Antinuclear

Martin Ferguson keeps nuclear door open, while pretending to promote renewables

The big talking points from the Energy White Paper  REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson   9 November 2012, “…….Ferguson may (begrudgingly) acknowledge that nuclear is not part of the Labor Party platform, but he clearly wants to keep the door open. As he said in the draft white paper, and repeated in the final edition, nuclear might be the only option for a zero-emission future if other technologies such as carbon capture, large scale solar and other renewables fail to develop in the next decade.

“If those technologies fail to develop as expected, future Australian governments may need to consider other clean energy alternatives to meet our emissions reduction targets and to minimise the risk of higher adjustment costs,” the Energy White Paper says. Bet get a wriggle on then. But it’s just a little ironic, given his department’s botched handling of the funds designed to bring those technologies to the market – and here you could cite any number of schemes such as Solar Flagships, the Renewable Energy Development Program, and the Geothermal Drilling Program.

Thankfully, the Greens and the Independents forced the Labor Party to put these together under an independent body called the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which is about to swing into action. Ferguson, however, would have been pleased by the CSIRO’s eFutureonline modelling tool, which displays a nuclear scenario that can best be described as wishful thinking. But as the Energy White Paper admits, the establishment of a commercially based nuclear energy industry in Australia would also require additional financial and/or other forms of government support, and a social licence to operate….”

November 9, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

With friends like Martin Ferguson, renewable energy doesn’t need enemies

Call on our nuclear path looms http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/call-on-our-nuclear-path-looms/story-fn59niix-1226513326556 BY: SID MAHER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT  The Australian November 09, 2012 AUSTRALIA may have to decide whether to proceed with nuclear power by the end of the decade if global and national progress on renewable energy technologies fails to develop at the expected pace.

The energy white paper says the Australian government does not support the adoption of nuclear power. However, it says nuclear may enter consideration if new low-emissions baseload energy technology cannot be commercialised in time to meet emissions reduction targets.

Given the long lead times, this would force Australia to make a choice on nuclear energy by late this decade, the paper says.

Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said the government did not support the use of nuclear energy, but it could not produce an energy white paper without acknowledging its existence. “If we get to a point in the future where the community comes to a conclusion that, to achieve baseload clean energy at the lowest possible cost, nuclear is competitive then the community will make that decision in the future,” he said.

The white paper says estimates of future costs for nuclear suggest it could be an economically competitive backstop energy option.

But international experience suggests the establishment of a commercially based nuclear energy industry in Australia would require some initial government support.

The development of the industry would need a lead time of 10-15 years, making the end of this decade the cut-off if the technology is to be deployed by 2030-35, which would allow emissions reductions in line with clean energy policies.

The white paper cites carbon capture and storage as critical to meeting long-term global emissions reduction targets, given the planned expansion of coal-fired power in China and India. Continue reading →

November 8, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment

Australia’s Energy White Paper – Martin Ferguson has to admit -“No Nuclear “

Mr Ferguson said clean energy sources could expand to provide more than 40 per cent of electricity needs by 2035 and potentially as much as 85 per cent by 2050.

The energy generation forecasts go out to 2050 in the report, and do not include nuclear energy as part of the supply mix.

Ferguson calls for ‘non-political’ energy debate, SMH, November 8, 2012 Peter Hannam Carbon economy editor Australia’s energy policies must be driven by competitive markets that operate in the long-term interests of consumers and are guided by “a constructive, non-political debate”, according to the federal government’s long-awaited energy white paper.
The wide-ranging policy update, aimed at guiding energy markets for years to come, is the first for the sector since 2004. – a delay criticised by the opposition.
It comes as consumers battle rising electricity costs prompted by excessive investment in networks, particularly by state-owned companies, and the recent introduction of the carbon tax. Power prices rose 15 per cent in the September quarter alone, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported last month.

Launching the white paper in Melbourne, federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said the rapid rise in electricity prices in recent years has prompted a response from consumers that had been “much higher than expected”. The falling demand, driven also by a restructuring of the economy away from manufacturing, meant that the requirement for additional gas-fired peaking power had all but disappeared, he said. Continue reading →

November 8, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy | Leave a comment