Traditional owners not consulted about criteria for closing down remote Aboriginal communities
KLC head says remote communities not given ‘chance to improve’, ABC Online Indigenous By Nicolas Perpitch March 27, 2015 The head of the Kimberley Land Council says Aboriginal communities should have been made aware of the criteria by which they were assessed in a WA Government report to give them the chance to improve.
A July 2013 draft discussion paper prepared by the Department of Housing, and seen by the ABC, recommended funding be stopped to 75 remote Aboriginal communities and very limited to another 53.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Peter Collier has received the final version of the report and said it would go into the makeup of a new funding model to be released “very soon”.
The draft discussion paper assessed communities against 15 indicators, including health, education, access to food, electricity and drinking water.
KLC chairman Anthony Watson said communities did not know there were criteria they had to meet.
“We should have been made aware of it and at least we would have been engaged with it,” he said.
“They’ve done the study, coming in, without the consultation.
Mr Watson said communities needed to be able to demonstrate they were working towards the Government’s requirements, and at the same time traditional owners should have been consulted about the criteria. Continue reading
Northern Territory Remote Aborigines – “We were not adequately consulted on fracking permits”
Northern Territory Indigenous community says it was not adequately consulted over fracking permits By Nadia Daly Yaho 7 News, March 29, 2015, The granting of fracking permits on Aboriginal freehold land in the Northern Territory is stoking tensions among some residents of a remote Aboriginal community who say they were not adequately consulted.
Last week, the NT Government announced it had granted the first two petroleum exploration permits on Aboriginal land managed by the Northern Land Council (NLC).
Jilkminggan community, 140 kilometres south-east of Katherine, with a population of about 300, sits in a zone that excludes fracking, according to the NLC.
However, fracking has been permitted over nearby swathes of land. News that gas companies could now drill exploratory wells on their land came as a shock to many in the community. Continue reading
Griffith University’s promising battery energy storage system
Battery energy storage project shows promise for electricity network, Eureka Alert 2 Apr 15 Cheaper, more efficient power among benefits from intelligent scheduling and operation system GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY WITH RISING ELECTRICITY PRICES ONE OF THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING HOUSEHOLDS, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY (AUSTRALIA) RESEARCH INTO ENERGY STORAGE AND SUPPLY HOLDS THE PROMISE OF CHEAPER, BETTER QUALITY POWER FOR THE LOW VOLTAGE (LV) ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION NETWORK.
According to the research from Griffith’s School of Engineering and published in the journal Applied Energy, a forecast-based, three-phase battery energy storage scheduling and operation system provides benefits such as reduced peak demand, more efficient load balancing and better management of supply from solar photovoltaics (PV).
Researcher Mr Chris Bennett, working under the supervision of Associate Professor Rodney Stewart and Professor Jun Wei Lu, has developed and applied an intelligent scheduling system to a South-East Queensland-based LV distribution network servicing 128 residential customers.
“The low voltage network is a typical suburb of a few hundred homes where there is a single area transformer and recently there has been a substantial increase in the number of homes with installed residential solar PV in these settings,” says Mr Bennett.
“Daily peak demand in residential networks typically occurs in the evenings in summer and both late morning and evening in winter. But because solar PV generation is dependent on incoming solar radiation, peak generation occurs during the middle of the day, typically when demand in the residential distribution network is low.”
“This means there is an incongruity between when energy is generated and when it is required, which can lead to power supply and quality issues.
“However, with a battery energy storage (BES) system comprising Lithium Ion battery banks coupled with smart power control systems, such as STATCOMS, and featuring embedded intelligent forecasting software, we can better manage the LV network.”……..
Paper: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261915001841
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-04/gu-bes040115.php
RePower Port Augusta explain how Solar thermal power plant project could be economically viable
Solar thermal power plant project at Port Augusta ‘economically highly unviable’, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-01/solar-thermal-project-at-port-augusta-hits-a-cost-barrier/6366388Alinta Energy says A group lobbying for a solar thermal power plant to be built at Port Augusta in South Australia says Alinta Energy may have overestimated the project’s cost.
