South Australia’s wind power figures vindicate radical energy plan http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/51184, May 31, 2012 Beyond Zero Emissions released the statement below on May 31. Yesterday energy consultants EnergyQuest broke the news that wind power supplied 31% of South Australia’s electricity in the last quarter. Continue reading
South Australia’s baseload power from wind energy
Wind Power ‘The New Baseload’ In South Australia http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php main_page=news_article&article_id=3231 by Energy Matters, 31 May 12 Achieving 20% renewable energy in Australia by 2020 isn’t impossible – in fact, South Australia has already blown past goal that courtesy of wind energy primarily, with a helping hand from residential solar panel installations. Continue reading
As China’s summer hots up, its desire for Australia’s coal cools down
China cancels thermal coal contracts http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201206/s3515966.htm By Caitlyn Gribbin, 01/06/2012 Australian coal producers may be considering closing their mines because Chinese buyers are defaulting on thermal coal contracts. China, the biggest user of coal, wants a lower price for the commodity
and an analyst says until that’s negotiated, Australian thermal coal exporters won’t be able to sell their product.
James O’Connell from Platts Coal Report says Australian miners will have to make some tough decisions.
“In the next couple of months there’s definitely a possibility that if there’s not a hot summer in China, if coal burn goes down, their stockpiles are going to kick in, the exports from the United States are going to hurt Australian producers.
“They’re going to be in a position where they might have to consider closing down mines or at least temporary shut downs. “In Australia, that’s an absolute possibility.”
Distributed energy, small scale solar, has taken off in Australia
Solar insights – Australia big in small solar REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 28 May 2012 Germany may set most of the records for the amount of solar PV installed – 27GW and growing quickly – but it seems that Australia can claim a record of its own – it’s really big in small solar.
According to data drawn to our attention by Warwick Johnston of Sunwiz Consulting, Australia installed more small-scale solar than Germany in calendar 2011 – 795MW of rooftop systems of 10kW or less (the average size in Australia ranges from 1.5kW to 2.2kW) compared to 759MW in Germany…. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/solar-insights-australia-big-in-small-solar-65337
Jeffrey Lee saved Koongarra land from uranium mining
Kakadu victory as uranium mining battle ends http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/kakadu-victory-uranium-mining-battle-051337975.html By Emma Masters | ABC 30 May 12, – Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory is set to be expanded, with the inclusion of land previously earmarked for uranium mining. The Northern Land Council (NLC) has agreed for a 1,200 hectare parcel of land containing rich reserves of uranium to be incorporated in to the park.
It is considered the final step in a long battle that Aboriginal traditional owner Jeffrey Lee has waged to protect his land from mining.
The uranium-rich mining lease Koongarra was excised from Kakadu when the conservation area was established in the late 1970s. The lease is held by French company Areva, which wanted to mine the area for uranium.
Two years ago, Mr Lee, the sole traditional owner of the land, called on the Federal Government to incorporate it in to Kakadu. The Government accepted the offer and referred the matter to the NLC. The NLC conducted consultations and its full council has agreed to endorse Mr Lee’s wishes.
The council and land trust will now move to enter an agreement with national parks to incorporate Koongarra into Kakadu. It is not known if Areva will attempt to take any action over the decisions. The existing Ranger uranium mine is located within the boundaries of Kakadu, about 180 kilometres south-east of Darwin.
Images of Manuwangku – a community fights against nuclear waste dumping
The words of Dr Nelson that the place constitutes ”the middle of nowhere” echo the old doctrine of terra nullius. If land is bare, then it is open. The land was not bare at Captain Cook’s discovery of Australia, it was not bare at the start of British colonisation, and it isn’t bare now.
Photographer Jagath Dheerasekara reminds us of this in a recent exhibition at Customs House in Sydney, curated by Sandy Edwards.
A community maintains its spirit in confronting ignorance, SMH, Erin Stewart May 31, 2012
Images of Manuwangku show the human face of the waste dump plan. IN 2005, then education minister Dr Brendan Nelson told Australians there would be no harm in putting a nuclear waste plant ”in the middle of nowhere”.
In 2007, the exact ”middle of nowhere” was identified as Muckaty, or Manuwangku, as the Aboriginal owners of this remote Northern Territory community call it. Despite local fear, dismay, and rejection of the proposal to dump nuclear waste there, the battle is ongoing. The residents fear for the future.
This Sunday it will be 20 years since the High Court’s landmark Mabo decision, which led to the passing of the Native Title Act. Moreover, Article 29 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples holds that ”no storage or disposal of hazardous materials shall take place in the lands or territories of indigenous
peoples without their free, prior and informed consent”.
