University of New South Wales team sets new world record for converting sunlight to electricity
New world record set for converting sunlight to electricity http://www.gizmag.com/solar-cell-electricity-efficiency-world-record-unsw/43384/ Eric Mack May 17, 2016 An Australian team has set a new record for squeezing as much electricity as possible out of direct, unfocused sunlight via a new solar cell configuration. Engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) achieved 34.5 percent sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency, a new mark that also comes closer than ever to the theoretical limits of such a system.
UNSW’s Dr. Mark Keevers and Professor Martin Green set the record with a 28 centimeter-square (4.3 sq in), four-junction mini-module embedded in a prism. This new configuration allows the sun’s rays to be split into four bands so that a higher amount of energy can be extracted from each beam.
The same team reached an even higher level of efficiency a few years back using mirrored concentrators that were able to convert 40 percent of incoming sunlight to electricity. However, this new record is the highest level achieved without the use of concentrators.
“What’s remarkable is that this level of efficiency had not been expected for many years,” said Green, citing a German study that set a goal of 35 percent efficiency to be reached by 2050.
The team does not expect that its record-breaking cell configuration will find its way on to home or office rooftops anytime soon, as they are more costly to manufacture. The group is working to reduce the complexity to make them cheaper to produce and sees a future for them on solar towers that make use of concentrating mirrors.
Meanwhile, efficiency gains are also being made in the development of organic solar cells that are cheaper and more flexible. There’s still a long way to go though, as the most recent record for organic photovoltaics set in February was 13.2 percent efficiency. Source: University of New South Wales
No change to Labor’s policy against importing nuclear waste – National President Mark Butler
Labor National President Mark Butler raises doubts about international nuclear waste dump proposed for South Australia, Adelaide Now , 19 May 16 LABOR national president and Port Adelaide MP Mark Butler has poured cold water over the proposal for an international nuclear waste storage facility to be located in South Australia.
The State Government will need federal approval if it decides to adopt Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce’s recommendation for the international waste dump.
Labor’s national policy platform prohibits further Australian involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle beyond uranium mining — including the importation of foreign nuclear waste.
Mr Butler, federal Labor’s environment spokesman, said Wednesday the case was yet to be made for a waste dump in SA.
“I think it’s still a very open question about whether the South Australian community will accept that or not,’’ Mr Butler said during a debate with Environment Minister Greg Hunt at the National Press Club in Canberra.
“Our position as federal Labor is that no case has been made to change our longstanding platform about this issue.’’….http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/labor-national-president-mark-butler-raises-doubts-about-international-nuclear-waste-dump-proposed-for-south-australia/news-story/12626f088948b5b9e72953e65ac2dd30
Remind Labor Party of their staunch policy against nuclear industry expansion
2015 National Policy Platform states:
- Labor will:
- Vigorously and totally oppose the ocean dumping of radioactive waste;
- Prohibit the establishment of nuclear power plants and all other stages of the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia;
- Fully meet all Australia’s obligations as a party to the NPT; and
- Remain strongly opposed to the importation and storage of nuclear waste that is sourced from overseas in Australia.
It would be good if people could contact Butlers office and welcome this comment. And as many as possible contact Labor contacts, candidates and connections to make them aware of this and call for them to echo it.
Maritime Union of Australia will fight plans to import world’s nuclear waste
Despite Northern Territory legislation preventing the transport and storage of nuclear waste, Mr Giles met with the South Australian Premier to discuss the nuclear royal commission findings and to hatch a rail or road transport plan.
MUA Fights Plans to Contaminate Aussie Hands with World’s Nuclear Waste, 18 May 16
The Maritime Union of Australia will fight any plans to allow the world’s spent nuclear fuel rods and radioactive waste to enter Australia through the Port of Darwin.
The MUA is outraged NT Chief Minister Adam Giles has gone out of his way to not only offer to accept the hazardous cargo, but then transport it through Territorian communities to its destination in South Australia.
“Mr Giles is happy to sell out Territorians so that Malcolm Turnbull can use them as a dirty rag for his own personal gain and to benefit his top end of town mates,” MUA NT branch secretary Thomas Mayor said.
“It’s like putting Homer Simpson in charge of nuclear waste and his big business “Mr Burns” mates are rubbing their hands together. All the while Chief Clancy, aka Natasha Griggs, is none the wiser.”
The MUA says the move further compromises Australia’s national security.
