Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund set up to funnel billions to Adani, Independent Australia Mark Zanker 15 July 2017, The NAIF was set up to allow the Coalition Government to pump billions of dollars of public money into Adani’s Galilee Basin coal mine and other coal mining projects, writes former public servant Mark Zanker.
THE Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility(NAIF) was set up ostensibly is to fund the states and territories to carry out infrastructure works to assist economic growth and increased population in northern Australia. However, a close look at the bill, and the people and circumstances surrounding it, suggests that it is, in fact, a tiny fig leaf behind which the Federal Government seeks to hide its desire to shovel billions of dollars of taxpayers money into Adani’s Galilee Basin coal mine project.
The legislation precludes the appointment to the board of representatives of traditional owners, pastoralists, scientists, environmentalists, the tourism industry, and historians. These groups also have significant expertise in northern Australia — pastoral, cultural, spiritual, historical and scientific. Pastoralism, aquaculture, tourism, including conventional, cultural and ecological tourism, are very important industries in northern Australia, but none of them have a seat at the table here.
With the possible exception of Innisfail Mayor Bill Shannon, the board members of the NAIFall have strong links to the mining industry. Chair Sharon Warburton was a board member of Gina Rinehart’s Fortescue Metals Group, and previously worked at Rio Tinto and other resources companies. Continue reading →
July 15, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics |
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Zibelman is not on board the coal-power train with former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and Jones.
Views such as Jones’s are alien to virtually anyone who works in – or closely observes – the energy industry.
Energy executives are impressed. “I was quite buoyed by Audrey’s approach on demand response,” said Steven Neave, head of electricity networks for Powercor and Citipower, the largest Victorian distributor, who attended the CEDA lunch.
Zibelman said while the CET and consistent national policy would be useful for energy companies – because it would make their investment decisions easier – it wouldn’t make much difference to AEMO’s actions because the shift to renewables is happening and they have to deal with it.
How has she done this? In one word, “energy”.
Energy policy has become one of the most polarising issues in the country. Electricity and gas prices are soaring, blackouts and shortages plagued South Australia, NSW and Victoria last spring and summer, and debates about whether wind and solar power are to blame – even whether they can “kill people” – have hit fever pitch.
Zibelman landed in this cauldron in March, fresh from New York, to run the Australian Energy Market Operator – one of three agencies responsible for delivering stable, secure and affordable energy markets.
She is a cleanskin in the local energy debate but is hugely experienced, most recently as chair of the New York state utilities regulator–- responsible for implementing New York’s pro-wind and solar “Reforming the Energy Vision” plan – under Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo. Before that she was chief operating officer of PJM, a huge utility company covering 13 north-eastern states and Washington DC. Continue reading →
July 15, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics |
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Josh Frydenberg warns states against going it 
alone on clean energy target, The Age, Adam Gartrell, 14 July 17 The Turnbull government has warned the states their threat to “go it alone” on a clean energy target will only create chaos and inefficiency in the nation’s electricity system.
Energy ministers will clash on Friday as the states seek to pressure the Turnbull government to decide whether it will adopt a clean energy target – the key recommendation of Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s review of Australia’s energy security – despite ongoing internal divisions over the policy proposal.
Led by South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis, the Labor states on Thursday threatened to bypass the federal government altogether. Without swift progress on Friday they would ask the Australian Energy Market Commission to model how a state-based target would work, Mr Koutsantonis said.
“The time to act is now – Australian households and businesses cannot be held hostage by the impotence of the federal Liberal government,” he said.
But federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg cautioned against the move, urging patience from the states…..
The renewed debate over Finkel came as a Liberal backbencher came under heavy fire for suggesting “people will die” as a result of renewable energy subsidies……http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/josh-frydenberg-warns-states-against-going-it-alone-on-clean-energy-target-20170713-gxafok.html
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, energy, politics |
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What Elon Musk’s investment tells us about our energy crisis, The Age, Perry Williams and Jason Scott JULY 14 2017 – Elon Musk’s intervention in Australia’s energy crisis is widening a divide over the future of coal.
