Northern Territory’s only uranium mine doubles last year’s crippling loss of money!
Ranger loses $51.5m http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2012/07/27/312091_nt-business.html NIGEL ADLAM | July 27th, 2012 Ranger uranium mine. THE Territory’s only 
uranium mine has lost more money. Energy Resources of Australia said yesterday that Ranger suffered a loss of $51.5 million in the first six months of this year.
The operation lost $22.3 million in the same period last year. ERA said lower sales, lower prices and a strong Australian dollar were behind the result despite production doubling in the period.
Lower income suburbs in Victoria taking to solar energy in a big way
Tarneit and neighbouring suburbs Hoppers Crossing and Truganina have more solar power installed than any other postcode in the state – 2564 systems, with a capacity of 5.1 megawatts.
Werribee, just a little further down the Princes Freeway, is second on the list of Victorian solar postcodes. The top five are rounded out by other lower-income, outer-suburban areas: Cranbourne, Caroline Springs and Grovedale in Geelong.
”I don’t think the government or public have appreciated just how profound or rapid the change will be in the solar market over the next couple of years.”
Out on the fringe, solar comes of age, The Age, July 28, 2012, 
Adam Morton UNTIL recently, Tarneit, about 25 kilometres west of the Melbourne CBD, was mostly grazing paddocks, a place without a post
office. Now there is barely a cow left. Between the 2006 and 2011 censuses, the population of the outer suburb boomed, tripling to more than 20,000 as the city sprawled and first home buyers snapped up new affordable housing.
The residents of Tarneit are much like those in other developing areas on the city’s fringe. As you might expect, they earn less than the average Victorian. Perhaps less predictably, they are also much more likely to have solar panels on their roofs.
While the myth of solar panels as a purely upper-middle-class luxury persists, new data released by the Clean Energy Regulator suggests it is misplaced. Continue reading
Dick Smith promoting CSIRO’s electric car
the CSIRO test car is designed in such a way that it can be used as a household power source, feeding electricity back into the 240-volt grid, and being charged up again at night when power demand is low.
Dick Smith visits Newcastle CSIRO centre http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/dick-smith-visits-newcastle-csiro-centre/2637702.aspx BY IAN KIRKWOOD 28 Jul, 2012 AS an avowed skeptic, entrepeneur and philanthropist Dick Smith says renewable energy is a good thing whether climate change is real or not.
“While I think we could be altering our climate, I think most business people like me are climate change deniers and I think we could be affecting the climate but coal and oil are going to run out one day,” Mr Smith said in Newcastle yesterday. Continue reading
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) unfair monopoly on selling radiopharmaceuticals
He alleges the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation used “duplicitious” and 
“uncompetitive” tactics to push Cyclopet out of the NSW marketplace.
a report by the Productivity Commission’s Australian Government Competitive Neutrality Complaints Office that backs his allegations,
PET peeve provokes a stoush BY: LEIGH DAYTON The Australian July 28, 2012 Cyclopharm’s James McBrayer believes Cyclopet could have flourished in a fair playing field. JAMES McBrayer is not a happy man. Since 2006, the company he heads has spent nearly $10 million on establishing a business producing and supplying a radiopharmaceutical used in positron emission tomography, or PET scans. Continue reading
Australia’s ACDC stars in hacking into Iran’s nuclear facilities
The latest cyber weapon to rock Iran’s nuclear program? Australia’s AC/DC The Star, July 25, 2012, Bloomberg, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Iran’s nuclear facilities have suffered a cyber attack that shut down computers and played music from the rock band AC/DC, the F-Secure Security Labs website says.
A new worm targeted Iran’s nuclear program, closing down the “automation network” at the Natanz and Fordo facilities, the Internet security site reported, citing an email it said was sent by a scientist inside Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.