“Malcolm Turnbull allowed the strategic Port of Darwin to fall under the control of Chinese company Landbridge, when it was granted a controversial 99 year lease,” Mr Mayor said.
“If his counterpart Adam Giles is successful then he will be allowing a foreign company oversight of high level nuclear waste.
“Turnbull has already sold out Australian shipping. Not only will foreign flagged ships carry the hazardous cargo, but the port that they are taking it to will also be run by foreign interests.
The MUA warns the plan would see high level hazardous waste transported thousands of kilometres through many Territorian communities to South Australia.
Mr Mayor said there was no agreement with traditional land owners to use their land.
“Yet again, Natasha Griggs is silent on an important issue to the people she purports to represent. Has she or any of her CLP counterparts even consulted with the traditional landowners, the Larrakia people?”
Despite Northern Territory legislation preventing the transport and storage of nuclear waste, Mr Giles met with the South Australian Premier to discuss the nuclear royal commission findings and to hatch a rail or road transport plan.
The Commission report says it takes 500 years for the most radioactive elements of high level waste to decay and total isolation from the environment is needed for hundreds of thousands of years.
Australia’s political leaders ignoring climate change, in lead-up to election
Climate policy silence: Can’t our leaders handle the heat?, ABC, 19 May 16 By Greg Jericho We’re way past the point of pretending the world isn’t warming, so the question really should be why the major parties are so silent on their climate policies during an election campaign, writes Greg Jericho.
One aspect of having an election during winter is that even though temperature records are being broken, climate change is largely out of voters’ minds.
While there is fierce debate over housing affordability, jobs and industrial relations, the debate on climate change has largely been put to the side by Labor and only used by the Government as a fear tactic to cover their own policy failure.
On Monday, NASA announced that April this year was the hottest April on record, marking the seventh month in a row the monthly record had been broken, and the third month in a row of the record being broken by a record amount…….
Since 1880 the record average temperatures for January-April has been set 17 times (including 1880). The average increase in the record has been .07C, and there has never been an increase in the record of more than 0.2C. And yet in the first four months of this year the average temperature was 0.38C above the previous best – an increase 5.3 times greater than the average increase:…..
The temperature in April also meant that the previous 12 months was the warmest 12 month period on record – beating the previous best which was set in March, which beat the previous best which was set in February, which beat the previous best which was set in January, which beat the…
……On the Friday after the budget the Department of Environment released the latest quarterly update on our nation greenhouse gas emissions.
It showed that for the sixth quarter in a row, annual electricity emissions had risen. Continue reading
Great Barrier Reef should be a central election issue – Tim Flannery
Saving Great Barrier Reef from climate change should be central election issue, says Tim Flannery http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/17/saving-great-barrier-reef-climate-change-should-be-central-election-issue-says-tim-flannery
Scientist says lack of attention to climate change is ‘staggering’ given it is Australia’s last chance ‘to close down coal-fired power stations and save the reef’, Guardian, Calla Wahlquist, 17 May 16, Tim Flannery says preserving the Great Barrier Reef from coral bleaching linked to climate change should be a central issue in the federal election campaign.
Flannery, a scientist and member of the Climate Council, said the lack of attention paid to climate change so far in the eight-week campaign was “staggering”.
“This needs to be the reef election,” he told Guardian Australia. “This is the last moment I think that we can realistically expect that we can enact some policies … to close down coal-fired power stations and save the reef.
“Other issues are still going to be there in another four years. This one won’t.”
A study in April found that almost 93% of the Great Barrier Reef had been affected by global bleaching, part of a global coral bleaching event that scientists say was caused partly by El Niño and partly by background global warming.
The aerial survey, conducted by James Cook University, found the bleaching was most severe in reefs north of Port Douglas, where about 81% of reefs were assessed as having severe bleaching. Prof Terry Hughes, head of the National Coal Bleaching Taskforce, told Guardian Australia last month that the mortality rate in coral reefs in that area was already at more than 50%.
Hughes said it was five times worse than the last two bleaching events, in 1998 and 2002, when 40% of the reef escaped bleaching.
Coral bleaching has also been recorded in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, where between 60-90% of some reefs are reported to be bleached. Continue reading
Parry Agius – founding member of Uranium lobby group – should not be on “independent” Nuclear Advisory Board.
The South Australian government will make the decision on whether or not to make that State become the world’s nuclear toilet.
