Queensland’s $12 million Queensland climate change policy dragging on in implementation
Slow progress on key $12 million Queensland climate change policy, SMH, Tony Moore , 7 Oct 17, Progress appears slow on one of Labor’s key climate change policies to encourage coastal Queensland councils to formally adopt a 0.8-metre higher sea level to combat beach erosion and storm surge problems.
The state government cannot say how many of the 41 coastal councils in Queensland have formally adopted the higher sea level, despite two departments being given four days to answer.
However, funds from the $12 million set aside by the state government has now gone to 21 of the 41 oceanside councils to develop plans.
Gold Coast City Council last week formally adopted the higher sea level when they updated their Gold Coast City Plan last week, as part of Queensland’s Climate Adaption Strategy.
Fairfax Media believes Cairns and Townsville councils have adopted the 0.8-metre higher sea level but it remains unclear if Moreton Bay Regional Council has accepted the higher sea level.
Gold Coast City Council last week formally adopted the higher sea level when they updated their Gold Coast City Plan last week, as part of Queensland’s Climate Adaption Strategy.
Maps produced by Geoscience Australia for the Australian government show localised flooding in three scenarios: a 50-centimetre sea level rise, an 80-centimetre rise and a 1.1-metre rise.
The Geoscience maps show a considerable flood impact on the Gold Coast’s northern suburbs and in the canal estates…….
Earlier this year Local Government Association president Mark Jamieson said more than 30 Queensland councils would be gradually affected by rising sea levels.
“More than half of Queensland’s 77 councils will be exposed to coastal hazards in the future,” Cr Jamieson said.
“It’s vital that local governments work together to assess risks and identify practical solutions that will help coastal communities prepare for serious issues such as storm tide flooding, coastal erosion and sea level rise.”
On Sunday evening, a Local Government Department spokeswoman said the department had provided funding to 20 of the 41 Queensland councils to begin planning how to cope with higher sea levels……http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/slow-progress-on-12-million-climate-change-beach-erosion-projects-20171008-p4ywcm.html
Nobel Peace Prize Win and the work of Australian indigenous activist Karina Lester
Indigenous anti-nuclear activist tells of her personal work with Nobel Prize-winning ICAN http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-07/ican-and-a-personal-battle-against-nuclear-weapons/9026846 By Karen Percy For Karina Lester 2017 has been a mixed bag — the loss of her beloved father, but a big win as part of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
Ms Lester’s anti-nuclear stance is a very personal one.
Her father was Yami Lester, an Aboriginal elder who was blinded by nuclear fallout when he was a child.
Mr Lester died just two weeks after the United Nations agreed to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons thanks to ICAN’s work, which was last night named by the Norwegian Nobel Committee as the Peace Prize winner for 2017.
He was 75 and had spent a lifetime raising awareness of the dangers of nuclear weapons, having been blinded during British weapons testing in Maralinga in South Australia in the 1950s.
“I think he’d be really pleased and very proud to know but also grateful that ICAN was able to provide that platform for us and that his story was so powerful,” Ms Lester said.
On July 7 the United Nations adopted the treaty. Mr Lester died on July 21.
Ms Lester has become as passionate about the anti-nuclear movement as her father. “It’s not a happy story, it’s quite a sad and tragic story, but ICAN has certainly been a wonderful platform for us Anangu and Aboriginal people of Australia to really talk up strongly about what happened to us back in those days,” she said.
When she was younger, she did not know what had caused her father’s blindness.
“It wasn’t until later in life that I realised it was such a sad story … with the doings of the British Government and our Australian Government as well … allowing for tests to happen in South Australia in the 1950s and 60s.
“[And] that they were responsible for taking my father’s sight.
“There were a lot of people affected by this, not only Aboriginal people, there were non-Aboriginal people, ex-servicemen and women who were exposed to this as well.”
As a representative of Indigenous voices within ICAN’s 400-strong organisations around the world, she has told her father’s story to audiences around the Asia-Pacific region, including the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which was struck by an American nuclear bomb in 1945.
A later attack on the Japanese city of Nagasaki prompted an end to World War II.