The company’s latest report into the potential for a solar thermal power plant near the Upper Spencer Gulf city has found the project to be “economically highly unviable”.
Alinta owns the coal-fired Northern Power Station and the disused Playford Station but a study report found that a funding gap and falling electricity demand meant a conversion of the station to solar thermal was unlikely to happen.
But Lisa Lumsden, from the group RePower Port Augusta, said the finding was unsurprising given the uncertainty around the federal Renewable Energy Target (RET).
The Federal Government is yet to decide on the figure set for a national target on the amount of energy coming from renewable sources by 2020.”As we continue to have no decision and no action and certainty around the RET, the prospect of solar thermal happening in Port Augusta becomes less and less,” Ms Lumsden said.
There has been a strong push from the local community in recent years to convert the coal-fired station to renewable energy.Ms Lumsden said new technologies and plant configurations meant the project could actually be much less expensive than Alinta predicted.
“If they take that all into account over the next two or so months, and bring that information to the fore, we know that some of that will bring the costs down significantly, like more than half,” she said.”We know some of those technologies have the capacity to do that.”
Alinta Energy said that even under the most optimistic scenarios, it would fall short of the $570 million capital cost by about $150 million.
Ms Lumsden said the State Government should step in and fund the $150 million shortfall.
The company is continuing to investigate the project’s potential.
Judge overturns West Australian Government’s decision to deregister Port Hedland Aboriginal sacred site
WA court overturns decision to deregister Port Hedland Aboriginal heritage site http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-01/aboriginal-heritage-test-case-port-hedland/6366250/?site=indigenous&topic=latest By Nicolas Perpitch and Laura Gartry April 01, 2015 The Supreme Court has quashed a decision by a West Australian Government committee to deregister a Port Hedland Aboriginal sacred site, in a test case that opens the door to a class action by traditional owners.
In his judgement, Justice John Chaney referred the case back to the Aboriginal Cultural Materials Committee (ACMC).
The committee had recommended to State Indigenous Affairs Minister Peter Collier that land and waters around parts of Port Hedland port should no longer be considered an Aboriginal sacred site because it had not been used for religious purposes.
“I conclude that the committee did not give consideration to the question of whether or not the Marapikurrinya Yintha was a place of importance or special significance because the question did not arise for consideration in light of the conclusion that it was not a sacred site,” Justice Chaney said in his judgement.
“The ACMC asked itself the wrong questions and identified the wrong issues, thereby falling into jurisdictional error.” Continue reading
Doubts about the future of ERA’s Ranger uranium mine
Any attempt to extend the lease will be controversial.
As colleague Peter Ker reported in February, the traditional owners seem pretty wedded to the idea that mining stops in 2021 and rehab is completed by 2026.
Ranger’s community issues stretch well beyond its sometimes fractured relationships with its local hosts, the Mirarr people. An extension will become an issue of serious contest across a sweep of the environmental movement both because of what it mines (uranium) and where it is (inside the Kakadu National Park).
Rio Tinto worried about ERA’s Ranger uranium mine http://www.afr.com/business/mining/uranium/rio-tinto-worried-about-eras-ranger-uranium-mine-20150402-1mctl1 by Matthew Stevens
The fate of Energy Resources Australia hangs in precarious balance with majority-owner Rio Tinto growing increasingly uncertain about the competitive economics and investment risk of a life-sustaining underground expansion at Australia’s most productive uranium project, the Ranger mine.
Rio owns 68 per cent of ERA and the Australian-listed uranium miner’s only operating asset is Ranger, a 30-year-old mine of occasionally extreme controversy.
Mining at Ranger’s open pit stopped more than two years ago and production is currently sustained by legacy stockpiles.
The longer future of ERA swings on an underground project called Ranger 3 Deeps, which has been the subject of $200 million in pre-feasibility investment over the past two years alone and requires up to $60 million more before a final investment decision might be secured. Continue reading
Unlike other wealthy nations, Australia fails to release post-2020 emission goals on time
Australia not among rich nations releasing post-2020 emission goals on time, The Age April 1, 2015 Lisa Cox and Peter Hannam Australia has been left behind by most other wealthy nations in failing to disclose its post-2020 carbon reduction goals by the first quarter of 2015 as agreed at a global gathering in Peru last December.
