Queensland’s revolutionary solar energy systems – on carparks and other commercial buildings
Are these solar panels the setting of the sun for coal mines? Brisbane Times October 22, Tony Moore Solar energy systems on top of shopping centres, car park shade covers, hospitals, airports and other commercial buildings are the beginning of the end for large scale coal power stations, one alternative energy developer will explain on Friday.
Shakra Energy managing director Sam Khalil will on Friday outline how the solar energy system his company has installed as a “shade cover” over carparking at Buranda is now doubling as a solar energy generator. He says the system cut energy costs for the owner by between 30 to 40 per cent.
Mr Khalil believes companies and big energy users – like hospitals and huge retailers – are beginning to wake up the potential solar energy from their rooftops, completely separate to solar energy from homes.
It generates 147MW and save 122 tonnes of CO2 emissions from the environment each year.
“If we can save them 30 to 40 per cent on electricity bills that are $10 million, $20 million, $30 million a year, why wouldn’t you do it?” Mr Khalil argues.
“We are right at the forefront of where the future of energy production has to be in Australia,” he said.
“Right at the forefront of the job creation for making business more efficient so they can employ more people.”……..
Shakra Energy has placed solar energy panels on top of shade cloth covers that shade cars on top of PA Central on Ipswich Road at Buranda, directly opposite the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
It generates 100 kilowatts of energy, enough to power the shops and business in the Ipswich Road building, plus run the car park operations.
One hundred kilowatts – depending on what is in the house or the business and the size of the house of the business – could power between five and 30 homes or premises……..
Mr Khalil says their Buranda plant was the first commercial solar production facility in Queensland, outside a similar scheme on the rooftop at one building of the University of Queensland.
He said his company has recently been invited to lodge tenders for similar schemes at large commercial properties.
“Let’s just say hospitals, airports, major shopping centres,” he said.
Oxley Federal MP Bernie Ripoll and Greens Senator Larissa Waters will be at the launch on Friday……..
Greens Senator Larissa Waters praised the concept.
“This is just the kind of innovation that our Sunshine State needs to shine as a leader in the clean energy future,” Senator Waters said.
“The Palaszczuk Government needs to hurry up and implement the 50 per cent renewable energy target it promised in the election, instead of pushing ahead with coal exports through the Great Barrier Reef,” she said. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/are-these-solar-panels-the-setting-of-the-sun-for-coal-mines-20151022-gkg8nc.html#ixzz3pcc0G4N0
Australian government withdraws funding offer to Bjorn Lomborg’s anti climate action centre
Bjorn Lomborg: Government withdraws $4 million funding offer for controversial research centre, ABC News, By political reporter Francis Keany and Sara Phillips 22 Oct 15 The Federal Government says it has withdrawn a $4 million offer to help establish a research centre headed by Danish academic Bjorn Lomborg.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham has told a Senate estimates hearing the proposal was quietly dropped in the week when Malcolm Turnbull became Prime Minister.
“Certainly, a specific incentive from the Government for such an institute is no longer available,” Senator Birmingham said……..
Greens Senator for South Australia Robert Simms described the withdrawal of funding as “welcome” and said it was “in response to a really strong campaign that’s been run across the community”.
“It’s good to see the Turnbull Government making a break with the Abbott era and dumping Dr Lomborg,” he said…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-21/govt-withdraws-funding-from-lomborg-centre/6873238
Australia’s chance to become a renewable energy superpower
For Australia, “abundant, low-cost renewable energy, land availability, and proximity to the emerging Asian region,” make it a perfect fit.
“Managed well, the transition to renewable energy will restore and enhance former strengths, this time built on sustainable foundations,” the report says.
How Australia can become a renewable energy superpower http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/how-australia-can-become-a-renewable-energy-superpower-35215 By Sophie Vorrath on 19 October 2015 (EXCELLENT TABLES and GRAPHS) Australia has the opportunity to become a renewable energy superpower – giving it a global economic advantage much greater than that ever gained from fossil fuels – a new report has suggested, but only if it seizes three key areas of opportunity, based heavily on innovation; and only if it acts quickly and doesn’t miss the wave.
The report, published on Monday by Beyond Zero Emissions, notes that Australia – despite having one of the best renewable energy resources in the world – is currently on the back foot in the global energy stakes.
Its “fossil fuel advantage” is fast disappearing , and it has an outdated and gold-plated electricity network that has acted as a ball and chain to progress. But it also suggests that Australia could turn this position around, by building an industry that supplies the renewable and energy efficiency market; by assisting the migration of energy intensive industries to renewables; and by harnessing the trade of renewable energy commodities.