Ms Lester has also exchanged stories with the people of the Marshall Islands and Tahiti affected by nuclear testing by French authorities from the 1960s until the 1990s.
“Many tests have taken place or nuclear issues have occurred in Indigenous countries around the world, so it’s a global issue for sure,” said Ms Lester, a Western Desert Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara woman.
Her grandparents were part of efforts to prevent the establishment of a nuclear waste facility in SA.
She took her daughters to Hiroshima in November 2015 where Yami Lester’s experience was well understood.
“It’s important for us to continue on sharing that story for the next generation to know the story and [then] the next generation to know the story,” she said.
The historic treaty pushed by ICAN needs 50 nations to sign on before it will be activated.
Australia has yet to join the treaty.
Australia’s Ben Heard – fake environmentalist and pro nuclear shill
Jim Green Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/– 9 October 17 Ben Heard is a fake environmentalist ‒ Australia’s version of Patrick Moore. Heard’s last gig was for the COAL MINING funded Minerals Council of Australia! Corporations can donate to Heard’s fake environment group and he “will respect the company’s right to privacy if desired”. Since he openly takes money from coal miners and murderous military corporations, I shudder to think who he’ll accept secret donations from.
Heard got a $55,000 government grant to come up with his lunatic Gen 4 proposal and, needless to say, he refused to repay one cent of the money.
#followthemoney
http://www.archive.foe.org.au/…/oz/ben-heard-decarbonisesa
9 October REneweconomy news
RenewEconomy-
Another blackout, another tweet, and Tesla’s Musk sets out to save another gridCould Tesla come to the rescue of Puerto Rico’s hurricane decimated grid with solar and battery storage? Twitter says, “let’s talk.”
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CleanTech Index: Even the miners are supporting it now!Australia’s CleanTech Index outperformed the ASX in September and in Q1 of the financial year – just as it has over the last three years.
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The case against Tesla and battery storage just hit peak stupidAFR’s Chanticleer column writes article about battery storage so absurd and stupid it beggars belief that it was published. Such is the state of the energy debate in Australia. It’s not just politicians and vested interests that are letting consumers down, it’s the media.
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Coalition wrestles with internal demons on clean energy targetCoalition had sought to dodge CET because renewables were too costly, now it is arguing they are too cheap. But Frydenberg says renewables without storage are a “costly burden.”
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Know your NEM: Frydenberg’s election losing speechIf a CET is abandoned, it will be NSW that will be thrown under a bus. Victoria and QLD have renewable share policies that incentivise new generation. NSW has no policy and despite being an energy importer is not getting its share of new generation investment.
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Building and precincts to go carbon neutralThe Turnbull Government today launched the National Carbon Offset Standard for buildings and precincts
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World Solar Challenge is an adventure in engineering and enduranceThe World Solar Challenge begins this weekend when more than 40 solar cars brave the Australian Outback on a 3000-kilometre journey from Darwin to Adelaide.
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S.A. tender attracts 60 proposals for “next-gen” renewables and storageS.A. gets 60 proposals for batteries, bioenergy, pumped hydro, thermal, compressed air and flywheel technologies in response to its tender for next-gen renewables and storage.
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) started in Melbourne
Nobel peace prize awarded to Melbourne-born International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/nobel-peace-prize-awarded-to-melbourneborn-international-campaign-to-abolish-nuclear-weapons-20171006-gyw4wh.html Melissa Cunningham
During a time when the risk of nuclear conflict is imminent, the prestigious Nobel peace prize has been awarded to a Melbourne-born advocacy group that pushed to establish the first treaty to ban nuclear weapons.
The Nobel Committee honoured the now Geneva-based group, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.”
The group worked to advance the negotiations that led to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was passed earlier this year at the United Nations.
In July, 122 nations voted to pass the treaty, but nuclear-armed states including the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France stayed out of the talks.
Australia is also yet to sign the treaty.
Australia must prepare for super-hot days
Dehydration, death and power cuts: What 50C days would look like in Australia ABC NEWS, 6 OCT 17, The Conversation By Liz Hanna, Australian National University Australia is hot. But future extreme hot weather will be worse still, with new research predicting that Sydney and Melbourne are on course for 50 degrees Celsius summer days by the 2040sif high greenhouse emissions continue.