The 28-nation European Union has announced that it would cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent on 1990 levels by 2030. On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama formalised in a submission to the UN the United States’ commitment to cuts that were first revealed in a landmark announcement with China last year………
Assuming the US goal was unchanged from the pledge made by President Obama during a visit to China last October, Australia would need a much deeper goal than its current bipartisan aim of slicing gas emissions by 5 per cent of 2000 levels by 2020 to keep up, said Pep Canadell, a CSIRO research scientist and executive director of the Global Carbon Project.
“If you want the effort to be proportional to what US and Australia committed for the 2005-2020 period, it would be something like [a cut of] 17 per cent by 2025 [for Australia],” Dr Canadell said.
Australia joined Canada in holding off on making any commitments for now.
The Abbott government’s issues paper, released on Saturday, appears to lay the groundwork for Australia to argue for special treatment in the talks because of the country’s heavily resource-based economy………
Emissions from power plants in the 12 months to September totalled 181.9 million tonnes, or about 1.5 million tonnes more than for the year to June.
If the emissions shift were to be maintained, it would increase emissions from electricity generators by about 4 per cent this year, Hugh Saddler, principal consultant with Pitt & Sherry, said.
John Connor, chief executive of the Climate Institute, said it was a poor showing by Australia to fall short of the March 31 goal for releasing its post-2020 target.”Australia, as a wealthy country with over 20 years’ experience in detailed climate policy analysis, should be amongst those – including Mexico – who have met that deadline,” Mr Connor said……. http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-not-among-rich-nations-releasing-post2020-emission-goals-on-time-20150401-1mc2t2.html
University of Western Australia appoints climate change sceptic
Climate ‘sceptic’ Bjorn Lomborg’s Australian influence grows as he joins University of WA, The Age April 2, 2015 Markus Mannheim Public service editor One of the world’s best-known climate contrarians, Bjorn Lomborg, will establish a base in Perth as his influence in Australia grows.
The controversial Dane has struck a four-year deal with the University of Western Australia to run a policy research centre in its business school, which will focus on the nation’s future prosperity.
Dr Lomborg said he planned to spend a “significant amount of time” in Australia following his appointment this month as one of the Abbott government’s advisers on foreign aid.
That appointment was criticised sharply by the Labor opposition and environmental activists, who questioned why someone who played down the effects of global warming should be advising on Pacific Island nations, which are particularly vulnerable to climate change. http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/climate-sceptic-bjorn-lomborgs-australian-influence-grows-as-he-joins-university-of-wa-20150401-1mcowc.html
Wind energy company gives up on Australia due to RET uncertainty
Renewable energy sector crisis forces Banco Santander to quit Taralga wind farm, SMH, March 31, 2015 Angela Macdonald-Smith Banco Santander, a major investor in renewable energy, will sell its only Australian wind farm and exit the local sector because of policy uncertainty that has dragged the industry into crisis.
Santander will seek a buyer for its 90 per cent stake in the 106.8 megawatt Taralga wind farm near Goulburn, which is not being included in the renewable energy fund it set up late last year with two Canadian pension giants because of the perceived poor prospects for the sector in Australia, say sources………
Santander is closing the Sydney office for its equity investment arm, which focuses on renewable energy, in mid-2015. http://www.smh.com.au/business/renewable-energy-sector-crisis-forces-banco-santander-to-quit-taralga-wind-farm-20150331-1mbjsk.html
Victoria about to get 854 wind turbines worth $5 billion
854 wind turbines worth $5 billion ready to be built in Victoria CHRIS MCLENNAN THE WEEKLY TIMES APRIL 01, 2015
WIND farms worth almost $5 billion are poised to be built across Victoria.Thirteen projects with 854 turbines have won municipal council and State Government support and are ready to go.
Wind farms near Mortlake, Ballarat, Ararat, Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Ballan, Colac and St Arnaud can turn the soil the moment the Federal Government implements a new Renewable Energy Target scheme…….