The global shift to renewable energy – while largely a democratising force – will still bring advantages to some nations, the report says.
“The value associated with renewable energy is largely accounted for by the harvesting equipment, with very little ongoing costs and zero fuel costs. This is completely different to fossil energy where the majority of the value is in the ongoing consumption of fuel. Continue reading
Malcolm Turnbull won’t back Clean Energy Finance Corporation
Malcolm Turnbull refuses to back Clean Energy Finance Corporation Labor uses question time to attack the prime minister and the Coalition over its climate change policies, Guardian, Lenore Taylor, 20 Oct 15 Malcolm Turnbull says the need for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation remains an “open question” and has dismissed emissions trading schemes as simply another “piece of economic plumbing”, as Labor attacked the credibility of the Coalition’s climate policies.
Turnbull lost the Liberal leadership in 2009 over his backing for the former Rudd government’s emissions trading scheme, and was forced to pledge to retain the current Direct Action climate plan in order to win support from conservative and climate-sceptic colleagues before becoming prime minister, despite having once described it as “bullshit” and a “recipe for fiscal recklessness on a grand scale.”
Under Tony Abbott, the coalition unsuccessfully tried to abolish the corporation, which the former prime minister derided as the “Bob Brown bank”.
The CEFC lends to clean energy projects on commercial terms and has so far lent $1.4bn, which will reduce emissions by 4.2m tonnes annually and also achieve a positive return on the commonwealth’s investments.
Under Turnbull the CEFC has been transferred to the environment department and the government has apparently dropped plans to hobble its mandate by banning investments in wind farms and small scale solar and has suggested it plays an important role in its climate plans.
But despite this, during question time on Tuesday, Turnbull refused to say he backed the institution – instead hedging his answer and pointing out the government had been unable to get the Senate to agree to the CEFC’s abolition…….http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/20/malcolm-turnbull-refuses-to-back-clean-energy-finance-corporation
Environment Minister Greg Hunt full of praise for Clean Energy Finance Corporation
the new Greg Hunt was full of praise for ARENA and the CEFC, listing them as one of the “successes and tangible outcomes” his government had overseen.
“The Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency are our major instruments to research, develop, test, and demonstrate emerging technology and solutions,” Hunt said.
while we welcome this change in tone, it is worth noting that the ARENA, CEFC and CCA Abolition Bills are still on the House of Representatives and Senate Notice Papers, meaning the government hasn’t formally changed their policies to abolish them.
Hunt hails ‘green shift’, praises ARENA, CEFC http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/hunt-hails-green-shift-praises-arena-cefc-24228 By Sophie Vorrath on 14 October 2015 Pop news quiz: Which Australian politician said the following this week: “It gives me great pleasure today to share my views on the required ‘green shift’ toward a more vibrant, resilient and low emissions society.”
If you answered Richard di Natale, you are wrong. It was Greg Hunt, in a speech titled “Australia’s Green Shift”, delivered to Australia’s Norwegian Embassy on Wednesday.
Yes, the federal environment minister – who as recently as July this year described the Labor Opposition’s comparatively ambitious renewable energy and emissions reduction targets “a triple-hit on electricity prices” – is now all about shifting to green, and wants everyone to know it.
“The Australian Government is driving this transformation in Australia and working globally to build a future that reflects the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said – a sentence it is safe to say he would never had uttered under his former boss, Tony Abbott. Continue reading
With solar power, rooftop panels have exceeded grid parity
Rooftop solar costs vs the grid: A city by city guide http://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/rooftop-solar-costs-vs-the-grid-a-city-by-city-guide/ By Giles Parkinson on October 21, 2015 You may have heard of the expression “grid parity”. In the case of rooftop solar panels, it is the point where the cost of energy supplied from your own rooftop solar array falls below the cost of grid-power.
It is also known as “socket parity”, because it compares the price of rooftop solar power to the cost of grid-sourced power at the electricity sockets in your house.
Australia was one of the first countries in the world to reach grid or socket parity – thanks to its high electricity prices (largely due to soaring network costs), and its excellent sunshine. There are now nearly 100 countries that have reached the same benchmark.
But Australia has not just reached socket parity, it has smashed it. In most cities in Australia, the cost of rooftop solar is now less than half the price of grid-based power. Indeed, even some utilities offer to install rooftop solar on your roof for free, and charge only 11c/kWh for the output.
A new report from Beyond Zero Emissions, which recommends Australia set a path to 100 per cent renewable energy, highlights those cost differences. Continue reading
5 million hectares of Northern Territory land joins Indigenous Protected Area (IPA)
Indigenous protection of vast area in NT will educate future generations, SMH October 2015 Lucy Cormack Environment Reporter “…..the Anangu traditional owners declared more than 
an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA).