The billionaire Tesla founder, who’s promised to help solve South Australia’s clean energy obstacles, sees no place for the fossil fuel. That conflicts with the federal government’s push for it remaining a mainstay source of electricity generation, as well as the “clean, beautiful coal” technologies that US President Donald Trump sees helping to save American mining jobs.
“Coal doesn’t have a long-term future,” Musk told reporters in Adelaide last week during a short trip to Australia. “The writing’s on the wall.” His declaration in energy-strapped South Australia, where the 46-year-old entrepreneur announced plans to build the world’s biggest battery to support the state’s blackout-plagued power grid, has rankled politicians.
Energy minister Josh Frydenberg, 45, accused the state of tapping a celebrity to paper over its patchy clean energy record. Tesla’s battery plan “is a lot of sizzle for very little sausage”, Frydenberg, a member of the conservative Liberal-led federal government, said on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, 50, said Musk’s plan “doesn’t make a hell of a lot of difference” to the nation’s struggles over energy security.
Most of Australia’s states and territories – free to determine their own energy and climate policies independent of the national government – beg to differ. Just hours after Musk’s announcement, the neighbouring state of Victoria closed the door on new coal-fired power stations, saying energy companies would rather invest in renewables.
Adani project
Queensland, where India’s Adani Group is planning to develop the $16.5 billion Carmichael coal mine, expects a move to clean energy will completely wipe out its carbon emissions by 2050.
Energy policy is a fraught subject with a push by the majority of Australians for more renewable power sources from the Australian majority is clashing with the government’s political imperative to keep a lid on soaring power prices. Currently, some 76 per cent of Australia’s electricity is drawn from coal-fired power stations which, while a cheap supply source, are at odds with a commitment to lower climate emissions……
The economics of building new coal plants don’t stack up and increasingly renewables will dominate base-load power, AGL chairman Jeremy Maycock said last week. Australians overwhelmingly want the government to focus on clean energy, according to a June poll by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.
‘Highly improbable’
“It’s highly improbable that AGL will be constructing new coal-fired power stations because we don’t think the economics are likely to favour that,” Maycock said in a phone interview. “As the largest generator, we want to play our fair share in the country’s emissions reduction targets.”
For Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, banging the drum on coal is proving a treacherous task…….
the existing and perceived political and environmental costs attached to coal are deterring lenders.
“The high risk and cost associated with new coal plants make investors and financiers run a million miles from it in Australia,” said Ali Asghar, an analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Sydney. “The only way new coal could get built is if the government funds it and indemnifies any private entity against all future carbon risks.”
And doing so makes little sense, given that the cost of building cleaner, so-called high-efficiency, low-emission coal plants in Australia exceeds that of new projects relying on solar, wind, or gas, Asghar said.
“As solar and wind become cheaper and continue to undermine the economics of operating coal, investment in new coal plants become an even riskier proposition.” http://www.theage.com.au/business/energy/what-elon-musks-investment-tells-us-about-our-energy-crisis-20170714-gxb3i7.html
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics, South Australia, Victoria |
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Gore power to you: former vice-president launches Victoria’s green energy plan http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/gore-power-to-you-former-vicepresident-launches-victorias-green-energy-plan-20170713-gxaggu.html, Adam Carey, 13 July 17,
New battery storages that can deliver four hours of power to two regional Victorian towns of 100,000 people, and a solar farm that would power more than 400 trams are key projects in Victoria’s new plan to increase renewable energy supply and reduce reliance on burning coal.
The battery will be up and running by this summer, the state government says, and will provide at least 40 megawatts of power in western Victoria, where the electricity network is relatively weak, boosting reliability in towns including Bendigo, Horsham, Ararat, Red Cliffs and Kerang.
Proposals that Bendigo or Ballarat lose electricity during a record-breaking east coast heatwave in February to guarantee power to NSW were angrily rejected by Victoria’s energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio, who told the Australian Energy Market Operator “it was absolutely not appropriate that Victoria had to pay consequences for failures in New South Wales”.
Victoria’s roll-out of renewable energy supply has gained extra urgency since the April closure of the Hazelwood coal-fuelled generator, which provided 20 per cent of the state’s baseload power supply.