The virus also prompted several of the computers on site to play the song “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC at full volume in the middle of the night, according to the e-mail, part of which is published in English on the website……
AC/DC has played “high voltage rock ‘n’ roll” since the band was formed in 1973 in Australia, according to the band’s website. The group’s songs were among the loud music played to detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility in preparation for interrogations, the Associated Press reported in October 2009, citing the National
Security Archive in Washington….. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1231457–the-latest-cyber-weapon-to-rock-iran-s-nuclear-program-australia-s-ac-dc
Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia cutting jobs
Uranium mine foreshadows job cuts, ABC Rural News, By Carl Curtain , 26/07/2012 The CEO of the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory says jobs will be cut as mining is suspended and the company begins its exploration underground.
A $60 million loss was recorded last financial year by Energy Resources Australia, outlined in its half-yearly report released today..
Mining of ‘Pit 3’ will finish at the end of the year, and only stockpiles of ore will be processed until more uranium can be
discovered and mined in coming years…. http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201207/s3554257.htm
Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) – big losses but hopeful that Japan will “embrace nuclear energy”!
ERA looks to Japan re-embracing nuclear THE AUSTRALIAN, BY: BY KIM CHRISTIAN From: AAP July 26, URANIUM miner Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) says Japan will re-embrace nuclear power and that China will become increasingly reliant on the same technology.
The comments by ERA chief executive Rob Atkinson come as the miner’s year of reckoning approaches with its flagship mine Ranger in the Northern Territory rapidly depleting.,,,,,, Mr Atkinson said the uranium market remained challenging,… Mr Atkinson was speaking after ERA said it net losses shrank by more than 50 per cent to $59.86 million in the first half compared to the previous corresponding period. Continue reading
Wind farm at Collector supported, despite one small “astroturf” group’s opposition
Wind farm claims local supporters, Canberra Times, July 27, 2012, John Thistleton Proponents of a $400 million, 68-turbine wind farm at Collector say most of the village residents support the project, which has moved a step closer to approval.
RATCH-Australia is expected to take two years building the region’s latest wind farm near the Federal Highway at Collector. It will generate up to 228 megawatts of electricity, or enough energy to power around 80,000 homes annually.
Chief executive Steve Loxton said the 60-day public exhibition period represented the culmination of years of research.
”Our surveys of local Collector residents confirm that there is strong support for renewable energy Continue reading
Australian government standing firm on Renewable Energy Target (RET)
The Coalition has a bipartisan commitment to the 20 per cent RET.
But Mr Combet said a renewable energy target without a carbon price would increase the economic cost of achieving that goal.
Combet rejects calls for Renewable Energy Target changes BY: SID MAHER : The Australian July 25, 2012 GREG Combet has rejected calls for changes to the Renewable Energy Target, declaring the government is committed to what it legislated.
The Climate Change Minister’s comments amount to a direct rejection to calls from industry players such as Origin Energy for the RET’s large scale quota of 41,000TW/hrs of electricity from renewable sources to be reviewed.
Under the RET, 20 per cent of electricity must be generated from renewable sources by 2020. Continue reading
Australians support renewable energy, despite the vitriolic campaign against climate scientists,
Australians’ strong renewables backing, Climate Spectator, 25 Jul 2012, Lane Crockett As reported yesterday, the Climate Institute launched Climate of the Nation 2012 which is an annual research piece that seeks to understand the attitudes of Australians regarding climate change and energy.
While this year’s report finds that Australians are exhausted by the politics around climate policy and are somewhat confused on climate change science their vision of a low-carbon future is crystal clear: they want renewable energy.
Increasing the amount of renewable energy is perceived as the most effective greenhouse gas emission reduction policy, which along with energy efficiency rated well ahead of other suggested measures.
For the last few years climate change and its solutions have been the target of a well-oiled campaign against innovation, efficiency and clean energy investment. This campaign has included vitriolic attacks directed at highly regarded members of the scientific community, vain attempts to debunk well-established climate change science and highly inaccurate and
misleading claims made about possible solutions such as renewable
energy. Continue reading
Australian Uranium Association resigned to inevitable fall in uranium sales
Simon Clarke, communications director for the Australian Uranium Association, said the Fukushima incident had hurt demand for Australian uranium, and the new policy would see an overall reduction in exports
“We would very much prefer to have the whole Japanese nuclear fleet back in the game, but obviously that’s not going to happen,” he said……would mean a fall in sales for Australian producers ERA and BHP Billiton.