However, they’ll still go through a process of informing and consulting the community, beforehand. That will be the job of the new Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Agency :-
It will “draw upon existing government expertise and expertise from the Royal Commission itself to to increase awareness of the Royal Commission’s report and facilitate the community consultation process.”
The other one, Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Advisory Board, will oversee the Agency throughout the consultation process. That’s the one chaired by John Mansfield, and with Adjunct Professor Daniela Stehlik, Rebecca Huntley, Professor Deb White, and Parry Agius.
I don’t think that Parry Agius should be on this supposedly independent Board. He is a founding member of the Australian Uranium Association’s Indigenous Dialogue Group. He’s also been a member of the Resources Industry Development Board in South Australia.
South Australian Premier creates two new Nuclear Advisory Agencies
Premier Jay Weatherill, 17 May 16 Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Agency and the appointments to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Advisory Board…
Last week I announced that the Government would establish these two bodies, and today I confirm that Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Agency and the appointments to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Consultation and Response Advisory Board.
The purpose of the new agency, which will draw upon existing government expertise and expertise from the Royal Commission itself, will be to increase awareness of the Royal Commission’s report and facilitate the community consultation process.
The independent Advisory Board will oversee the Agency throughout the consultation process.
The Board will be chaired by the Honourable John Mansfield, Member of the Order of Australia and retiring Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, who will commence the role immediately after his retirement from the Federal Court.
The other members of the board will be:
- Parry Agius, former Chief Executive Officer of the South Australian Native Title Service; – 3 –
• Adjunct Professor Daniela Stehlik, Griffith University, is one of Australia’s leading social scientists in the fields of sustainability, human services and social cohesion with a particular focus on families and communities.
• Rebecca Huntley, Social researcher and former Director of The Mind & Mood Report, Australia’s longest running social trends report;
• Professor Deb White, Director of Cancer Research at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)
The outcomes of this community engagement process will help inform the government’s response to the Report, which I intend to deliver to the Parliament by the end of this year…. http://www.premier.sa.gov.au/images/speeches/NuclearFuelCycleRoyalCommission.pdf
South Australia sets up parliamentary inquiry on proposed nuclear waste importing
SA to set up inquiry into nuclear dump https://au.news.yahoo.com/sa/a/31626088/sa-to-set-up-inquiry-into-nuclear-dump/ AAP on May 17, 2016, The South Australian government will set up a parliamentary inquiry into whether the state should host a nuclear waste dump.
Premier Jay Weatherill says a joint select committee will help inform the government’s response to the nuclear fuel cycle royal commission, which recommended the state pursue building such a facility.
A citizen jury will also be selected by an independent panel to identify key questions about the issue, while a second jury will be asked to produce a report outlining community views.
Jay Weatherill could now be in a dither over nuclear waste dump proposal
Jay Weatherill: Nuclear waste and citizens’ juries, Independent Australia 17 May 2016 Jay Weatherill has announced the establishment of “citizens’ juries” to debate the Royal Commission’s recommendation in favour of a nuclear waste dump for SA— and angered both sides of politics in the process. Noel Wauchope reports.
NEITHER the Left nor the Right is happy with the South Australian Premier’s plan for “citizens’ juries” on the question of importing nuclear waste.
Jay Weatherill will surely be remembered as the quintessential flip flop Premier. In past years, Weatherill was a Labor Left faction opponent of the nuclear fuel cycle and a strong supporter of renewable energy. In the face of the collapse of the car industry in SA and the uncertainty around the shipbuilding and submarine contracts, he was enticed by the nuclear lobby to do an about turn on the nuclear industry.
He went off to the Paris climate summit, preaching about “low carbon electricity” — which is nuclear lobby code for nuclear energy, not “renewable” energy. However, he had earlier described nuclear power as not being viable.
Weatherill went on to set up the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission, led by pro-nuclear Kevin Scarce and with a team in which nuclear power experts predominated. It produced – no surprises here – the recommendation for South Australia to set up a nuclear waste importing industry, in thewords of Kevin Scarce, ‘as soon as possible’.
So, the hasty programme for nuclear waste importing is underway. The first step is to be citizens’ juries. In a process run by New Democracy, 2,500 invitations are being mailed this week to potential participants — 50 will be selected for the first meeting in a month’s time and 350 for the next one in October. There are other initiatives too. The Government is launching an advertising campaign entitled, NuClear, with advertisements to be run on radio, television, print and social media. They also have a consultation website, YourSAy. All very good for the nuclear waste import plan.
But now, the plan does seem to be running into a bit of trouble.