That means that places such as Perth, Adelaide and various regional towns could conceivably hit that mark even sooner.
This trend is worrying, but not particularly surprising given the fact that Australia is setting hot weather records at 12 times the pace of cold ones. But it does call for an urgent response.
Most of us are used to hot weather, but temperatures of 50℃ present unprecedented challenges to our health, work, transport habits, leisure and exercise.
Humans have an upper limit to heat tolerance, beyond which we suffer heat stress and even death. Death rates do climb on extremely cold days, but increase much more steeply on extremely hot ones.
While cold weather can be tackled with warm clothes, avoiding heat stress requires access to fans or air conditioning, which is not always available……….
Preparing ourselves
Last year, the Australian Summit on Extreme Heat and Health warned that the health sector is underprepared to face existing heat extremes.
The health sector is concerned about Australia’s slow progress and is responding with the launch of a national strategy for climate, health and well-being.
Reinstating climate and health research, health workforce training and health promotion are key recommendations.
There is much more to be done, and the prospect of major cities sweltering through 50C days escalates the urgency.
Two key messages arise from this. The first is that Australia urgently needs to adapt to the extra warming.
Heat-wise communities (or “heat-safe communities” in some states) — where people understand the risks, protect themselves and look after each other — are vital to limit harm from heat exposure.
The health sector must have the resources to respond to those who succumb. Research, training and health promotion are central.
The second message is that nations across the world need to improve their efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions, so as to meet the Paris climate goal of holding global warming to 1.5C.
If we can do that, we can stave off some of the worst impacts. We have been warned.
Liz Hanna is an honorary senior fellow at the Australian National University.
Originally published in The Conversation http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-06/50-degree-days-what-would-sydney-and-melbourne-look-like/9024914
Hypocrisy of Gareth Evans – supposedly promotes nuclear disarmament, but now plugging for nuclear waste importing
Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are intrinsically connected. The shonky 2016 South Australian plan to import nuclear wastes was intended to promote the global nuclear industry, as Gareth Evans well knows
Paul Waldon Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, 7 Oct 17 Thursdays Advertiser story: Gareth Evans calling to resuscitate the dead program of South Australia being the worlds nuclear waste dump with desire to debate on something that should remain buried, or is he a “Mass Debater” trying to satisfy himself. However he has condemned the “NIMBY’s”, who he has claimed employed arguments by activists for their roll in the death of a program he supports.https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
Australia’s choice: renewable energy superpower or Asian Pacific rust belt
It’s our choice: renewable energy superpower or Asian Pacific rust belt, Guardian
Pat Conroy, 6 Oct 17,
If we stop fighting change, Australia can be the land of endless energy powering generations of manufacturing industries The shift to decarbonise our economy is portrayed by opponents of such a shift as the death of Australia as an energy superpower.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
As the world decarbonises, if we plan well, Australia can not only continue to be an energy exporting superpower, we should also enjoy a manufacturing boom.
We need to acknowledge that exports of coal for power generation, that is thermal coal, will decline significantly over the next few decades. We will continue to export metallurgical coal, which makes up 65% of our coal exports by value, for a long time to come as there is no other way of manufacturing steel. However, we are in position to replace the thermal coal exports with liquid sunlight.
Around the world, scientists and policymakers are working on the concept of “Power2gas”. Power2gas is driven by a simple issue: how to store and transport solar and wind power for later use.
This is a great way of using solar or wind power when there is a surplus of electricity supply in the grid, for example in the middle of the night, when the wind might be blowing hard but people and factories don’t need the power. The electricity is practically free, and it is a very cost-effective way of producing hydrogen from water.
This hydrogen can then be used to fuel cars or to bulk out natural gas to be burned to create electricity; both options are completely carbon neutral……..
The shift to renewables also offers Australia the opportunity to revitalise the manufacturing sector.
As the world decarbonises its electricity supply, the nations that can transform into manufacturing powerhouses are those with the cheapest energy, which will be the nations with the best renewable energy resources.
