Kerang, Victoria, gets economic boost from Lalbert solar farm
Lalbert solar farm near Kerang tipped to boost jobs as Solar Choice secures investor for $550m project ABC News, The company behind one of the largest solar farms in Australia says it expects the project to create up to 150 jobs for northern Victoria.
Construction of the $550 million solar farm on a 526 hectare property at Lalbert, west of Kerang, should start midway through next year, after the company Solar Choice secured an investor to finance the project.
The farm will have a production capacity of 350 megawatts and has the potential to power about 220,000 homes…….
Gannawarra Shire’s Roger Griffiths said the farm was another step towards developing Kerang’s future as a centre for renewable energy investment.
“What this does is just offers that bit of diversity, it props up our rate base and it provides a lot of other benefits right throughout the community,” he said.
“So we’re more than happy to have it on board and fingers crossed that everything runs smoothly and we see a booming new industry in and around Kerang in the next five to 10 years’ time.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-16/lalbert-solar-farm-near-kerang-tipped-to-boost-jobs/6859508
Victorian Energy Compares electricity prices
power-bill-comparison-site-launched-20151016-gkaoee.html October 17, 2015 Marc Moncrief Consumers disgruntled by their electricity providers can access an updated independent price comparison service backed by the state government.
The Victorian Energy Compare website allows users to use their own smart meter data to compare offers from electricity providers. It also compares offers from gas retailers and estimates the net position of any solar credits a home might have.
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said that, while there were other sites that compare electricity deals, they limited the offers they displayed to companies that pay.
“Unlike other websites that compare energy offers, this government website includes every single tariff,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“No other price comparison web site does that.”
She said that, particularly for an essential service like electricity, it was vital that consumers had access to every deal to be able to make informed decisions.
Karl Barratt, EnergyInfoHub project manager at the Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre, said it was “the only independent price comparison site” in the state.
“Because it’s such a complex system in Victoria, I think it’s groundbreaking that we have this available,” he said.
“The others are private operators. They have a relationship with the retailers. The private comparators will only show the narrow range that they are paid to show you.”
The launch follows the release earlier this month of a code of conduct for websites that compare utility offerings after some high-profile companies fell foul of the consumer affairs regulator.
Popular sites iSelect, Compare the Market and Energy Watch have all been pinged in the past by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for misleading their users.
Aboriginal women will fight on against nuclear waste dumping in South Australia
Aboriginal women reaffirm fight against nuclear waste dump in South Australia ABC Radio National, The World Today By Natalie Whiting 16 Oct 15 The first shipment of Australia’s nuclear waste to be returned from re-processing in France has now left a French port, and will arrive on our shores by the end of the year. The return of the 25 tonnes of nuclear waste is putting renewed pressure on the Federal Government to find a location for a permanent waste dump.
The shipment began its journey just a day after senior Aboriginal women gathered in Adelaide to mark their fight against a proposed dump in South Australia in the 1990s.
The women say they will fight against any new move to put the waste on their land…..
SA Aboriginal women remember waste dump victory A Federal Government plan to build a 
nuclear waste dump in the South Australian outback in 1998 attracted fierce opposition, especially among local Aboriginal people.
An event in Adelaide last night celebrated the work of a group of women called kupa piti kungka tjuta, who campaigned against the dump. Emily Austin from Coober Pedy was one of them. (centre in picture)
The women campaigned for six years until a Federal Court challenge from the South Australian government put an end to the dump. Ms Austin said she could remember the day the court found in South Australia’s favour.
“I was out in the bush hunting and I heard it on the radio in the Toyota. We were all screaming, ‘We won’.
“All the kungkas (women) were happy.”
While the Federal Government is in the midst of a voluntary process for finding a site for a dump, South Australia’s outback is still seen as an ideal location.
The South Australian Government’s attitude to the industry has been shifting.
It has launched a royal commission to investigate possible further involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle.The royal commission is looking at everything from mining uranium, processing, waste storage and nuclear power.
The organiser of last night’s event, Karina Lester, is the granddaughter of one of the women who campaigned and her father was blinded by the British nuclear tests at Maralinga half a century ago.