A Federal Court case continues over whether adequate consultation was conducted by the Northern Land Council prior to nominating the site. Regardless of common law, statute and international law that protects indigenous land rights, Manuwangku is still under threat. Continue reading
Investors not happy with giant uranium mine project, Olympic Dam’s future is questionable
BHP’s chairman Jacques Nasser said the company would not proceed with all of its previously planned $80 billion worth of expansion plans.
Platypus Asset Management portfolio manager Prasad Patkar says Olympic Dam is not the company’s top expansion priority….. When asked if Olympic Dam project’s future was more questionable, Mr Patkar summed it up in one word: “yeah”.
Olympic Dam expansion may fall at last hurdle ABC News, By business reporter Michael Janda May 31, 2012 Analysts estimate the cost of BHP Billiton’s proposed Olympic Dam mine expansion at $30 billion, making it one of the biggest corporate investment commitments in history.
But the latest global economic wobbles appear to have given the world’s largest miner a severe case of commitment-phobia. Continue reading
As BHP reins in spending, Olympic Dam uranium mine the most likely project to drop
BHP’s investment plans and faltering share price have been a concern for investors, …… Analysts and government ministers have estimated the investment in expanding Olympic Dam could top $30 billion ….
BHP’s New Mine Projects Look Less Assured, WSJ,May 31, 2012, BHP Billiton’s more cautious approach to investment may mean approval for several $10 billion-plus “mega” projects won’t come this year, setting the stage for heightened friction with governments and increased calls for cash to be returned to shareholders if development spending is reined in. Continue reading
BHP’s decision on Olympic Damn megamine delayed till late 2013?
BHP keeps South Australia waiting on Olympic Dam board decision , BY: MICHAEL OWEN The Australian May 31, 2012 BHP uranium president Dean Dalla Valle says the company “would deal with it then” if a board decision on the expansion of Olympic Dam could not be made by the government’s deadline of December 8.
“There will be a decision at the end of the year and that’s all we can say for now,” Mr Dalla Valle said yesterday….. company analysts now expect that Olympic Dam and other “mega” projects under consideration by the company will not be given the go-ahead until the December half of next year in response to rising economic uncertainty…
Labor Member of Parliament joins Northern Territory protest against nuclear waste dump plan
March marks five years of nuclear waste push http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-25/tennant-creek-nucelar-waste-dum-protest-muckaty/4033982?section=ntBy Allyson Horn, May 25, 2012 A protest has marked the fifth anniversary of the proposal to build a nuclear waste facility at Muckaty Station. More than a hundred people have taken part in a protest against a
proposed nuclear waste facility in the Northern Territory.
Muckaty Station, about 130 kilometres north, of Tennant Creek is the site being considered for Australia’s first nuclear waste dump. Protesters marched along Tennant Creek’s main street, chanting “no dump at Muckaty, don’t waste the Territory”.
It has been five years since the site at Muckaty was first nominated for the facility but protesters say some of traditional owners of the land still have not been consulted about it.
Local MLA Gerry McCarthy stood alongside protesters and reaffirmed his commitment to fight against the dump. He says he would take part in a blockade to stop construction of the facility, if it comes to that.
Diane Numbin Stokes is a traditional owner from Tennant Creek and a custodian of the land area that includes Muckaty station. She says the land being set aside for the nuclear waste dump is an Aboriginal men’s site, but this does not mean the women can’t voice their concerns. “We don’t want the waste to come to that land,” she said.
A Federal Court challenge against the nomination of the site is yet to be settled.
Western Australian govt will not allow uranium to be shipped from W.A. ports
WA has no plans to change stance on uranium , Business Spectator, 25 May 12 The Liberal-Nationals government of West Australia has no plans to ship yellowcake uranium to overseas markets due to a lack of suitable ports, “because they are either surrounded by residential areas or do not have container facilities”, according to a report by Federal Labor MP Melissa Parke said that the WA government’s decision recognised “that the people of Western Australia are strongly against the mining and movement of uranium”………. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/WA-has-no-plans-to-ship-yellowcake-pd20120525-UM2U9?OpenDocument&src=hp26,
Queensland govt axes solar farm project
Queensland Government Bails On Solar Farm Project
http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3224 by Energy Matters, 25 May 12 The Queensland Government has withdrawn funding for Cloncurry Solar arm as part of a cost cutting campaign that may see other solar elated casualties. Continue reading
Renewable energy in Australia threatening the profits of fossil fuel industries
Electricity industry is in for a big shock by: Giles Parkinson The Australian May 25, 2012 Data from the European electricity market shows how 25GW of solar PV has changed the nature of the German electricity market. The data compares how the market looked in 2008, against how it looked on a sunny day on March 12 this year.