The Advertiser ran a poll early last week was a negative result for the nuclear waste cause….
There must be sufficient anxiety in the South Australian Government and the Liberal Opposition to warrant consideration of a referendum on the subject:……..Previously, a referendum was not considered an option. …..
Meanwhile, the immediate trouble lies with this citizens’ jury plan.
Spruiking about citizens’ juries, Jay Weatherill sounds like an old style Liberal:…….In his press release about the nuclear waste plan, Weatherill said:
‘This first Citizens’ Jury will guide the debate by identifying the key issues that need to be considered during the state-wide consultation phase.’
This is not to the liking of today’sLiberals, nor today’s pro-nuclear Laborites, nor even the anti-nuclear camp.
The pro-nuke response was best expressed by Chris Kenny, in Adelaide Now:
‘Forget the citizens jury, Mr Weatherill — just make a decision. That’s what you were voted in to do!’
Liberal Opposition Leader Steven Marshall fumed:
‘This is the largest decision in the history of the state, and Jay Weatherill’s plan is to outsource it to 50 randomly selected individuals. It’s just outrageous.’…….
….. Meanwhile, on Facebook pages, and in some comments on other sites, the anti-nuclear people were up in arms, certain that the process would be stacked with pro-nuclear experts and participants would be brain-washed with nuclear advertising.
It looks as if Jay Weatherill started out on all this in socialist mode — with political and technical experts running the show. Then he aberrated into old “wet” style Liberal mode, towards participatory democracy. In the process, he seems to have pleased nobody…..https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/jay-weatherill-nuclear-waste-and-citizens-juries1,8998
Global nuclear waste dump for South Australia is opposed by women and Labor voters
Women and Labor voters opposed to international nuclear waste dump in South Australia, poll finds, Adelaide Now, March 21, 2016 PETER JEAN, POLITICAL REPORTER The Advertiser PREMIER Jay Weatherill will need to win the support of women and his own Labor voters if the State Government decides to back the construction of an international nuclear waste storage facility in South Australia.
The results of a new opinion poll show almost 60 per cent of women and most Labor voters are opposed to a global nuclear waste facility being located in the state.
The ReachTEL Poll of 1077 SA residents conducted on March 10 found that 37 per cent of voters supported of voters supported an international nuclear waste dump, 48.5 per cent were opposed and 14 per cent were undecided….
Australia Institute executive director Ben Oquist said South Australians were increasingly aware of the risks posed by the project, including the damage it could do to the state’s reputation.
“I think people are increasingly wise to the projects that are jobs-rich, versus those that are expensive, likely to involve a large upfront government subsidy and won’t produce long-term jobs,’’ Mr Oquist said.
“Those industries that are jobs-intensive are potentially put at risk by South Australia’s brand being threatened by a global nuclear waste dump.’’….. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/women-and-labor-voters-opposed-to-international-nuclear-waste-dump-in-south-australia-poll-finds/news-story/35d4ad38cadbaae4798ca89e91c74f5f
Nuclear waste dumping in South Australia – an act of cultural genocide
Nuclear dump protesters warn of ‘cultural genocide’ in South Australia, ABC , 17 May 16 By Claire Campbell Building a nuclear waste dump in South Australia would be “cultural genocide”, an Indigenous Australian says, as a campaign against a potential facility in South Australia ramps up.
Flinders Ranges Adnyamathanha woman Candace Champion was among unions, community groups and traditional landowners who today launched an alliance to protest the dump if it goes ahead.
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce made a recommendation earlier this month that SA build a used-nuclear fuel and intermediate level waste storage facility as an economic opportunity.The State Government has not committed to building a dump and said community engagement would be pivotal before a proposal was considered.
But the alliance believes going ahead with such a facility would ignore Aboriginal rights and put public health, the environment and the state’s finances at risk. It includes the Australian Nursing Midwifery Federation, Conservation Council, Maritime Union of Australia and the Uniting Church.
“This proposal and the proposals of nuclear dumps right around Australia is a threat to Aboriginal culture and society and it is cultural genocide,” Ms Champion said.
“As a young Adnyamathanha woman, I can tell you that my family will be affected by this nuclear dump. It is bringing back a lot of anxiety, a lot of anxiousness and a lot of mental health issues within my family and my community.”
Premier Jay Weatherill in February said it was important that everybody was “afforded an opportunity to have their say” and believed an emotion-charged debate was required.
