Key findings from the report on Australian’s attitude towards climate change and energy
Climate of the nation 2020, Tracking Australia’s attitudes towards climate change and energy 28 OCT 2020 https://apo.org.au/node/309142, Audrey Quicke, Ebony Bennett, PUBLISHER The Australia Institute
The Australia Institute’s annual Climate of the Nation report details changing attitudes and beliefs around climate change, including its causes, impacts and solutions.
The 2020 report shows more Australians believe climate change is occurring and that humans are the main cause than since 2012. Australians support a range of decarbonisation policies and increasingly want Australia to be a world leader in finding solutions to climate change.
Key findings:
- After the devastating Black Summer bushfires, eight in ten Australians (82%) are concerned that climate change will result in more bushfires, up from 76% in 2019
- Vast majority of Australians (83%) want coal-fired power stations to be phased out
- Only 12% of Australians prefer investment in gas to power Australia’s economic recovery, while the majority of Australians (59%) prefer investment in renewables as a pathway for economic recovery
- Australians overestimate gas industry employment by a factor of 40x, believing, on average, that 8.2% of the workforce is in fossil gas mining when the reality is it represents just 0.2% of the Australian workforce
- Seven in ten Australians (71%) want Australia to be a global leader in finding solutions to climate change, a jump of 9 percentage points from 2019
- More than two in three Australians (68%) believe Australia should have a national target for net-zero emissions by 2050, including majority support across Coalition voters (59%), Labor voters (81%), Greens voters (90%), Other voters (65%).
The new Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty supports existing agreements, and in no way conflicts with them
This will take hard work, creativity and patience as well as political will, 
but it is a legitimate and universally-pursued goal ever since nuclear weapons, as well as other weapons of mass destruction, came into being. The objective of prohibiting them was already present in the very first resolution of the General Assembly, unanimously adopted in 1946.
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Soon Nuclear Weapons Will Be Prohibited, Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash. Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) 28 Oct 20, – The 50th instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was deposited on October 24 – coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Charter. In accordance with its Article 15, the Treaty will enter automatically into force 90 days after that date. When in force, the TPNW will become part of the corpus of positive international law as the first multilateral agreement that comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons and also addresses the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use and testing, including assistance to victims. Besides, it is the first treaty that explicitly forbids its members from hosting nuclear weapons belonging to other states.Efforts to develop an effective multilateral instrument to directly outlaw nuclear weapons spans several decades. Continue reading |
British Prime Minister urges Scott Morrison on climate action: Morrison twists the message
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But a statement from Mr Morrison described the call differently, noting that Mr Johnson “welcomed” Australian emissions reduction initiatives and “strongly endorsed” the Australian approach. The UK has a policy of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. A press release from 10 Downing Street following the call said Mr Johnson “stressed that we need bold action to address climate change, noting that the UK’s experience demonstrates that driving economic growth and reducing emissions can go hand-in-hand”. The equivalent statement from the Australian Prime Minister’s office stated: “PM Johnson welcomed our significant increase in emissions reduction programs announced through the Budget, and strongly endorsed our focus on unlocking practical pathways to reducing emissions,” it read. “Both countries agreed to work closely together to accelerate research and deployment of low-emission technologies ahead of COP26.” COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, will be held next year in Glasgow. Policies to be set locally Labor Senator Penny Wong pressed Foreign Minister Marise Payne over the contrast during senate estimates. “There is no reference to net zero emissions [in Scott Morrison’s statement] there is no reference to bold action and there is no reference to ambitious targets,” Senator Wong said……. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-28/boris-johnson-scott-morrison-climate-change-bold-action/12817474 |
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Awkward questions for NuScale on Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs)
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NuScale Faces Questions on Nuclear Reactor Safety and Financing Its First Project The first small modular reactor to receive federal approval must still grapple with design changes and safety concerns if it’s to be built by 2030. GreentechMedia JEFF ST. JOHN OCTOBER 27, 2020 NuScale Power wants to build the first small modular nuclear reactor complex in the U.S. by decade’s end and has pointed to recent federal safety approvals and a cost-sharing arrangement with its first prospective public utility customers as advancing that goal.