Tenders for the $25 million project are being evaluated by the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning, and is part of a nationwide embrace of battery energy, including Tesla founder Elon Musk’s commitment this month to build the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia.
Grid-scale batteries can store renewable energy to be used at times of peak demand, improving energy security and shielding consumers from severe price spikes.
The Andrews Government announced on Thursday its plan to spend $146 million on a series of renewable energy initiatives in a bid to meet its target of 40 per cent green energy for the state by 2025.
The renewable energy action plan, launched by former US vice-president Al Gore, will underpin the state’s attempt to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
It includes $48.1 million for the purchase of renewable energy certificates, much of which will go towards solar power for Melbourne’s trams.
A 75mw solar farm that will power Melbourne’s 410 trams is due to open in the state’s north-west late next year. The powering of Melbourne’s tram network with solar energy is notional. Electricity from the solar farm will flow into the general power supply and the government will purchase renewable energy certificates for 35mw of power, which is enough to operate the city’s tram system.
The plan also features $8 million for small-scale “micro-grid” initiatives to create power at a local level, independent of the energy grid.
Mr Gore said the renewable energy plan was a “highly impressive” example of a state taking the initiative to create jobs through projects that will cut carbon emissions.
“All over the world there has been a dramatic change in the marketplace, with electricity generated with renewable sources falling below the cost of electricity generated by fossil fuels,” Mr Gore said.
Before taking a short ride on an E-Class tram, Mr Gore predicted Melbourne’s solar-powered trams “will become a symbol of the renewable energy revolution worldwide”.
Energy and Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the renewable energy plan “represents the most significant government investment in renewable energy in Victoria’s history”.
She said the plan would also drive down power prices for Victorians, who face a 15 to 20 per cent hike in their power bills from January 1.
Ms D’Ambrosio said the global economy was moving away from coal-generated power and Victoria had no option but to head in the same direction.
“When we stand still at a national level we are actually taking Australians backwards,” she said.
“The only investment that is occurring globally in new generation is around renewable energy.”
The government’s launch of a new renewable energy plan follows recent comments by Ms D’Ambrosio that Victoria might work with other states and set a renewable energy target to the exclusion of the Turnbull government.
The Turnbull government has not committed to a renewable energy target, despite it being one of the recommendations of the Finkel review it commissioned into Australia’s energy needs.
State energy ministers are due to meet with federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg this week, however, Mr Frydenberg has signalled there will be no resolution on a clean energy target for Australia at the meeting, because the federal cabinet is still debating the issue.
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
energy, Victoria |
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Broadcaster Alan Jones launches ugly attack on AEMO’s Zibelman http://reneweconomy.com.au/broadcaster-alan-jones-launches-ugly-attack-on-aemos-zibelman-66561/, By Giles Parkinson on 14 July 2017
Prominent radio Broadcaster Alan Jones has launched an extraordinary and unhinged attack on Audrey Zibelman, the new head of the Australian Energy Market Operator, saying “that woman” should be “run out of town.”
In a reprise of Jones’ nasty attacks on former prime minister Julia Gillard over the carbon tax, and on the same day that the head of the Coalition’s energy policy committee Craig Kelly said “people will die” from renewable energy, Jones described Zibelman as “ideologically constipated” and “full of rubbish.”
“The woman is a global warming advocate and a promoter of wind turbines,” Jones said, while repeatedly confusing the name of the organisation she runs. “That woman, watch out for her, she should be run out of town”.
Zibelman was appointed early this year and has impressed nearly everyone in the industry with her drive, clarity and understanding of the issues in how to navigate the path through the energy transition.
Her crime? Her apparent support for renewable energy – which she accepts is the cheapest form of new generation, and her push for smart, demand side responses which she says is cleaner and cheaper than building new fossil fuel plants.
Jones was also apoplectic about Zibelman’s acceptance of climate science – which he rejects – and her comments that the Hazelwood closure would not put Australia’s energy security at risk. Jones described her as a “global warming hoax alarmist.”
Zibelman led the New York state’s ground-breaking “reform the energy vision” program which looked at using localised, renewable energy and micro-grids to boost energy security after Hurricane Sandy destroyed the centralised energy infrastructure and left millions without power for weeks.