……AGL Energy has built big wind farms at Oaklands Hill and Macarthur costing $1.18 billion. In its submission to the Senate wind farm inquiry AGL Energy estimates it has created 875 direct and indirect jobs in rural Victoria.
Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor Murray Emerson said his council last week approved the Enerfin proposal. “It is a $460 million project, individually it would be the biggest investment in the shire’s history,” Cr Emerson said.
“Small rural shires like ours are battling all the time and the economic benefits from a project of this scale would be incredibly welcome.”Ararat Rural City Mayor Paul Hooper, who spoke at the Portland inquiry on Monday, said there were wind farm projects worth $1.68 billion ready to begin in his shire.
“This is an industry we already know very well and our residents support, we have a community which is pro-wind farm. “There are lots of jobs in construction, benefits from rates and the farms benefit which host them. “Rural shires have low populations and big areas to service, so a free kick of this magnitude is something we are very excited about.”
MAV president Cr McArthur said the dollar investment from wind farms “was astronomical”.
…….Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the Government was promoting wind farms because of job creation and regional development and impact on greenhouse gas.
Ms D’Ambrosio said the Government had recently reduced the exclusion zone from winds farms from 2km to 1km to help create even more projects. She said developments would now be approved by the state’s planning minister.
Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber said wind farms “would be a boon” to small rural councils with limited rate income.
Mr Barber said the pressure was on the State Government as well as the Federal RET negotiations “to make the wind farms happen” http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/wind-turbines-worth-5-billion-ready-to-be-built-in-victoria/story-fnkfnspy-1227286154627
Low-cost high-efficiency concentrated solar photovoltaic power station launched in Victoria
The central Victorian sun powers world’s first concentrated solar power station, ABC Central Victoria By Larissa Romensky and Jonathan Ridnell, 31 March, 2015
This is the world’s first concentrated solar photovoltaic (CSPV) power station just launched by research and development company, RayGen Resources.”The end result is very low cost solar electricity and we think it’s going to really revolutionise solar energy,” said Robert Cart, CEO and co-founder of the company.
The tower acts as a receiver that collects sunlight from the mirrors that are computer controlled to move as they track the sun.”The collector field focuses the light on the receiver. The receiver directly converts that light to electricity,” said co-founder and technical director of RayGen, John Lasich.
The very small receiver is the unique part of this technology. “This is the only commercial version of this technology in the world,” said Mr Lasich.”It combines heliostats and denser photovoltaic cells, which when combined give very low cost and high efficiency.”
At this stage the $3.6 million project is a pilot testing facility. But the company are happy with the results.”It looks and feels pretty much like the real thing does,” said Mr Lasich.
High efficiency meets low costThe small plant generates enough power to run about 75 to 100 homes and the company says the technology is cheaper and more efficient than placing solar panels on roofs……….
The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with their Chinese commercial partners. Juye Solar have invested $6 million which will allow RayGen to expand its manufacturing. They are currently in the process of building a larger facility at the same location.
A further $15 million will be invested by Juye Solar to develop the business in China to meet the large demand……
The ultimate aim for RayGen is to have distribution around the world. “We build the high tech components and software and sell that to the companies and they build the balance of system and put the whole plant together,” said Mr Lasich. http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/03/31/4207919.htm
Direct Inaction – Tony Abbott’s climate strategy on behalf of the coal industry
View from the Street: So, who lost the NSW election the most?, Canberra Times March 29, 2015 – Andrew P Street “…….There have been many, many, many many many many many many many criticisms of Direct Action, the non-climate-change-addressing centrepiece of the government’s climate change policy.
Some have criticised the cost – $2.5 billion – rather than the non-cost of the previous policies such as emissions trading and the carbon not-actually-a-tax; systems which relied on market forces rather than government funding – which is odd, since historically that’s been the Liberal Party’s preferred solution for just about everything esle.
There have been criticisms based on the fact that the planned handing of this public money to private polluting concerns in order that they then reduce emissions does not appear to come with any clear conditions, such as having to give that money back if they then decide to not use it to reduce emissions.
And now “Environment” Minister Greg Hunt has proposed one better: that the energy industry shouldn’t be expected to do anything like, say, reduce the amount of pollution they create in order to get their hands on the cash.