Australia has the highest average solar radiation per square metre of any continent in the world.
This power can be made reliable and despatchable when coupled with gas peaking plants initially and then pumped hydro and battery storage.
In this scenario Australia can be the land of cheap and endless energy which could power generations of metal manufacturing and other energy intensive manufacturing industries.
We are also well poised to be the capital of mining and processing of key inputs for the renewables revolution. We are the second largest producer of rare earths, we supply 41% of the world’s lithium and we have 12.4% of global copper reserves. These are all crucial materials for clean energy and battery manufacture.
At the moment Australia as a renewable energy export superpower, land of energy intensive manufacturing and home of “renewable metals” processing is merely one of many potential outcomes.
If we continue to bury our heads in the sand and fight change, another outcome is almost assured. In this scenario, we will become the rust belt economy of the Asia Pacific. The home of high electricity prices, the home of broken down, old power plants, the home of unrealised potential and the home of a very gloomy future. It is our choice.
- Pat Conroy is the federal member for Shortland and shadow assistant minister for climate change and energy and shadow assistant minister for infrastructure https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/05/its-our-choice-renewable-energy-superpower-or-asian-pacific-rust-b
9 October REneweconomy news
RenewEconomy-
California rejects gas peaker plant, seeks clean energy alternativesCalifornia regulator rejects proposal to refurbish a gas peaking plant, paving the way for a solar plus storage solution instead.
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Carnegie turns wave energy focus to Albany after winning W.A. grantCarnegie wins WA tender for wave energy project, switching focus to Albany for a potential 100MW facility but apparently delaying deployment of first 1MW unit.
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Disasters must force insurers into climate actionIf ever you needed to quantify the cost of a decade of toxic debate around energy policy, insurance industry earnings would be a good place to start.
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New Energy Solar to acquire 130MW portfolio of PV plants from Cypress Creek RenewablesFourteen plants will serve customers in North Carolina and Oregon.
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General Motors pledge for “all EV future” will keep Big Oil up at nightGM, Ford, and China strongly embrace electric cars, signaling trouble for Big Oil.
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Why are we still pursuing the Adani Carmichael mine?Why, if Adani’s gigantic Carmichael coal project is so on-the-nose for the banks and so environmentally destructive, are the federal and Queensland governments so avid in their support of it?
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EVs and storage: Lithium’s wild ride and why it will be bigger than LNGThe market for lithium, storage and gigafactories will rival that of Australia’s LNG boom. It will be a wild ride, particularly for Australian lithium companies, but Australian policies remain a disgrace because the government wants to censor talk about carbon.
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Australia Defence looks to solar power to cut costs, lift securityDefence Department seek solar power to reduce costs and improve energy security at satellite tracking base, in first major push into solar power.
Tony Abbott calls on Turnbull govt to change laws, and develop nuclear and coal power
Tony Abbott seems to be a very confused person. He certainly is not following the nuclear lobby script – “that nuclear fixes climate change” – hell – Tony doesn’t even believe that climate change, if it exists at all, matters!
He’s supposed to be a Liberal – I thought that Liberals didn’t believe in socialism – that is – governments taking over industries – but he wants to have government run coal power stations (or more correctly government run stranded assets?)
And, poor Tony – is under the illusion that he knows anything at all about science – and that his knowledge is better than that of researchers at Australian National University.
Tony Abbott says nuclear power should be part of Australia’s energy mix THE AUSTRALIAN GREG BROWN, Canberra @gregbrown_TheOz , 5 Oct 17 Tony Abbott has called on the Turnbull government to change laws to allow for the construction of nuclear power plants.
The former prime minister said nuclear power should be part of Australia’s energy mix, as well as government-funded coal power plants.
“If we ever do need zero emissions baseload power the only reliable way of getting it is nuclear, currently nuclear is illegal under federal law, well that law should be changed,” Mr Abbott told 2GB radio on Wednesday.
Mr Abbott was critical of a government advertisement played during the AFL and NRL grand finals that mentioned the electricity system was in “transition”……
“If the private sector won’t build new coal fired power stations because of political risk, well then the government must……
Mr Abbott also attacked research by the Australian National University which predicted Sydney and Melbourne would have 50 degree days by the end of the century, labelling the researchers “group thinkers”.