Jones’ bombast is well known. But it is of great concern that the conservative attacks on all things clean energy – solar, wind, battery storage, carbon pricing and vehicle emissions – have now turned personal and ugly as the campaign by the fossil fuel lobby and their apologists turns even more toxic.
Conservative commentators, almost all as one, turned their barbs on chief scientist Alan Finkel even before the release of his report, for failing to toe the fossil fuel line.
They have continued relentlessly since the release and when it appeared it may be possible that the Coalition might consider his recommended clean energy target, and as Finkel and numerous others made the point that renewables are clearly cheaper than new coal or gas plants.
Interestingly, Jones wasn’t the only one to attack Zibelman, with Alan Moran, the former Institute of Public Affairs regulatory boss, accusing her of “being a refugee” from Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid.
Jones also led a conservative attack against Tesla found and CEO Elon Musk this week after the announcement of the 100MW/129MW battery storage installation in South Australia, apparently on the belief that it was designed to power the whole state, not just make up any potential shortfalls and boost grid security.
“Elon Musk won’t be able to produce a thirtieth of the energy demand of South Australia,” Jones said, echoing comments made by federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg, adding that Musk should also be “sent home” and not paid any money.
Jones was the instigator of a series of extraordinary attacks on former PM Gillard at the height of the carbon tax debate, appearing in Canberra, along with Tony Abbott, amid signs of “ditch the witch” and calling for her to be put “into a chaff bag” and hoisted into the sea.
Jones also led the “wind fraud” rally in Canberra in 2013 which barely attracted 100 people, and forced to admit he “got it wrong” after making ludicrous claims about the cost of renewable energy on the ABC’s Q&A program in 2015.
In 2012, in a humiliating episode, Jones and his Sydney radio station 2GB agreed with the country’s radio broadcasting watchdog to undergo training in fact-checking after complaints about a statement Jones had made about climate change.
Clearly, the training did not work.
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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Queensland’s door would be open to Elon Musk: Trad, The Age, Felicity Caldwell, 13 July 17, Queensland’s door would be open to billionaire Elon Musk if he wanted to talk about a project in the Sunshine State, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said following a leaders’ roundtable featuring former US vice president and climate change activist Al Gore.
Last week, South Australia announced Mr Musk’s Tesla company as the principal builder of the world’s largest lithium ion battery to expand the state’s renewable energy supply.
Mr Musk has promised to have the SA system installed and operating within 100 days, otherwise it will be free.
Ms Trad said Queensland would say yes to Mr Musk if he wanted to turn his attention to the state once the South Australian battery was built. “The door would be absolutely open,” she said.
Ms Trad said Queensland had already released an expression of interest process for a major solar battery manufacturing facility for Townsville…….
Would she hope Mr Musk might come knocking and set up a facility in Townsville?
“I think that would be incredibly exciting for Townsville and for Queensland as a whole,” she said.
On July 11, the Queensland government announced its plan for zero net emissions by 2050 and reducing emissions by 30 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030. Ms Trad spoke to Fairfax Media from Melbourne, where Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have signed a “leadership declaration” at a roundtable attended by Mr Gore, who narrowly lost the 2000 US presidential election……
Australia’s states and ACT have agreed to work together to meet obligations under the Paris Agreement, a zero net carbon emissions by 2050 policy and to share information on their successes.
“We want to share innovation, understanding and learning in this space so that as a nation we can move towards what we committed to do and that is to do our bit, to reduce our emissions and keep global temperatures below an increase of 2 degrees,” Ms Trad said.
“We know that this [the Paris Agreement] is a big challenge, we know this is something that Australia signed up for.
“But what we also know is that the Turnbull government has failed to show the necessary leadership for us to move in that direction.”……http://www.theage.com.au/queensland/queenslands-door-would-be-open-to-elon-musk-trad-20170713-gxaty0.html
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
energy, Queensland |
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Redflow seeking $14.5m, shifts focus on lead-acid market
Redflow taps shareholders to back new focus on market “sweet-spot” including south-east Asia’s off-grid, telecom, commercial and industrial sectors.
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What people just don’t get about electric vehicles
Germany’s election campaign shows we still have to get our heads around how fundamentally different electric vehicles will be.
