscribers only)
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-resources-council-chief-executive-labels-antiadani-activists-anarchists/news-story/20c27b454733f8a419375c3525cd8cec
Carnegie raises $18m for Northam solar farm and micro-grids
By Giles Parkinson on 20 April 2017 Carnegie Clean Energy plans to accelerate its project pipeline of large scale solar farms and renewable-based micro-grids after securing $18 million in a new capital raising – three times more than its original target.
The listed Perth-based company says the money will be used to fund its equity share of the soon-to-be-built 10MW solar farm in Northam, in West Australia, as well as accelerating its other solar projects and renewable-focused micro-grids.
The company, which has recently transformed from a single-focused wave energy developer to encompass solar, storage and micro-grid technologies, had planned a $6 million capital raising, but expanded the process in response to “overwhelming” demand from shareholders……http://reneweconomy.com.au/carnegie-raises-18m-for-northam-solar-farm-and-micro-grids-19682/
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 