She said the Aboriginal people in South Australia’s north have a long and tortured history with the nuclear industry. “Maralinga’s had a huge impact because people speak from first-hand experience,” she said.
“People like the amazing kupa piti kungka tjuta, many of those old women who are no longer with us today, they were there the day the ground shook and the black mist rolled.
“It’s an industry that doesn’t sit comfortably with Anungu community.”
Ms Lester said it was good to see the royal commission consulting with people before a decision is made.”Credit to the royal commission that they’ve made an effort to engage with a broader community of Aboriginal communities,” she said.
“But how many of those Anangu are really understanding he technicality of this royal commission and what industry really means?” Ms Austin said she was ready to fight any future attempts to set up a waste dump in the region.
“Oh yeah, I’ve still got fight yet. They might stop yet, they might listen, I dunno,” she said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-16/aboriginal-women-fight-against-nuclear-waste-dump-in-sa/6861012
Radioactive trash returning to Lucas Heights by ship from France
Ship carrying nuclear waste heads to Australia, West Australian CHERBOURG, AFP October 16, 2015 A ship carrying 25 tonnes of reprocessed nuclear waste is steaming to Australia despite protests from activists about an “environmental disaster waiting to happen”.
The BBC Shanghai left the northern French port of Cherbourg after approval from local officials, who carried out an inspection on Wednesday, and is due to arrive by the end of the year in NSW. It is laden with radioactive waste from spent nuclear fuel that Australia sent to France for reprocessing in four shipments in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation says.
The reprocessing involves removing uranium, plutonium and other materials, with the remaining substances stabilised in glass and stored in a container…….
Greenpeace, French environmental campaign group Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) and a leading Greens MP have called for the shipment, sent by Areva, to be halted. “Areva, almost bankrupt, are using a dustbin ship to carry waste, without any serious inspection!” Denis Baupin a senior MP with the French green party, tweeted.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific said the ship, owned by German firm BBC Chartering, was an “environmental disaster waiting to happen”, claiming the Shanghai was “blacklisted by the United States because of its safety record”……
But Areva’s external relations director, Bernard Monnot, said the ship was “not banned from ports in the United States but banned from transporting material for the American government”.
Nathalie Geismar from Robin des Bois said other ports had found it had a “staggering number of flaws”……
ANSTO said the material would be kept at the Lucas Heights facility in southern Sydney until a nuclear waste dump site, which has yet to be chosen, is found and constructed……https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/29834316/ship-carrying-nuclear-waste-heads-to-australia/
Mt Isa Council, Queensland, considers inviting in radioactive trash
Mount Isa council considers late bid for north-west Queensland to host radioactive waste dump, ABC News By Zara Margolis The Mount Isa City Council is considering applying to the Federal Government to develop a radioactive waste management facility in the region.
Earlier this year, the Department of Science and Industry invited states and territories to nominate land for a facility to safely store Australia’s radioactive waste.
Nominations officially closed in May but Tony McGrady said he was only made aware of the process on Wednesday and the council still wanted to apply……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-16/mount-isa-considers-bid-for-radioactive-waste-dump/6859612
Outcry in France over nuclear waste shipment to Australia
Nuclear shipment bound for Australia sparks outcry, Splash 24/7 OCTOBER 16TH, 2015 A ship described by one French MP as a “dustbin” has set off from France to Australia carrying a controversial cargo of nuclear waste.
Greenpeace and French environmentalists had campaigned for the shipment to be stopped. However, French authorities said the BBC Shanghai (4,900 dwt, 2001 built) was in good condition and allowed it to go, carrying 25 tonnes of nuclear waste from Areva’s reprocessing plant in Beaumont-Hague, near the port of Cherbourg, from where the ship set sail on Thursday.
Shortly before the cargo ship set sail, French Green MP Denis Baupin tweeted (in French) that Areva was “using a dustbin ship to carry waste, without any serious inspection”……… http://splash247.com/nuclear-shipment-bound-for-australia-sparks-outcry/
Safety concerns over transport of radioactive trash returning to Australia
Ship laden with nuclear waste heading to Australia despite safety concerns, Guardian, Oliver Milman, 17 Oct 15 The 25 tonnes of waste was originally generated by Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and sent to France in 2001 for reprocessing. A ship laden with nuclear waste is heading to Australia from France, despite concerns raised over its safety record.