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How did Australia get this stupid about clean energy?
Australia’s public debate around clean energy plumbs new depths, with rebooted attacks on wind and solar, new attacks on battery storage and vehicle emission standards, and targeted attacks on key individuals. How did Australia get this stupid? And this ugly?
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True Value Solar announces new managing director
One of Australia’s largest independent residential solar installers announces the appointment of former Conergy executive David McCallum as managing director.
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CEFC tips $150m into logistics park, to slash truck freight emissions
CEFC backs landmark NSW project to slash freight transport emissions by shifting containers from road to rail, and powering operations with renewable energy.
July 14, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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The power of renewables and the South Australian example, Independent Australia 12 July 2017 While the Turnbull Government persists in spruiking “clean coal”, renewables continue to be the quiet achievers in energy generation. Jade Manson reports.
THE FUTURE of Australia’s energy generation has been a topic of impassioned debate in recent years.
This has been spurred on by sharp reductions in the installation price of renewable energy.
Solar and wind energy have now in many cases reached parity with installation prices for coal, and gas and is cheaper in the long-term. In December 2016, the World Economic Forum reported that solar and wind had the same installation price as fossil fuel companies in more than 30 countries. In 2016, clean energy investment grew by almost 50% in Australia. We have reached a tipping point, where investment in renewable energy will continue to rise, while investment in fossil fuels will fall.
Lazard’s energy analysis shows that the levellised cost of energy for wind and solar now outperforms fossil fuel sources of power. Levellised cost represents every cost component – installation, operations and maintenance and fuel costs – divided by the total energy generated during the plant’s lifetime.
Discussions comparing renewable and fossil fuel electricity generation usually centre around the up-front costs and do not consider the generation costs, or the social and environmental consequences of different energy sources. Renewable energy has significantly lower generation costs and does not require continued fuel supply. With installation costs now being similar – and likely to decrease significantly over the next decade – renewable energy is a tremendously worthwhile investment that will break even rapidly and continue to provide returns indefinitely.
This economic competition is making fossil fuel companies nervous and contributing to the heated debate around the issue. Fossil fuel companies still hold a significant amount of power and influence after decades of being at the top of the economic food-chain. Companies such as China National Petroleum, Sinopec Group, Shell Global and ExxonMobil are all in the top ten largest businesses globally, with over $100 billion in annual revenue. These companies are using the wealth they have accumulated since the beginning of the industrial revolution to influence politics and the global market toward their own interests.
This can be seen clearly in the fact that, despite the economic, health and social benefits of renewable energy, those in Parliament continue to support fossil fuel companies……..
Increasing renewable energy investment will also create more jobs and will allow Australians to capitalise on the renewable energy investment boom. While the Coalition declares “coal is good for humanity“, solar jobs are rising and in 2016, made up 665 of open energy job postings. According to Solar Citizens, renewable jobs increased by 34% in the first quarter of 2016. Indeed, data showed that solar positions made up 66% of open energy job postings, against oil with a 21% share and coal with 10%.
Transitioning to renewable energy: The South Australian case
South Australia has sped past its renewable energy target of 50% renewable generation eight years in advance, putting it on track to reach 100% renewable generation by 2030. This should be achieved more easily than in the previous 15 years due to the falling cost of renewable energy.
A deal has recently been made between the South Australian Government and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, to install the world’s largest battery in South Australia………
Electricity prices in South Australia are very high compared to the Eastern States. The Eastern States are part of a highly interconnected grid, while South Australia only connects to Victoria via two locations. Typically 90% of energy prices in South Australia come down to generation (45%) and distribution (45%). The generation component is made up of several power sources, including gas, diesel and renewable energy sources. These suppliers bid into the market, and the lowest bids are accepted by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) until demand is reached. When renewable energy is in the mix, the market price for generation is very low.
The distribution component is a duopoly run by the companies ElectraNet (owned by State Grid Corporation of China, YTL Corporation Malaysia and Hastings Funds Management) and SAPN (owned by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Hong Kong). This international ownership of South Australia’s electricity grid has raised security concerns, as these companies may not act in South Australia’s best interests. A bid by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings to buy the NSW electricity grid was knocked back in 2016, on national security grounds.