“……..It is just a snapshot, but it is being repeated often enough that generators in Germany, Italy and elsewhere in Europe are calling for the rollout of solar to be capped to protect their earnings.
Several gas-fired plants in Germany have either been closed or marked for closure, and the largest electricity companies, E.ON and RWE, have made it clear they cannot keep these plants open, and are refusing to build new ones, without further help. So the German government has come up with a new mechanism called “capacity factors”. The details are yet to be worked out, but essentially it represents a payment to ensure that the gas-fired plants are available to balance the growing number of solar PV and offshore and onshore wind plants in the German grid, and to provide capacity as nuclear and then coal-fired power stations are removed.
It would seem inevitable that Australia will have to follow the same path. The brown coal generators are already feeling the pinch from lower wholesale prices of electricity caused by moderating demand and by the large wind capacity in South Australia. They have succeeded once in persuading the Victorian government to reduce the ambitions of its state-based renewable energy target, and are now seeking to do so again at the federal level. Already, the federal government has provided two payment mechanisms for the closure for some of the most polluting plants, and compensation to ensure that others stay open despite the impact of the carbon price (which ostensibly is designed to force their closure).
The government also has an energy security mechanism that can provide emergency financing to any generators finding themselves in trouble. Capacity payments, incentives to ensure that “peaking” generators that are flexible enough to provide energy when a coal-fired generator is offline, renewables are not functioning, or in times of peak demand, may well become part of the landscape…..
Sales of uranium to India not yet government policy? no date set for negotiations
Division delays sales of uranium to India by: David Crowe and Mark Dodd The Australian May 25, 2012 LABOR’S landmark policy change to allow uranium sales to India is yet to be put into effect amid divisions within the government over whether to proceed with a deal seen as crucial to the relationship between the two countries.
Talks on a bilateral deal are yet to begin despite assurances last year that negotiations would be under way by now and assumptions in India that talks had already begun.
Julia Gillard overcame objections from some of her cabinet colleagues to secure the policy shift at the ALP conference last December, drawing praise from India for strengthening the two nations’ strategic partnership.
But ministers are still considering whether to adopt the party platform as government policy and there is no date set for the formal negotiations to begin.
The delays come as Canberra also decides on Western Australia’s first uranium mine in the face of calls from the Greens for tougher safeguards on the Toro Energy project despite its approval by the state’s environmental regulator……
“Australia and India are not currently negotiating a civil nuclear co-operation (‘safeguards’) agreement,” a department official told The Australian. “Before exports could take place, a civil nuclear co-operation agreement would need to be concluded to cover supply of Australian uranium to India.”…..http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/division-delays-sales-of-uranium-to-india/story-fn59nm2j-1226366170546
Labor and Liberal Party leaders for Barkly, NT, both oppose Muckaty nuclear waste dump
Barkly candidates united against Muckaty, ABC Alice Springs By Emma Sleath (Cross Media Reporter), 24 May 12 They’re on opposite sides of the political divide but Member for Barkly, Gerry McCarthy and Country Liberal Party candidate Bec Healy stand united on Muckaty.
The CLP’s candidate for the Barkly, Bec Healy says she does not want to see the proposed nuclear waste facility at Muckaty Station go ahead. “I know some of the traditional owners out at Muckaty…and you have to be sensitive with how people live, that’s their life and I’m willing to support them,” she says.
The Federal Government put forward the proposal to build a radioactive waste management facility at Muckaty Station in 2008. The station is located 120kms north of Tennant Creek and leased from Indigenous landholders.
Ms Healy stands united with current Labor Member for Barkly, Gerry McCarthy who maintains his strong opposition to the proposal.
“This is prime cattle country, this is important Indigenous land, this is a very important part of the Territory’s future, it doesn’t need to be contaminated with nuclear material,” he says.
Both candidates stand against their own parties federally on the issue……
Last week the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) announced their opposition to the Muckaty proposal, saying that they will actively support any trade unions ‘refusing to cooperate with the implementation of the policy.’…..
“Why put it over the top of our water table?” says local business owner Wayne Walsh
“I don’t think they realise that we’ve got so much water underneath up here…one mistake and the whole territory’s dead, all the water’s gone.”…….. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/05/24/3510368.htm
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