The BBC Shanghai, flagged to Antigua and Barbuda, is on its way to Port Kemblain New South Wales from the French port of Cherbourg with a cargo of reprocessed nuclear waste.It’s outrageous the BBC Shanghai is heading towards Australia and is not outfitted to safely carry nuclear waste. -Emma Gibson, Greenpeace Australia Pacific
The 25 tonnes of waste was originally generated by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and sent to France in 2001 for reprocessing.
Environmental groups have raised concerns over the safety of the BBC Shanghai, pointing out it has been blacklisted by the US due to its record. Continue reading
Wind farms seek contracts in Australian Capital Territory
Fifteen wind farms vie for ACT contracts as second auction round closes, Canberra Times, October 16, 2015 Stephen Jeffery The Canberra Times reporter Environment Minister Simon Corbell believes the ACT is still a strong renewable energy “buyers’ market” after receiving 15 proposals to supply Canberra with 200 extra megawatts of wind power from 2018.
The territory government’s second large-scale wind energy auction closed bidding on Wednesday, having attracted only three fewer proposals than the last round in February.
The closure of bids in the “reverse auction” process, in which wind farms compete to be among two or three to supply the ACT with energy in exchange for a feed-in tariff, comes as the Department of Environment and Planning’s annual report showed 18.5 per cent of the territory’s energy was supplied from renewable resources in the last financial year.
The figure, up from 14.2 per cent in 2010/11, showed a major acceleration in renewable power uptake was needed if the government was the reach its target of green energy supplying 90 per cent of the ACT’s needs by 2020. But the document also notes successful wind farm bidders from the first auction are due to come online between 2016 and mid-2017, contributing to about 25 per cent of the ACT’s expected electricity demand in 2020.
Mr Corbell said the winning farms from the most recent auction would contribute an additional 25 per cent of forecast 2020 demand to the supply, while solar farms launched between 2014 and 2016 would provide an additional three per cent.
“This second wind auction will cut over half of the emissions associated with electricity usage in each and every Canberra household,” he said.”Our early review of bid pricing indicates we are still in a very strong buyers’ market.”………
The government plans for the bulk of renewable energy infrastructure to be in place by 2018, with a target of green energy supplying 80 per cent of electricity in that year.That would leave only 10 per cent of power to be switched to renewables in the final two years before the target is achieved.
An interim report released earlier this year showed the ACT’s greenhouse gas emissions had fallen 8 per cent between 2011/12 and 2013/14. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/fifteen-wind-farms-vie-for-act-contracts-as-second-auction-round-closes-20151014-gk9i1s.html#ixzz3olgThmLR
‘Dustbin’ ship takes N-waste to Australia
http://www.gulf-times.com/australia/244/details/459111/%E2%80%98dustbin%E2%80%99-ship-takes-n-waste-to-australia A ship carrying 25 tonnes of reprocessed nuclear waste was steaming to Australia yesterday despite protests from activists about an “environmental disaster waiting to happen”.
The BBC Shanghai left the northern French port of Cherbourg after approval from local officials, who carried out an inspection on Wednesday, and was due to arrive by the end of the year in New South Wales state.
It was laden with radioactive waste from spent nuclear fuel that Australia sent to France for reprocessing in four shipments in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) said yesterday. The reprocessing involves removing uranium, plutonium and other materials, with the remaining substances stabilised in glass and stored in a container.
“The container will be placed on a nuclear-rated ship, brought to an Australian port, and trucked to Lucas Heights (nuclear facility) with an appropriate security operation,” ANSTO said in a statement.
“The ship was selected by (France-based nuclear company) Areva, and after a full inspection carried out by both French maritime safety authorities and by the French nuclear safety regulator on October 14, the ship’s seaworthiness was confirmed and certified.”
Greenpeace, French environmental campaign group Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) and a leading green lawmaker called for the shipment, sent by Areva, to be halted.