Larger than Switzerland and five years in the making, the Katiti Petermann IPA surrounds Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and will form part of a 48 million hectare network of nine protected areas in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia border region.
It will receive $1.6 million in funding up to 2018.
“This IPA, it’s amazing. To actually get more old people and young people to look after the land, like our ancestors,” said Mr Kenny.
“They wandered through the desert looking after their country to pass [it] down from generation to generation. Look after the country, look after the land…and the land will give back to you.”
Unique to Australia, an IPA is an area voluntarily declared and managed by Aboriginal land traditional owners as part of Australia’s National Reserve System.
The IPA manages threats from wildfires, feral animals, weeds and uncontrolled tourism, while enabling traditional owners to keep culture and knowledge of country strong.
“IPAs make a significant contribution … and protect highly significant natural and cultural values for the benefit of all Australians,” a spokesman for Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said.
Across the 5 million hectares covered by the new IPA, traditional owners had eagerly anticipated the opportunities.
Peter Donohoe, land management co-ordinator with the Central Land Council, said the driving force has been involving young people.
“It’s really about that cultural knowledge transfer, and 5 million hectares is a huge area, so accessing country is a big part of facilitating that process,” he said.
The Katiti Petermann IPA will be Australia’s 70th and the fourth largest, testament to the broad array of Indigenous groups from Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, who gathered in Tjitjingati this week for the ceremony……..
Patrick O’Leary is the outback conservation partnerships manager for Pew Charitable Trust, which campaigns for IPAs across Australia.
He says one of the cricitisms of remote Indigenous policies is that they are “too monolithic,” but the world-leading IPA model has proven otherwise.
“It makes a great negotiating table between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people,” he said.
“IPAs have a strong track record on environment, jobs, growth, markers about closing the gap. These programs are on the right trajectory, but we need to increase the scale of federal funding.” http://www.smh.com.au/environment/indigenous-protection-of-vast-area-in-nt-will-educate-future-generations-20151001-gjz6yb.html#ixzz3p98u5UWV
Indigenous owners will manage huge new protected area in New South Wales
Historic return of land to Indigenous owners in biggest protected area in South Australia There’s been an historic handover to traditional landowners in New South Wales, SBS, 27 SEP 2015 The 22,000 hectare Mawonga Station is now the biggest piece of Indigenous protected land in Southern Australia.
It’s located in central New South Wales, about 550 kilometres west of Sydney, and is the home of the Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan people…….
The handover happened thanks to a partnership between the federal government, the Indigenous Land Corporation, and the Nature Conservation Trust of NSW.
Nature Conservation Trust Board Member Russell Taylor said it will protect, preserve and maintain the natural and cultural heritage of country.
The land repatriation isn’t a native title claim. Former Labor environment minister Peter Garrett signed off on its purchase by the Indigenous Land Council in 2011.
“It was one of the great pleasures in my life as environment minister when i could start this process as a government and i think the tax payers got pretty good value from it to tell you the truth,” he said.
The former owner recognised sacred rock art sites on the property and pushed for its sale to an Aboriginal group, then to return it to its rightful owners.
It’s become the largest Indigenous Protection Area in southeast Australia. ……http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/09/27/historic-return-land-indigenous-owners-biggest-protected-area-south-australia
Uranium miner ERA burned off on day of fire, against Fire Service advice
Uranium miner ERA was told not to burn off on day of blaze: NT Fire Service http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-19/uranium-miner-era-told-not-to-burn-off-on-day-of-blaze/6867590
The fire, which ERA lit to manage weeds at its Ranger mine near Jabiru on October 1, became wild and threatened important Aboriginal cultural sites before it was extinguished a week later.
It is now being investigated by the federal Department of Environment.
A spokesman for the NTFRS said the organisation was contacted by ERA on the day it started the fire and its recommendation to the group was not to go ahead with the blaze.
“In response to an inquiry from the Ranger mine at 7:00am on the day in question, NTFRS recommended there should be no burn due to the high fire danger that day,” a spokesman said in a brief statement. ERA has previously said it notified Parks Australia the day prior to the fire and they were not advised against the back burn.
The miner has not specifically commented on the NTFRS advice.
“ERA is not required to seek approval or obtain a permit for such activities on the Ranger Project Area,” an ERA spokeswoman said.
“ERA followed its normal protocol to notify stakeholders prior to undertaking weed management activities.”
The miner said that on the day the burn was undertaken there was no fire ban in place in the region where the mine was located.
It has offered to pay for the aerial water bombing operations and said it is conducting its own internal investigation into the fire.
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/
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
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 