But its reactor design faces significant safety questions that were not resolved by a Nuclear Energy Commission (NRC) review completed in August. Those include potential problems with the system that automatically shuts down its reactors in case of emergency, casting doubt on key safety claims from the Portland, Oregon-based company, critics say. The nature of NRC’s review will leave the resolution of these key safety issues to be completed later this decade. This could prove problematic for NuScale’s first project, the 12-reactor Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Over the past two years, the project has seen expected costs double from $3 billion to $6.1 billion and its completion date moved from 2026 to 2030, putting pressure on parent company Fluor Corp. to keep further cost increases in check and secure financial backers for the project. NuScale won’t complete key safety reviews for its reactor design until later this decade. These design changes and safety reviews will be the responsibility of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), the first customer for 213 megawatts of the 720 MW the CFPP will produce, under a combined construction and operating license process. This could open up the CFPP to technical and legal challenges after significant investments in the project have already been made, critics warn. UAMPS, a division of the Utah state government serving wholesale electric services to communities across the Intermountain West, has seen three cities vote to depart the 33-city consortium planning to agree to buy power from the CFPP in the past few months and is facing an October 31 deadline to commit to its role in the project. And while the Department of Energy has issued a $1.36 billion, 10-year cost-share pledge to UAMPS, that funding will require future congressional appropriations in order to become reality. ….. Other U.S.-based SMR developers include Bill Gates-backed TerraPower and X-Energy, which have recently received financial support from DOE with the goal of building their first working units in the next seven years. Others include Hyperion Power Generation and Terrestrial Energy. …… Safety questions on emergency shutdownOne of the most pressing unresolved safety issues deals with NuScale’s system to prevent overheating or meltdown during emergencies, according to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), which reviews reactor designs for the NRC. NuScale’s reactor must submerge its fuel in water carrying boron, an element that absorbs neutrons and slows the fission chain reactions that generate heat and radioactivity. That water can be boiled away during emergencies, meaning that redundant safety systems are required that are capable of replacing it. NuScale has said its system can reintroduce boronated water into the reactor without pumps that might lose power during an emergency, by venting steam into a surrounding containment vessel and condensing it back into water to inject into the core. But a March ACRS review noted that boron could be left behind as water turns into steam, yielding condensed water without enough boron to slow the chain reactions that could lead to overheating or core meltdown. NuScale submitted design modifications to add boron to that reintroduced water supply. But in an April meeting, ACRS member Jose March-Leuba noted that the new design requires a series of 10 valves to operate without fail to solve the problem it’s geared to address, which he characterized as “10 single failure points.” The ACRS told the NRC in a June letter that it “cannot reach a final conclusion on the safety of the NuScale design until the issue of the potential for a reactivity insertion accident” — a sudden increase in fission that cannot be halted — “is resolved to our satisfaction.” ……… Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that the ACRS finding casts doubt on “one of the major selling points for this reactor, which is that it can passively shut down without any operator actions.” NuScale has relied on its passive safety claims to argue that it should be exempt from other nuclear reactor safety requirements, such as maintaining emergency evacuation and planning zones within a 10-mile radius of the site and employing a security force to prevent sabotage attempts. Integrating these safety requirements into its projects may push NuScale’s power costs beyond the $55 per megawatt-hour it has targeted, he said. “Nuclear safety is not just design. It’s the whole set of measures,” Lyman said. Uncertain path to approval, unclear financing futureNuScale’s recent safety approval from the NRC is not as comprehensive a stamp of federal approval as the company had planned to obtain by now. In March testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, NuScale CEO John Hopkins said that parent company Fluor Corp. and investors have spent about $500 million to prepare a “design certification application,” which was submitted in 2016 and expected to be complete by September. But NuScale’s recent approval from the NRC is not for a design certification application, Lyman said. Rather, it’s a “standard design approval,” which comes with less stringent rules for NRC review and allows future design changes. But it opens up NuScale’s design to future legal challenges that a design certification approval would not, he said. NuScale also plans to increase the size of its reactor units from 50 MW to 60 MW units, which will require a separate design approval review, Lyman said. Meanwhile, NuScale’s original design certification, “when it’s approved, may never actually be used.” …… these uncertainties have complicated the picture for UAMPS, which has pushed back its deadline for finalizing its licensing agreement with NuScale from September until October 31. UAMPS could be facing more than $100 million in commitments under its yet-to-be-finalized agreement. ….