Small Nuclear Reactors lobby turns to Australia, as safety rules too strong in USA
Why Australia is important to the Small Nuclear lobby. Independent Australia
the nuclear lobby’s spiel to Australia is something different, and very original. No dispute — because the argument is that small reactors would further the large reactor industry.
First articulated by Oscar Archer on ABC RN, March 2015, the idea is that Australia, in setting up small nuclear reactors, would enable the conventional nuclear industry and uranium mining to flourish:….. As Archer says, Australia would indeed be the pioneer for the new technology.
And that’s what the USA “new nuclear” lobby desperately needs. They need this, because they’re finding it impossible to go ahead in America. Why? Well it’s those pesky safety regulations imposed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
What the “Small Nuclear” lobby needs is a “nuclear friendly” country – one with less stringent safety
regulations – to set up their nuclear reactors on a test site. Hence the enthusiasm of those lobbyists for the South Australia Nuclear Fuel Chain Royal Commission, as shown, for example, in a recent Royal Commission hearing speech by Thomas Marcille of Holtec International nuclear company.
……… the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC) has proved to be real nuisance since it tightened regulations for the licensing process after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The new nuclear marketers have had to go overseas, first to China, then perhaps to Australia?…. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/why-australia-is-important-to-the-small-nuclear-lobby,8263
South Australia: subsidy for large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects
Rooftop solar subsidies for SA business http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/rooftop-solar-subsidies-for-sa-business/story-fni0xqi4-1227569000315
CLIMATE Change Minister Ian Hunter says the subsidy for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects, between 10 and 50 megawatts, will help businesses take advantage of a $100 million commonwealth funding pool aimed at increasing the uptake of solar panels.
“This is a great opportunity for potential developers to bring the cost of solar PV down to a price comparable to wind energy,” Climate Change Minister Ian Hunter said on Wednesday.
Adani coal mine approval ‘grossly irresponsible’
Australian Conservation Foundation, October 15, 2015 Federal environment minister Greg Hunt’s approval of what could become one of the world’s largest coal mines sets back global efforts to combat climate change, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.
“To approve a massive coal mine that would make species extinct, deplete 297 billion litres of precious groundwater and produce 128.4 million tonnes of CO2 a year is grossly irresponsible,” said ACF President Geoff Cousins.
“At a time when the world is desperately seeking cleaner energy options this huge new coal mine will make the effort to combat climate change all the more difficult.”
If it goes ahead the Carmichael mine would be the largest ever dug in Australia. It would take up five times the area of Sydney Harbour. The climate pollution resulting from burning its coal would be more than New Zealand’s entire annual emissions.
In August the Federal Court set aside Minister Hunt’s original approval of Adani’s controversial proposal to dig the massive coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin.
Minister Hunt’s re-approval of the Carmichael coal mine flies in the face of rising public opposition to the proposal and scientific evidence that shows the mine would destroy 10,000 hectares of habitat for endangered species, including the largest known population of the southern black-throated finch.
“Tens of thousands of ACF supporters from all over Australia have written to Greg Hunt, asking him to reject the Carmichael mine once and for all,” Mr Cousins said.
“Just as Woodside lost its social license to build a gas factory at James Price Point in the Kimberley, most Australians do not want Adani to dig a massive coal mine and export the coal across the Great Barrier Reef.
“ACF will scrutinise this approval decision and carefully consider our options.
“We will use all appropriate means to stop this mine,” Mr Cousins said.
ACF and other environment groups ran ads in major newspapers in August urging Minister Hunt not to re-approve Adani’s Carmichael proposal.
Uranium miner ERA should be made accountable for fire in Kakadu National Park
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt has committed to an inquiry into the fire. This is welcome but any inquiry needs to be open and transparent, not simply another yellowcake whitewash.
Kakadu has been burnt but it is ERA who should be in the firing line. The company lacks the commitment, capacity and competence to conduct such a dangerous trade in such a special place and the recent fire is further proof that it is time to close the chapter on uranium mining in Kakadu.