“I think people are thoroughly sick of this kind of alarmism,” he said.
“I don’t think we should take this so-called research very seriously and the researcher in question just few months ago was saying that she didn’t think she could have a baby because that would exacerbate climate change.
“I think this is just alarmist nonsense.” http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbott-says-nuclear-power-should-be-part-of-australias-energy-mix/news-story/2fe5a0f41526d
Nuclear Reactor for Burrinjuck Dam – says Rob Parker of Nuclear For Climate Australia
Nuclear debate: Burrinjuck Dam a potential site, Yass Tribune,
Rob Parker, who coordinates Nuclear for Climate Australia (NCA), argued politicians should not shy away from nuclear energy.
In southern NSW, NCA has identified Marulan, Burrinjuck and the Shoalhaven as three of 18 potential sites for nuclear reactors, envisaged to be constructed by 2040 and provide 140.9 terawatts of energy annually.
Mr Parker ran unsuccessfully as a Labor candidate for Goulburn in 2007 and as an independent in 2011. But he says his views are not political, other than to shatter notions………
Burrinjuck Dam cited for nuclear reactor
Mr Parker argued that nuclear energy needed to be 80 per cent of the mix due to climate change. He said the best locations were those near water, rail and the transmission grid.
“Yass has a high viability because of the dam. It also has a good grid connection and good geology,” he said.
NCA proposes that cooling in Burrinjuck would be a hybrid wet-dry process, with water being drawn from Burrinjuck Dam to a storage reservoir at the power station.
However, Ms Goward said “those of us who live here would recall the last serious drought, when the levels of the Burrinjuck Dam were dangerously low”.
“I do not believe the community nor this government would support the use of Burrinjuck Dam as part of a nuclear facility,” she said.
Mr Parker believed Mr Barilaro was raising the possibility of smaller modular reactors being developed across more sites, which did not involve significantly opening up the grid or a large water supply.
He also maintained that nuclear was becoming more price competitive due to the combined effects of electricity generation at $105/MWh in 2018 and the likelihood of increased network costs. Premier Gladys Berejiklian has ruled out nuclear reactors. http://www.yasstribune.com.au/story/4965939/nuclear-debate-burrinjuck-dam-a-potential-site/
Australia should cease to be subservient to USA foreign policy – John Hewson
John Hewson: We need some homegrown diplomacy in North Korea http://www.smh.com.au/comment/john-hewson-we-need-an-independent-position-on-north-korea-20171005-gyuojr.html John Hewson
The evolving tragedy that is North Korea is now at the mercy of a mere miscalculation, or accident, an isolated piece of stupidity, or a Trump shot from the hip – even just a piece of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) dropping on Japan.
This vicarious situation necessitates Australia adopting a strong, independent, foreign policy stance on this challenge, in our national interest. The inflammatory rhetoric from both Trump and Kim Jong-un seems to have no limit, but achieves very little, except more missiles and tests from Pyongyang, and more threats of military options/retaliation from the US.
Sanctions are important, especially now they have been given greater grunt by China, but they will take many months to be fully effective. Clearly, military engagement would be catastrophic, so every effort should be made to foster effective diplomatic engagement and, ultimately, hopefully, negotiation. Obviously, the major powers, the US, China, Russia and Japan, would be fundamental to any effective resolution.
In this context, Australia needs to consider what more we can do, if anything, as a middle-ranking power, but capable, at times, of punching above our weight, especially from the point of view of our national interests.
I fear that we are far too embedded in the US position, and where it may go. I am concerned that our political leadership is simply happy to be subservient to the US, leaving them, Trump, to define us. Yet, we could play a more significant role, diplomatically, in attempting to manage the emerging crisis.
In attempting to understand and strategise on how events might unfold, we would have to contemplate the possibility, even if we gave it a low probability, that an effective target for North Korean aggression could be Pine Gap – it would not kill many of us, but would represent a very significant blow to US intelligence capability.