Broader challenges for small modular reactorsIn a September report, M.V. Ramana, a professor of disarmament and human security at the University of British Columbia, highlighted other risks facing NuScale. Those include further delays in licensing and certification, as well as the potential that design changes and increased safety requirements will raise the cost of power from NuScale’s reactors, which is already higher than the prices being set by new wind and solar energy today. Adding batteries or other forms of energy storage to renewables may prove a less costly solution to providing reliable zero-carbon electricity than NuScale can, he wrote. Ramana also questioned the financial stability of NuScale’s parent company, engineering and construction giant Fluor, which has seen its share price drop about 80 percent over the past two years amid mounting financial losses and federal investigations into its accounting practices. Fluor has invested $643 million into NuScale alongside $314 million in DOE funding, Hopkins told Congress in March. But it will need to bring more financial backers on board in the decade to come. As for the DOE cost-share agreement, Lyman said it’s dependent on future congressional budget approvals that may not emerge. “The bottom line is, without a large subsidy, it would not be economical for them to buy this power.” ………https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/nuscale-faces-questions-over-nuclear-reactor-safety-path-to-financing-first-project |
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Long-term research shows ocean acidification ramping up on the Reef
 The future is now: long-term research shows ocean acidification ramping up on the Reef
A new study has shown ocean acidification is no longer a sombre forecast for the Great Barrier Reef but a present-day reality AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/aiom-tfi102820.phpResearch News Ocean acidification is no longer a sombre forecast for the Great Barrier Reef but a present-day reality, a new study reveals. The study, published in the international Journal Scientific Reports, shows carbon dioxide (CO2) and ocean acidification are rapidly increasing on the Reef. Seawater CO2 has risen 6 per cent over the past 10 years and matches the rate of CO2 increases in the atmosphere, confirming the influence of atmospheric CO2 on seawater CO2 levels. “People talk about ocean acidification in terms of 50 years’ time, but for the first time our study shows how fast ocean acidification is already happening on the Reef,” said Dr Katharina Fabricius, lead author and Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). The research, a collaboration between AIMS and CSIRO, drew on over a decade of observations collected as part of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) to conclude that the Reef’s rich carbonate seafloor is not buffering against ocean acidification as previously thought. “Our research shows that acidification is rapidly changing the conditions that support the growth of coral on the Reef. It’s never been more important to address ocean acidification in plans to manage the Reef”, said Dr. Bronte Tilbrook, a Senior Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO who leads IMOS’ observational projects for CO2 and ocean acidification. Ocean acidification results from seawater absorbing excess CO2 that has been emitted into the atmosphere. The CO2 dissolves in the seawater where it changes the chemistry. This includes decreasing the water’s pH, and reducing the aragonite saturation state, which is critical for building the skeletons of reef-building coral and other marine organisms. Under reduced pH conditions, their calcium carbonate skeletons take longer to form and weaken, leaving them more susceptible to damage and erosion. While long-term data exist for CO2 and ocean acidification trends in open oceans, there have been very few long-term data on these trends in coastal waters around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef. Biological and physical processes like respiration create large fluctuations in CO2 in coastal areas, making the detection of trends more difficult. The study has filled this important knowledge gap by analysing 10 years of CO2, pH and aragonite saturation state data (2009-2019). These data were collected as part of Australia’s IMOS network at two long-term monitoring stations, located 650 kilometres apart at contrasting locations. The researchers found the minimum CO2 concentrations measured today were likely to already have passed the highest CO2 levels expected 60 years ago, even after accounting for the effects of temperature, nutrients, salinity, and daily and seasonal changes. “We know now that oceans are taking up about 23% of the excess CO2 from the air. They actually provide a service to humanity by slowing climate change. But the price to pay is that the seawater’s carbon chemistry is changing, and we didn’t know it was happening in dynamic coastal waters at such fast rates,” Dr Fabricius said. In another research first, AIMS and CSIRO scientists have used data from 1384 Reef sites to show coastal acidification’s negative impacts on three important indicators of Reef health:
The study, published earlier this year in the journal Global Change Biology, found these baby coral and coralline algae also decreased and seaweed increased as fine suspended sediment increased across the Reef — with the greatest sediment concentration and organism changes observed closer to the shore. The researchers highlighted effective water quality management as an achievable solution to reduce coastal acidification’s impact on the Reef. ### Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent. |
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Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — limitless life
Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons David Swanson Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons By World BEYOND War, October 27, 2020 https://worldbeyondwar.org/peter-kuznick-on-the-significance-of-the-treaty-on-the-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons/ Peter Kuznick answered the following questions from Mohamed Elmaazi of Sputnik Radio and agreed to let World […]
Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — limitless life
Banks are funding the depradation of the natural world. Time they stopped
The world’s banks must start to value nature and stop paying for its destruction, Guardian, Robert Watson 28 Oct 20, As a new report spells out how financial institutions contribute to biodiversity loss, the clamour is growing for a new approach.