Due to lack of competition, there is the potential for unnecessary price increases by the power distribution companies. As renewable energy becomes more prevalent, power distribution will make up a larger share of energy costs and these problems will need to be addressed. Renewable energy infrastructure should lead to reduced electricity prices, due to their significantly decreased running costs. If this is not the case, then it calls into question the pricing by the power suppliers and distribution companies. If pricing becomes disproportionate to the service provided, then the government may need to introduce increased regulation or buy back the grid from private distribution companies.
You can follow Jade Manson on Twitter @JadeAlanaM. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/the-power-of-renewables-and-the-south-australian-example,10495
July 14, 2017
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energy, South Australia |
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Stop trying to save the planet, Matthew Canavan tells Queensland government
Federal minister attracts ridicule after he says state should ‘concentrate on saving jobs today’ instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, Guardian, Michael Slezak, 13 July 17,[article includes many tweets as examples] The federal resources minister, Matthew Canavan, has attracted a slew of criticism after attacking the Queensland government for trying to “save the planet in 2050”.
On Tuesday, Queensland announced it would aim to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. The announcement was far from radical, with identical pledges already made by the Coalition-led New South Wales government, as well as Labor-led Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.
But the move attracted the ire of Queensland-based Canavan, who tweeted: “Instead of trying to save the planet in 2050 the QLD labor should just concentrate on saving jobs today!”…….
it was unclear to many on Twitter why taking action on climate change and growing employment today would be seen as mutually exclusive aims.
Although Queensland’s announcement was unlikely to have much impact on Adani’s plans to build Australia’s biggest coalmine in the state, many people pointed out that coalmining produced relatively few jobs compared with those threatened by climate change.
Craig Kelly, the Liberal MP who chairs the Coalition’s backbench energy committee, was also criticised after he claimed renewable energy would lead to people dying of cold because it was pushing up energy prices.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/13/stop-trying-to-save-the-planet-matthew-canavan-tells-queensland-government
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics |
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‘The island is being eaten’: how climate change is threatening the Torres Strait
In Boigu, part of Australia but just six kilometres from Papua New Guinea, roads are being washed into the sea, Guardian, Ben Doherty and Michael Slezak, 13 July 17, Torres Strait residents face being forced from their homes by climate change, as their islands are lost to rising seas.
On Boigu Island, the most northerly inhabited island in Australia, just six kilometres from Papua New Guinea, the community’s cemetery faces inundation and roads are being washed into the sea. A seawall installed to protect the community is already failing.
Boigu elder Dennis Gibuma says the situation is worsening every season.
“Our seawall is no longer any good,” he says. “When the high tide and strong winds come together, it breaks. We pray we don’t lose our homes. We don’t want to leave this place.”
Masig Island, to the south-east of Boigu, is less than three kilometres long, and just 800m across at its widest point. Also known as Yorke Island, the low-lying coral cay is steadily being lost to the waves.
“The island is being eaten,” says Songhi Billy, an engineering officer on Masig. “This is a big issue. I kind of feel hopeless in a sense. Our land is part of us.
“In the short term, we can do what we can. We can’t stop the erosion, our hope is to slow it down.”
But he says he has to face the possibility that his people may have to abandon their ancestral home.
“Long term, we may have to evacuate the island,” he says. “But I am not going. Slowly, I see Masig Island getting out of something I can control.”………
The precise sea level rise around the Torres Strait, and the projected inundation, has not been calculated but low-lying islands are expected to experience a much greater flooding risk than mainland Australia. The department identifies the remote islands of the Torres Strait as some of the most vulnerable, as does the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which warns communities they may be forced to relocate………
Displacement caused by climate change is forecast to be a driver of massive forced migration movements in the 21st century.
Low-lying islands in the Pacific – and Torres Strait islands like Masig and Boigu – are likely to be at the forefront of forced displacement but large and densely populated countries such as Bangladesh also face widespread inundation.
Some forecasts have predicted up to 150 million people could be forcibly displaced by climate change by 2040 – larger than the record number of people already forced from their homes globally.
The US and other militaries have said that climate change poses the greatest security threat to the Asia-Pacific.