Tetsunari Iida, who heads Japan’s Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, hopes Japan can become a leader in renewable technology and come to depend solely on renewable sources.
Gas the winner as Japan crafts its post-tsunami energy plan BY: RICK WALLACE The Australian July 26, 2012 “…the nation looks to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy after the Fukushima disaster. The policy will not be released for at least another month, but three scenarios have emerged from the sometimes fractious deliberations.
The impact on Australia — which provides 20 per cent of Japan’s natural gas, 66 per cent of its thermal coal and more than one quarter of its uranium — will be slightly different in each case. Continue reading
Australia’s exceptional potential for wave energy
AUDIO Australia to catch the wave and hang ten (per cent that is) July 25, 2012 Australia’s coast line in the Southern Ocean has the best wave resources. Particular areas to note are the west coast of Tasmania, the southern ocean in Victoria and south-west Western Australia. (Phys.org) –– Australia’s oceans hold a bounty of energy and could produce 24-hour power, either from the tides, currents or waves.
A study by CSIRO has found that the waves in the ocean could supply about 10 per cent of Australia’s electricity by 2050. This is equivalent to powering a city the size of Melbourne. Ian Cresswell, Director CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship said understanding the potential of this clean, sustainable energy source was important for CSIRO. Continue reading
South Australian government not affected if BHP’s Olympic Dam expansion doesn’t go ahead
“Olympic Dam doesn’t have any significant revenue for the state government,” “Olympic Dam is never going to be some sort of cash cow for the state government
Olympic Dam no cash cow for state, says Jack Snelling THE AUSTRALIAN, BY: SARAH MARTIN July 25, 2012 BHP Billiton’s $30 billion Olympic Dam mine expansion will have no revenue implications for the South Australian government, Treasurer Jack Snelling says.
In comments far removed from earlier claims that the mega-project would transform the state, Mr Snelling said the budget would not be affected if the project did not go ahead. Continue reading
Contractor lays off Olympic Dam workers, in view of doubts on its future
BHP reviews contractors, staff amid project uncertainty Business Spectator, 24 Jul 2012 In the latest sign that BHP Billiton Ltd may not approve the expansion of its Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine in South Australia later this year, the miner is conducting a review of contractors and staff across its mining mega-projects, looking for potential cost-saving cuts, according to The Australian Financial Review.
In the wake of BHP’s indication recently that it may not approve its three mining mega-projects before December, the company in charge of conducting a feasibility study on the $US20 billion-plus Olympic Dam project laid off several workers last week after its contract expired, according to the AFR.
The company, Jacobs Engineering, made the layoffs on the basis that it could not justify the staffing levels unless BHP’s board approved the project….. If the BHP board fails to approve the Olympic Dam project by December 15 the South Australian government will have the right to allow an indenture agreement setting royalty rates for 45 years to lapse. … http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BHP-reviews-contractors-staff-amid-project-uncerta-pd20120723-WGLXZ?OpenDocument&src=hp10&WELCOME=AUTHENTICATED%20REMEMBER
Olympic Dam expansion in doubt, say South Australian Liberals
SA Libs say Olympic Dam in doubt THE AUSTRALIAN AAP July 25, 2012 A DECLINING world economy may force BHP Billiton to delay a $30 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia, the state opposition says. Mineral Resources spokesman Mitch Williams says there is growing evidence world economic woes will prompt the company to delay the project, including an Access Economics report which points to the mining boom finishing in two years.
“There is a strong chance now that the expansion won’t go ahead next year as BHP Billiton puts the brakes on its global investments, especially long-term ones like Olympic Dam,” Mr Williams said in a statement on Wednesday.
BHP Billiton has until the end of the year to finally approve the expansion or face the need to renegotiate approvals with the state government…. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/sa-libs-say-olympic-dam-in-doubt/story-fn3dxiwe-1226434685135
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