- Banks lent $2.6tn linked to ecosystem and wildlife destruction in 2019 – report
- The scientific community has long been unequivocal about biodiversity destruction. Last month, the UN reported that the world had failed to meet fully any of the 2020 Aichi bioiversity targets that countries agreed with fanfare in 2010, even as it found that biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and the pressures driving this decline are intensifying.
This week’s Bankrolling Extinction report finds that financial institutions provide the capital that is funding over-exploitation of our lands and seas, putting biodiversity in freefall. Last year, the world’s 50 biggest banks provided $2.6tn (£1.9tn) in loans and other credit to sectors with a high impact on biodiversity, such as forestry and agriculture. Bank by bank, the report authors found a cavalier ignorance of – or indifference to – the implications, with the vast majority unaware of their impact on biodiversity.
In short, this report is a frightening statement of the status quo.
- Fortunately, signs are emerging that some governments are – slowly – taking aim at financial backers of the destruction of the natural world. They must now push more forcefully. In the wake of Covid-19, treasury cupboards may be bare, but with new policies and limited recovery funds, they can steer trillions of dollars of private capital towards a nature-positive response to coronavirus, to spur growth, prosperity and resilience without returning to business as usual over-consumption and climate and biodiversity risk.
- Voices from economics and finance are starting to add impetus and rationale for such momentum. One of the world’s foremost business groups, the World Economic Forum (WEF), has recognised the economic importance of nature. In its annual Global Risks Report, published earlier this year, WEF found that for the first time environmental risks dominated perceived business threats. Biodiversity loss was considered among the five most impactful and most likely risks in the next decade, with concerns ranging from the potential collapse of food and health systems to the disruption of entire supply chains. ……………. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2020/oct/28/the-worlds-banks-must-start-to-value-nature-and-stop-paying-for-its-destruction-aoe
Adani hires spying on activist’s daughter on way to school
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Private investigator hired by Adani secretly photographed activist’s daughter on way to school
Exclusive: investigator’s affidavit shows he surveilled and followed anti-Adani activist Ben Pennings’ wife and daughter, Guardian, Ben Smee @BenSmee – 28 Oct 20, A private investigator working for Adani took covert photographs of an environmental activist walking his nine-year-old daughter to primary school, court documents have revealed.The affidavit of the investigator – who was instructed by lawyers representing Adani in its civil case against activist Ben Pennings – also revealed he surveilled Pennings’ wife, trawled her Facebook page and followed her to work. Guardian Australia can reveal documents detailing the surveillance of Pennings and his family were tendered to the Queensland supreme court in a recent “Anton Piller” case, in which Adani had sought permission to conduct an unannounced search of the activist’s family home. The Queensland supreme court and court of appeal both rejected the move, saying the search could result in “humiliation and family distress”. An email from the law firm representing Adani against Pennings, Dowd and Co, instructed a private investigator, Garry Andrew Sweet, to conduct surveillance for “the consideration of vulnerable persons … at the time of execution of any search warrant”……… Pennings said: “This is Adani all over. This is what Labor and the LNP actively support. Politicians would go berserk if anyone followed the partner and kids of a mining executive. Adani takes photographs of my daughter walking to primary school but unless anything changes this election Labor and the LNP will still allow them to operate in Queensland. “Queensland Labor has had plenty of opportunity to stand up against Adani’s intimidation of scientists and concerned citizens. It’s absolutely appalling they’ve given Adani a royalty holiday instead.”……. The mining company building the controversial Carmichael coalmine is suing Pennings, from the group Galilee Blockade, for conspiracy, intimidation and breach of confidence. …..https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/28/private-investigator-hired-by-adani-secretly-photographed-activists-family |