It’s an interesting take on the whole “emissions reduction” model. Climate Institute deputy chief executive Erwin Jackson expressed that more bluntly: “It’s a climate policy you have when you don’t want to reduce emissions.”
The argument from the government is that asking the energy sector to reduce emissions would be just unfair, since it might force them to use more expensive methods to generate electricity which would make power more expensive. Of course, that $2.5 billion fund was entirely designed to compensate companies for the costs of making exactly those sorts of changes, but now Hunt appears to be arguing that asking polluters to actually do something after they’d gone to the trouble of accepting all that free money would seem churlish.
And, of course, we might politely point out – yet again – that Australia could go all-renewable pretty much tomorrow if we wanted. And, of course, that we’re going to be forced to do so at some point anyway.
Still, there’s no reason to rush into doing something sensible and necessary. And hey, what have future generations ever done for Australia’s bottom line, huh?……http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/view-from-the-street-so-who-lost-the-nsw-election-the-most-20150329-1mafpd.html
Abbott govt’s climate paper for Paris is likely to be a disgrace
Australia ‘at risk of failing’ biggest climate test in a decade say climate groups, as government releases Paris discussion paper, The Age March 28, 2015 Lisa Cox National political reporter The Abbott government says it will be a constructive player in global climate talks, but environment groups have warned it is laying out a path that puts Australia at risk of failing the most important climate test in a decade.
The government has published an issues paper ahead of public consultation on Australia’s post-2020 emissions reduction targets ahead of a new global climate deal in Paris at the end of this year.
Australia’s targets are under review and the government has promised it will announce new targets mid-year…….the Greens said the paper puts Australia on track for a repeat of 1997 Kyoto talks, where then environment minister Robert Hill argued Australia should be made an exception because of the economy’s high dependence on coal…….. Continue reading
Wiluna uranium project not viable due to flooding risks
Lake Way flooding proves Wiluna unviable http://www.robinchapple.com/lake-way-flooding-proves-wiluna-unviable 27 Mar 15, (Good photos) After yesterday flying over Lake Way to see the extent of flooding in the area, WA Greens spokesperson on uranium Robin Chapple MLC has expressed deep concern about the future of proposed uranium mining on the lake bed.
GetUp and Powershop join forces to switch Australia to renewable energy
Powershop was ranked by Greenpeace as the greenest power company in Australia. As a generator, the company only produces renewable energy through its wind farms in Victoria and South Australia. It buys carbon offsets from UN-certified projects for all the electricity it creates and sells at no additional cost to the end user. It also lets consumers buy certified Green Power from projects such as the Hepburn Wind Farm (a community project in Victoria), LMS Energy (which creates gas from landfill), and CSR’s renewable energy project.
Powershop is a disruptive player because it offers customers greater visibility and control over their electricity use with no lock-in contracts.
Why GetUp activists are the new sales agents for electricity retailer Powershop Business Review Weekly Caitlin Fitzsimmons Online editor 26 March 2015 Online electricity retailer Powershop has a novel way of winning new customers – getting online activist group GetUp to do the sales and marketing for them.
Powershop Australia chief executive Ben Burge says more than 6,000 of Powershop’s 38,000 Australian customers – about 16 per cent – have come directly via GetUp to date.
“Of course it’s helpful to have someone other than the power company talking to customers about what’s a good choice of power company,” Burge says. “The great thing about working with GetUp is they are incredibly enthusiastic and that passion comes through – we don’t ever want it to be a scripted thing.”
GetUp chief executive Sam McLean says the goal is to get 50,000 people to switch before the annual general meetings of the big three power companies, Origin, Energy Australia and AGL, later this year. As of 11.30am on Thursday, GetUp’s internal figures showed it had switched 6,902 customers in total and was adding about 150 a day via both online and telesales.
The switching campaign is part of GetUp’s Better Power push to champion climate change action and renewable energy. The big three energy companies, which control 75 per cent of the energy retail market between them, are campaigning heavily to abolish or reduce the Renewable Energy Target. By contrast, Powershop strongly supported retaining the target in its submission to the recent government review. Continue reading
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