To be absolutely clear, despite all the US bluster, I sincerely doubt that Pyongyang will ever be the aggressor, would ever initiate a war. Apparently, China has told the North Koreans that they will only come to their defence if they are attacked, but not if they are the aggressor. But have no doubt, the nuclear tests, and rocket launches, will continue, with rockets directed towards say Guam, but to land outside their territorial waters.
The point is that we need to look after our own interests, and position ourselves most effectively, from that perspective. In these terms, we could announce a desire to establish an embassy in Pyongyang, with a view to opening and developing a dialogue, perhaps, ultimately leading to a resumption of the Six Party talks.
Other back channels could also be exploited. For example, I was somewhat surprised that our Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, didn’t create the opportunity to meet with her North Korean counterpart at the recent UN meetings. Australia could also play a significant role in co-ordinating the responses of many of our Asian neighbours, from sanctions to missile interception and defence capabilities.
We presently run our “diplomacy” with North Korea, with a non-resident ambassador, based in Seoul, making trips up North. This would surely be insulting to the North Koreans, and easily dispensed with as just another “branch of the US”. It doesn’t begin to give Pyongyang the global recognition that it so desperately craves.
We need to be seen to be able to stand on our own two feet, and we might be surprised at just how much influence we could achieve.
Despite all the sabre rattling and inflammatory rhetoric, the world needs a diplomatic solution on North 
Korea. Sanctions may ultimately force Pyongyang to the negotiating table, but there will be no alternative to face-to-face, hard-headed negotiations that, surely, must initially accept North Korea as an emerging nuclear power, and then focus on deterrence. Think about it from their point of view. The world seems to happily accept countries such as India, Pakistan, and Israel, as nuclear powers, but where is the balance of risks? These are risks that we don’t want to talk about, while at the same time saying that North Korea is a “clear and present danger”.
The government needs to be prepared to discuss publicly its assessment of the North Korean situation. I really don’t understand why we don’t use the processes of Parliament, and encourage a parliamentary debate, leading to a broader debate across civil society.
All too often, the way government has worked in this country is that government closes down debate on an issue, calls all the shots, and, in the end, we drift into a situation that is not necessarily in our national 
interest. Recall the futility of Howard’s sycophantic support of Bush junior in the Iraq war. We never should have been involved.
On North Korea, we are again letting the issue drift, driven by the possible irrationality of the US. We will end up where, in our national interest, we won’t want to be. Yet, we could play a globally significant role in resolving the matter.
John Hewson is a professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy and a former leader of the Liberal Party.
Australian and international scientists’ desperate race to save the great Barrier Reef
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Scientists have become angry! #ClimateChange #Coral #StopAdani
The amazing biological fixes that could help save the Great Barrier Reef October John Pratt 3 Oct 2017
In just the past two years, up to half the coral on the Great Barrier Reef has died.
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Can We Save the Reef? #Catalyst #Science #StopAdani #ClimateChange
Off Australia’s northeast coast lies a wonder of the world; a living structure so big it can be seen from space, more intricate and complex than any city, and so diverse it hosts a third of all fish species in Australia. John Pratt 3 Oct 17
The Great Barrier Reef as we know it — 8,000 years old and home to thousands of marine species — is dying in our lifetime.
Can We Save the Reef?The epic story of Australian and international scientists who are racing to understand our greatest natural wonder, and employing bold new science to save it. VisitJohn
6 October More REneweconomy news
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Australia adds 97MW rooftop solar in September, set for record 1GW in 2017Australia maintains strong pace of rooftop solar installations in September, and is now set to break through the 1GW annual instal milestone for the first time in 2017.
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CS Energy signs 10 year agreement with Kennedy Energy ParkAnother page in Queensland’s renewable energy boom story has been turned with Queensland Government-Owned generator – CS Energy – entering a 10 year-agreement with the 60 megawatt Kennedy Energy Park.Stunning new low for solar PV as even IEA hails “age of solar”Saudi solar tender attracts stunning low bid of $US17.9/MWh, as even the conservative IEA hails a “new era of solar.” And while Australia currently enjoys an investment boom, a new report by Climate Council says “politics” is the only major barrier to a high penetration renewable grid.