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Morrison in denial as South Korea’s net zero target adds to Australia’s carbon export woes — RenewEconomy
South Korea’s new net zero target adds to a drumbeat of death knells for Australia’s coal exports. The post Morrison in denial as South Korea’s net zero target adds to Australia’s carbon export woes appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Morrison in denial as South Korea’s net zero target adds to Australia’s carbon export woes — RenewEconomy
October 28 Energy News — geoharvey
Science and Technology: ¶ “Fraunhofer To Develop Battery Inverter For Whole-Area UPS And Renewables Integration” • Fraunhofer and its industrial and academic partners are developing a battery inverter that can be grid connected under normal operation but can use renewables generators within its area to form an island grid, for whole-area uninterrupted power supply. [pv […]
October 28 Energy News — geoharvey
Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — limitless life
Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons David Swanson Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons By World BEYOND War, October 27, 2020 https://worldbeyondwar.org/peter-kuznick-on-the-significance-of-the-treaty-on-the-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons/ Peter Kuznick answered the following questions from Mohamed Elmaazi of Sputnik Radio and agreed to let World […]
Peter Kuznick on the Significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — limitless life
Super power: Here’s how to get to 100pct wind, solar and storage by 2030 — RenewEconomy
Deep disruption: New report from futurist Tony Seba and RethinkX says transition to 100pct renewables possible by 2030, and the “super” surplus of wind and solar can be used to power transport and industry. The post Super power: Here’s how to get to 100pct wind, solar and storage by 2030 appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Super power: Here’s how to get to 100pct wind, solar and storage by 2030 — RenewEconomy
Australia’s surging industrial emissions are ‘elephant in the room’, Reputex says — RenewEconomy
Lacklustre climate policies will see Australia’s industrial emissions surge for at least the next decade, analysts Reputex have warned. The post Australia’s surging industrial emissions are ‘elephant in the room’, Reputex says appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Australia’s surging industrial emissions are ‘elephant in the room’, Reputex says — RenewEconomy
Jacinda Ardern to get all-electric Audi e-tron to replace diesel fleet car — RenewEconomy
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern to ride in clean and green Audi-e-tron electric car, replacing government’s standard diesel BMW 7 series vehicles. The post Jacinda Ardern to get all-electric Audi e-tron to replace diesel fleet car appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Jacinda Ardern to get all-electric Audi e-tron to replace diesel fleet car — RenewEconomy
Fiji set to build biggest solar project in Pacific Islands — RenewEconomy
Fiji will become home to the largest solar farm of its kind in the Pacific, a 15MW project that will lower the country’s reliance on imported fuel. The post Fiji set to build biggest solar project in Pacific Islands appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Fiji set to build biggest solar project in Pacific Islands — RenewEconomy
1.This month
For international nuclear news go to https://nuclear-news.net
of the week
Nuclear power cannot solve the climate crisis
PETITION https://www.alp.org.au/petitions/australians-dont-want-nuclear-power/
26 Feb – 24 April The Image is not Nothing (Concrete Archives) is a group exhibition that explores the ways in which acts of nuclear trauma, Indigenous genocide and cultural erasure have been memorialised by artists and others. It comes as the result of research by curators Lisa Radford and Yhonnie Scarce whose fieldwork has encompassed sites of significance including Auschwitz, Chernobyl, Fukushima, Hiroshima, Maralinga, New York, Wounded Knee and former Yugoslavia.
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Submissions to the Senate Committee Inquiry into National Radioactive Management Amendment Bill. 2020. Go to our summaries of significant submissions, conveniently listed in alphabetical order at Kimba waste dump submissions or see all submissions listed at Read the Submissions