But the global legal framework for resettling people displaced from their homes lost to natural disasters or climate change is unclear. The refugee convention – established in 1951 to regularise the resettlement of those displaced by the second world war – does not recognise someone forced from their home by rising seas, or natural disaster, as requiring protection.
Already, more than a dozen Pacific Islanders have attempted to claim refugee status in New Zealand on the grounds that their homes are uninhabitable because of rising seas or climate-related disaster. All have had their claims rejected.
On Masig Island, Hilda Mosby says climate change is already affecting the marine ecosystems on which communities depend for their livelihoods. Climate changeis already affecting her community “big time”, she says.
But the greater existential threat for her home lies ahead….https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/13/the-island-is-being-eaten-how-climate-change-is-threatening-the-torres-strait
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming |
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Musk bags first Model 3, as Australia implodes over car emission standards
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As Tesla prepares to deliver its potentially game-changing mass market EV, Australia goes into meltdown about the very idea of improving vehicle efficiency.
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Australia needs to cut electricity sector emissions by 60% by 2030
Renewables must play key role in ramping up the abatement from the electricity sector in Australia.
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AEMO: Politics needs to catch up with falling cost of wind, solar, storage
AEMO chief Audrey Zibelman says politics needs to deal with falling cost of wind, solar and batteries, and customer preference around rooftop solar.
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AES, Siemens combine to tackle Tesla, dominate battery storage market
Two of biggest energy companies in the world join forces to dominate global battery storage market, at least at grid scale. Australia is high on their list of targets, with a series of projects that could dwarf Tesla’s newly announced project.
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Genex solar/storage project shortlisted for funds from NAIF
Solar PV and pumped hydro project proposed for abandoned gold mine in north Queensland shortlisted for funding by Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
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Frydenberg says storage ratio for wind/solar to be decided by AEMO
Federal energy minister says AEMO is best placed to assess what storage levels are needed to stabilise Australia’s grid.
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New Energy Security Taskforce prepares Queensland for summer
Securing Queensland’s future energy supply was the number one agenda item when the newly commissioned Queensland Energy Security Taskforce met for the first time today.
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Conservative billionaire building biggest wind farm in heart of coal country
A conservative billionaire is building the country’s largest wind farm. Republican lawmakers want to raise the tax on wind.
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Clean energy spending hits 43% share of total supply investment
Global spending on energy fall by 12% overall in 2016 but clean energy spending is on the up.
July 14, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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Ecocity 2017 World Summit: Cities forge ahead on climate change action http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ecocity-2017-world-summit-cities-forge-ahead-on-climate-change-action/news-story/586aeb5ddd424192ca4643f81aad3f6a IAN ROYALL, Herald Sun July 12, 2017 THE great cities of the world are forging ahead with action on climate change despite US President Donald Trump’s stance on the issue, a global conference in Melbourne has been told.
World city and climate change experts said cities and other levels of government were defying Mr Trump.
Kevin Austin, deputy chief executive of the C40 cities network, said large economies such as California and New York City were still acting on emissions, regardless of national policy.
“There’s an unstoppable movement here and there is no alternative,” he told the Ecocity 2017 World Summit.
Mr Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement last month, as well as taking other measures to counter environmental action. Mr Austin said although Mr Trump said he represented the people of Pittsburgh, not Paris, the mayors of those cities and others reaffirmed their commitment to action on climate change.
John Thwaites, former deputy premier and professorial fellow at Monash University, said Mr Trump’s actions, such as scrubbing climate change from the Environmental Protection Agency, were “the modern-day equivalent of book burning”.
Debra Roberts, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working group, said cities had to lead the way on climate action. “We need an urban revolution because we’re fiddling while Rome burns,” she said.
The conference, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, continue
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming |
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Vehicle emissions standards: Why Australia needs them, and why they’re NOT a carbon tax
Light vehicle emissions standards is good public policy that will deliver savings for motorists and cut Australia’s carbon emissions. No Elvis comeback required.
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Another 1GW solar pipeline flagged, with eye to Australian coal hubs
German Wirsol Energy partners with Australian Renew Estate to announce 1GW+ solar pipeline, including battery ready projects.