Uranium miner in the firing line over Kakadu burn http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/10/13/comment-uranium-miner-firing-line-over-kakadu-burn A week-
long fire in the World Heritage listed Kakadu has caused significant environmental damage and threatened Aboriginal art and cultural sites, writes Dave Sweeney. The smoke is finally starting to settle over Australia’s largest national park. For a week Kakadu has been burning following the escape of a “controlled” fire lit by the uranium mining company Energy Resources of Australia.
In a case of good luck rather than good management, no one was seriously injured but, as the flames die down and the damage assessment and questions start up, more of ERA’s shrinking credibility has literally gone up in smoke.
While the full extent of the damage is not yet known, the fire burned over 200 square kilometres of the World Heritage listed Kakadu, causing significant environmental damage and threatening ancient and important Aboriginal art and cultural sites. Continue reading
Fall in quarterly production for uranium miner ERA
ERA’s Sept quarter production falls, NT NewsAAP OCTOBER 13, 2015 THE Rio Tinto-owned company that recently shelved a major uranium mine expansion has reported a fall in quarterly production.
ENERGY Resources of Australia produced 457 tonnes of uranium oxide in the September quarter, down 19 per cent on the same quarter last year.
- Production was up 17 per cent on the June quarter, when output was impacted by a mill shutdown to carry out maintenance.All ore milled in the September quarter was taken from existing stockpiles, and no exploration expenditure was incurred during the quarter.ERA lost half its board in June after deciding a proposed new underground mine at Ranger in the Northern Territory will not proceed to a final feasibility study due to a sluggish uranium market.
Rio Tinto has pulled its support for any expansion, but ERA continues to seek to extend its authority to operate Ranger in order to re-visit the expansion at some stage.The company’s total evaluation expenditure for the September quarter dropped to $1 million, from $3 million in the June quarter, due to “close out activities” of its Ranger pre-feasibility study……..http://www.ntnews.com.au/business/era-sept-quarter-production-down-19-pct/story-fnjbnvte-1227567072625
Energy utilities face challenge as community energy increases
Community energy projects pose challenge for mainstream suppliers, The Age, October 11, 2015 Angela Macdonald-Smith Energy Reporter A gradual loss of trust in mainstream electricity suppliers and a growing sense of local engagement have driven huge growth in community-based renewable-energy projects in Britain, with a similar trend potentially taking hold in Australia.
Volker Beckers, the former head of British energy supply giant Npower who now chairs London-based Albion Community Power, said traditional large energy suppliers risk losing customers to the smaller, local outfits.
Community ventures typically take advantage of community support to push renewable energy projects through planning processes, while building a customer base that in some cases in Britain have reached into the hundreds of thousands, eroding the market share of larger utilities. A surge in community energy projects in Britain, where they now number as many as 5000, was creating “healthy competition” for the big six utilities, which were having to quickly respond with increased customer focus, he said.
“Community energy means business models have to become more customer centric,” Mr Beckers told Fairfax Media while in Melbourne to attend a conference. “In my view the big utilities which can respond and adapt as quickly as the small-scale renewable-energy companies can do will survive. Others will have to completely redefine their business model.”
Mr Beckers pointed to research carried out in Europe that found the “net promoter score”, a recognised method of gauging the loyalty and support of a firm’s customers, was typically 20-35 per cent higher for community energy companies than traditional utilities. Support from a local community can be 20-30 per cent higher for a wind farm that is being built by a local company, for example, rather than a more anonymous mainstream utility, because people believe that the benefit of having local generation will flow back to that community.
Mr Beckers said the ventures were “an example of the shared economy in the energy area”, where people were more supportive of a product where it gets generated. That leads to lower administration and operating costs, with savings flowing back to customers in the community.
“It’s a win-win for both sides, customers and companies alike,” he said.
Australia has an increasing number of community energy projects, put at 70 by non-profit organisation Embark Australia, which works to accelerate the uptake of community renewable energy. About 16 are already generating power……….. http://www.theage.com.au/business/energy/community-energy-projects-pose-challenge-for-mainstream-suppliers-20151007-gk3vq3.html#ixzz3oUuoUgeT
1 This month.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
Australians deserve the truth
about AUKUS
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 