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Samsung chosen for new 30MW battery storage facility in S.A.Samsung batteries to be used in new 30MW battery storage project next to create reenables-based micro-grid in South Australia.
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Australia’s first solar farm co-located with wind park begins productionGullen Range solar farm is the first to be paired with a wind farm, but is just one of a number of wind-solar hybrids planned for Australia.
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In energy and transportation, stick it to the orthodoxy!At most, the current orthodoxy – despite its renewable energy, electric vehicles and energy efficiency – will result in flat or gently declining emissions. It’s time to stick it up the orthodoxy!
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US plan to defibrillate failing coal plants is part of a global trendRick Perry’s plan to require increased payments to some coal plants is part of a global trend as the coal lobby desperately tries to rescue failing coal plants.
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Many utilities believe cyberattacks could bring down the electric distribution gridCoupled with anticipated risk to employee and customer safety and physical assets, unprepared distribution utilities must act now to improve cybersecurity capabilities.
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Romilly Madew wins prestigious international sustainability awardRomilly Madew, CEO of GBCA, has been awarded the prestigious WorldGBC Chairman’s Award for her work to advance sustainable building globally.Energy Efficiency Market Report: Slow transition for lighting creditsSpot market jumps to highest levels since May as staged transition unveiled to changes in credits for lighting upgrades.
Nuclear shill group on the move in New South Wales
Rob Parker injects nuclear 
into energy debate, Goulburn Post 
@ThrowerLouise,
Rob Parker, who coordinates Nuclear for Climate Australia (NCA), argued politicians should not shy away from nuclear energy. In southern NSW NCA has identified Marulan, Yass and the Shoalhaven as three of 18 potential sites for nuclear reactors.
Mr Parker ran unsuccessfully as a Labor candidate for Goulburn in 2007 and as an independent in 2011. But he says his views have little to do with politics, other than to shatter notions.
He was speaking about the latest tit-for-tat between shadow State energy spokesman Adam Searle and Goulburn MP Pru Goward. Mr Searle last week said Deputy Premier John Barilaro should “come clean” about his social media post on Thursday.
“We could have them (small nuclear reactors) operating here in a decade – which is not long for the energy industry…,” it stated.
Mr Searle said it was the second time Mr Barilaro had raised the possibility of nuclear energy in the State, the first time being in May when he was “prepared to talk about it as an option.”
“He can’t just float an idea like this without being specific. He should be clear with the public on where he thinks the nuclear reactors should be. A pro- nuclear power group is on the record suggesting reactors should be in the Goulburn electorate – does Mr Barilaro agree?
“Our farmers’ clean and green reputation is known throughout the world but a nuclear industry in these areas would end all that.”
Mr Searle told The Post the technology was a “silly idea” given there were no apparent solutions for dumping nuclear waste and required a “huge amount” of water….
The consultant civil engineer [Parker] said one of the great problems with renewables supported by gas was that “they entrenched failure while giving the impression of achievement.” …….
Mr Parker argued that nuclear energy needed to be 80 per cent of the mix due to climate change.
The NCA has listed 18 possible nuclear reactor sites on its website, including Yass, Marulan and Shoalhaven which could be constructed by 2040 and provide 149 terrawatts of energy annually.
Mr Parker said he considered many locations but the best ones were those near water, rail and the transmission grid…….. He maintained the Snowy Mountains area could work given its plentiful water reservoirs. Yass was also close to the Burrinjuck storage.
Mr Parker believed Mr Barilaro was raising the possibility of smaller modular reactors being developed across more sites, which did not involve significantly opening up the grid or a large water supply.
He also maintained that nuclear was becoming more price competitive due to the combined effects of electricity generation at $105/MWh in 2018 and the likelihood of increased network costs.
He will address the Australian Nuclear Association conference in Sydney this weekend. He will argue nuclear energy will not only restore business confidence and energy price stability but increase Australia’s resilience in the face of increasing climate change.
But Premier Gladys Berejiklian has ruled out nuclear reactors. http://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/4962964/nuclear-debate-takes-off/
1 This month
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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