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Cutting Edge grid controls could kill need for coal
One of the fiercest defenders of brown coal generators now says they can be replaced with wide adoption of voltage regulation technologies that can make there grid more efficient.
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Canergie’s Grant funding update on wave, microgrid projects
Over the past weeks, Carnegie received approximately $850,000 of grant funding from ARENA and the European Regional Development Fund.
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States threaten to go it alone on clean energy as Coalition loses plot
States threaten to go it alone on clean energy target as influential Coalition MP warns “people will die” because of renewable energy, and conservatives harden opposition to wind and solar and demand Australia returns to 19th century technologies.
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Clean Energy Award finalists leading change in the energy sector
A community mini grid in Victoria which helped customers to halve their power bills over summer, an innovative approach to project finance, and electricity billing based on mobile phone plans are some of the finalists announced today in the 2017 Clean Energy Council Awards.
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Unlocking the potential of Australia’s tidal energy
Australia’s tidal energy resource will be mapped in unprecedented detail in a new study funded by the Commonwealth Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy |
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AEMO cautious about over-loading storage on wind, solar farms http://reneweconomy.com.au/aemo-cautious-about-over-loading-storage-on-wind-solar-farms-18966/, By Sophie Vorrath & Giles Parkinson on 11 July 2017 The head of the Australian Energy Market Operator, Audrey Zibelman, has expressed caution about suggestions that new wind and solar farms should have to match their entire capacity with an equivalent amount of battery storage.
The need for wind and solar farms to include battery storage was raised by chief scientist Alan Finkel in his recently released review, although it left such requirements at the discretion of the AEMO.
However, energy minister Josh Frydenberg has been arguing, in both the Coalition party room and in public lectures, that the ratio should approximate one megawatt hour for every megawatt of installed capacity.
Although many wind and solar farms, both new and existing, are considering adding storage to shift their load or provide network services, the requirement of matching each MW for MWh is seen as overkill, and an attempt to turn wind and solar into baseload generators, when flexibility and reliability is the key.
“The idea that as you put in wind and solar (you need to have a certain amount of dispatchable power), the question becomes, to what level?” Zibelman said when asked by RenewEconomy.
“This is a dynamic issue. So having generators purchase a certain amount (of storage) and thinking (in terms of) once that is done, is probably not going to be the optimal way forward.
“Is that the optimal way to get resources in – in other words to have a static approach – or should we create a dynamic approach where AEMO identifies the amount of reliability that’s required; there’s a mechanism to procure it in the system; and we do it in the most economic way?” Zibelman said.
“We need to make sure the system remains reliable. …The concern I have… is that if you leave it and we set a static number, there’s only one thing that we can be clear about, and that is that it is probably going to be wrong. It’s either going to be too much or too little.
“So we’re going to want think about how do we approach this in a much more dynamic way, with changing the nature of the system.
”So, while I get the desire, I think we would like an opportunity to explore, is that the best result for consumers.”
The CSIRO and Energy Networks Australia have pointed out that most Australian grids will likely not need significant amounts of storage anytime soon because anything less than 30-50 per cent penetrations is “trivial”.
South Australia, however, is reaching saturation, which is why the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery storage project will be located there, followed by others which will allow more wind and solar farms.
Zibelman, speaking at a CEDA conference in Melbourne, said her organisation and others wanted to “get on with it” and implement some of the much needed reforms in the energy market, including some of those identified in the Finkel Review.
“100 per cent of people I have talked to across the industry are saying ‘we’ve got to get on with it,” she said.
“We’re a Coalition of the willing (she said in reference to AEMO and the heads of other institutions such as the Australian Energy Regulator, headed up by Paula Conboy, and the Australian Energy Market Commission, led by John Pierce.
“Paula and John and I want to get on with it. … we’ve got to make these changes. We don’t want to waste this crisis.”
Zibelman said she was looking forward to the COAG meeting on Friday and wants them to endorse broad recommendations of Finkel.
“(We’re not only solving issues for Australia) …we’re solving issues for the rest of the world,” she said. “We have to remember that economics is driving all of this. It’s not just about policy.”
July 14, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, storage |
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Antinuclear 