“In a sense, this is a test of our democracy,” Mr Weatherill said……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-16/nuclear-dump-protesters-warn-of-cultural-genocide-in-sa/7419406
International solidarity with indigenous peoples against nuclear waste dumping
If you’re from the United States, then this whole ordeal should sound somewhat familiar.
According to the Scientific American, “[n]ative tribes across the American West have been and continue to be subjected to significant amounts of radioactive and otherwise hazardous waste as a result of living near nuclear test sites, uranium mines, power plants and toxic waste dumps.”
Take Action!
The final decision for the nuclear dumping site will occur in a year, please act now by signing and sharing this petition urging Australian leaders not to dump nuclear waste near Adnyamathanha territory.
Stop Australia From Committing “Cultural Genocide” and Environmental Injustice http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36006-stop-australia-from-committing-cultural-genocide-and-environmental-injustice, 14 May 2016 By Jessica Ramos, Care2 | Report Australia is about to make a horrible mistake. The country has (at least, tentatively) earmarked the location of its first nuclear dumping site next to an aboriginal cultural site. And the aboriginal community is speaking out — calling the proposed site “cultural genocide.” Australia is on the path to repeating the United States’ past mistakes and environmental injustices.
Can You Put a Price on Cultural Genocide and Death? Yes, Apparently
The traditional lands at the center of the controversy belong to the Adnyamathanha, also known as the “rock people,” from Flinders Ranges, South Australia. In 2009, the Federal Court of Australia recognized the Adnyamathanha’s native rights over 16,000 square miles of territory. But a nuclear dumping site of low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste (e.g. from medical procedures) endangers their territory and legal rights. Continue reading
Australia’s Lucas Heights is part of the IAEA’s nuclear propaganda blitz on schoolkids
IAEA Invites Students to Learn Nuclear Science Through Play. IAEA, By Laura Gil, IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication, 12 May 16, Teachers have reached almost 10 000 students in four Asian countries through a guidebook designed to bring nuclear science and technology closer to young adults. The compendium, which is being tested by the IAEA and education experts from several countries, collects unique teaching strategies and materials to introduce science and technology in education systems.
By generating interest in science among young generations, the compendium aims at contributing to the sustainability of the nuclear industry and related technologies in the future. With populations growing, applications of nuclear technology rapidly expanding, and active nuclear scientists ageing, a new generation of professionals will soon need to step up……
In preparation for the curriculum, experts collected ideas from, for example, Japan, where teachers often organize field trips for students; India, where education centres convoke essay contests all across the country to create an interest in the student community; Israel, where the government has built a nuclear science park and museum; and Australia, where school children are invited to an exhibition centre in the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation already from an early age. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-invites-students-to-learn-nuclear-science-through-play
Australian environment groups unite to oppose govt plans to cut their charitable status
Federal election 2016: climate survey fires up green council of war Graham Lloyd THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 17, 2016 Peak environment groups have prepared a co-ordinated election blueprint on climate change, the Great Barrier Reef and fossil fuels, staring down threats to cut the charitable status of organisations that play politics.
The groups, including Greenpeace, WWF, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Wilderness Society, have spent the past fortnight planning a strategy against the background of a parliamentary report that set out a road map to punish critics of the government and resource industry.
Established by Environment Minister Greg Hunt, it recommended groups be required to spend 25 per cent of fundraising on tree planting and land repair or lose tax-deductible status. It also said organisations should be made liable for illegal actions of members, supporters or volunteers.
The lower house committee recommendations were not supported by Labor members and the report included a dissenting statement from Liberal member Jason Wood. Mr Wood listed potential casualties, including Beyond Zero Emissions, Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Environment Victoria, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace Australia, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, The Wilderness Society, EDOs of Australia, Australian Orangutan Project and Environmental Justice Australia.
Wilderness Society national campaign manager Lyndon Schneiders said: “They are also saying to a bunch of rednecks that they will deal with environment groups’ campaigns against controversial oil and gas projects.”
Former Greens leader Bob Brown said making groups responsible for the actions of members and volunteers “would be right at home in Vladimir Putin’s Russia”. Climate Change organisation 350.org said the recommendations were anti-democratic and “an unnecessary witch-hunt”.
The Wilderness Society said it made more sense to spend money lobbying to stop trees being cut down that to replant them……http://www.theaustralian.com.au/federal-election-2016/federal-election-2016-climate-survey-fires-up-green-council-of-war/news-story/b8af615de95a65ca71c609ae8990700b
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)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 