A realistic answer to Josh Frydenberg’s pro nuclear article
Seriously, let’s get down to brass tacks: would there be a nuclear power station in what is now Australia’s third-biggest city? Where exactly within SEQ would you put it? What would happen if there was a “rain event” like 2011 or 1974? What would happen to a nuclear reactor in a “fire event” like Victoria 2009? Can you promise that a nuclear future won’t feature fire and rain on that scale?
Don’t be shy, Politically homeless, 26 Jan 2011, We at the Politically Homeless Institute warned against inserting Josh Frydenberg into key national debates. Quarantining him at The Australian was a smart move but insufficient. In THE AUSTRALIAN 26/01 /2011) he’s going on about nuclear power…… Continue reading
Australia seems blind to the economic benefits of renewable energy
Australia, in contrast, is far behind. Just 25 per cent of new energy-generation capacity is renewable. Why?..The traditional economic modelling in Australia flies in the face of global predictions…
Australia last on green energy, RAY WILLS, The West Australian January 27, 2011, Around the world, growth in renewable energy is now greater than any other energy investment – but not in Australia. Continue reading
Asia turning to renewable energy, Australia’s coal industry will decline
These powerful Asian economies will decarbonise through the mass deployment of renewable energy, electric vehicles and other clean technologies. These combined efforts mean that demand for Australian coal will decline dramatically in the decades ahead.
King Coal will be dethroned, and BHP should align itself with the carbon revolt, Sydney Morning Herald, Matthew Wright, January 27, 2011 This decade will mark the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era.Countries that are taking rapid action on climate change are reshaping the global commodities market. Coal is now among Australia’s largest exports but demand for the commodity will drop as the global economy shifts to renewable energy. This represents a risk and an opportunity for Australia and its miners. Continue reading
THE AUSTRALIAN spruiks nuke plants for Australia
The pre-eminent voice in the Australian debate, Ziggy Switkowski, chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, believes Australia can have its first reactor operating by 2020 and 50 in place by 2050, providing 90 per cent of the nation’s energy needs….
Nuclear option our safest bet Josh Frydenberg The Australian January 26, 2011 “……Minister for Energy and Resources, Martin Ferguson, an outspoken proponent of nuclear energy, is in Washington this week for talks with US Energy Secretary Steven Chu…. as a clean form of energy, nuclear power is better for the environment….
Electric cars – Australia could be a manufacturing leader
Australia, take note….How better to reinvigorate the Australian auto-industry, and cope with skyrocketing petrol expenses, than to evolve to the future of car-buyer demand, especially when it’s so clearly foreseeable? A switch to EV production is the inevitable solution……Are Australian-owned infrastructure companies missing out on a glaring opportunity under their very noses?
2010 a slump year for Australia’s uranium
Poor year for Australian uranium, World Nuclear News, 25 January 2011 Australia’s uranium production took a hit during 2010, with the lowest volumes since 1998.
Total production was 6957 tonnes of uranium oxide (5899 tonnes of uranium, tU), compared to a high of 10,277 tonnes (8715 tU) in 2008, after problems including high rainfall at Energy Resources of Australia’s Ranger mine and the mid-year haulage system accident at BHP-Billiton’s Olympic Dam……Poor year for Australian uranium
Green energy will power ahead in South West Victoria
Federal Government legislation means wind farms and other renewable power sources will continue to be built.
‘Huge demand’ to continue for green energy, ABC South West Vic – Australian Broadcasting Corporation January 25, 2011 The Clean Energy Council says a drop in the number of households paying for renewable power will not affect the development of green energy projects in south-west Victoria Continue reading
Change Australia’s national day to one with a positive meaning
Wattle Day, the first day of September is an ideal day for this purpose….As a symbol of nature, it is a sign of the depth of feeling Indigenous people have for their land. Their ecological practice is an outcome of their relations of kinship with the natural world and they contribute a great deal to land management across Australia based on their eco-knowledge.
Why Wattle Day should be our national day, Eureka Street, Paul W. Newbury January 23, 2011 I am one of many Australians who cannot commemorate Australia Day on 26 January because I find it impossible to celebrate national unity on a day that divides the nation between the Indigenous survivors of invasion and those who inherited the spoils of their dispossession…. Continue reading
Global warming will bring more extremes, including floods, to Australia
“We will have an increased frequency of quite major events similar to what we had, particularly the flooding event in south-east Queensland,
More natural disasters on Australia’s radar, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Francis Tapim and Bruce Woolley Jan 23, 2011 An expert says Australia will see a higher incidence of extreme weather events like the flooding in Queensland. Global Change Professor Peter Grace from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) says greenhouse gases and global warning are contributing factors, whether people want to accept it or not. Continue reading
International Energy Agency commends Australia’s Zero Carbon Energy Plan
target of zero carbon emissions by 2020 is achievable using technology that is already ‘on the shelf’ and currently available….a significant number of new jobs would be created in renewable energy, manufacturing, operations and maintenance…….
IEA: Australia could run entirely on renewable energy within a decade, expert claims | Beyond Zero Emissions, 22 Jan 2011, Ambitious blueprint to cut out carbon emissions is presented at the Agency’s Paris-based headquarters Australia could shred all reliance on oil, coal and gas and become entirely dependent on renewable energy sources by the end of the decade, experts at a think-tank and an Australian university claim in a report presented at the IEA’s headquarters. Continue reading
Doubts on the value of desalination plant for Adelaide
Given the plant will be one of the top 10 users of electricity in the state, Parnell wants the Government to commission an equivalent amount of new renewable energy to put into the grid……Gulf is being exposed to further damage to its marine life and sea grasses from excessive salinity and ultimately deoxygenated water………….
Will desal be worth its salt? | Adelaide Now, 22 Jan 2011, “……….The plant’s appetite is enormous. While Port Stanvac is better than some, it still takes 2.1 litres of seawater to produce a litre of fresh.When fully operational at the end of next year, the 100GL plant will suck in around 260 Olympic swimming pools of seawater a day and transform them into 120 swimming pools of clean water.The unwanted 140 pools of hyper-saline waste will be dispersed in the Gulf through an outfall pipe 2.5km out to sea………….. Continue reading
Will South Australia sacrifice a national wilderness to a uranium company’s greed?
ARKAROOLA IS:
• on the Register of the National Estate
• a recognised geological monument,
• a Sanctuary under the National Parks & Wildlife Act
• an Environmental Class A zone under the Development Act
LET’S STAND UP FOR ARKAROOLA!, Amanda Rowe, 21 Jan 2011,
In 2007 mining company Marathon Resources had its exploration licence suspended after illegally dumping 22,800 bags of radioactive waste in Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and stealing Fluorite from a site classified as a Geological monument. Continue reading
Greens congratulate Australian government on putting security obligations ahead of uranium companies’ greed
The Government has decided not to violate one of the world’s most important treaties,” said Senator Ludlam…..”Resources Minister Martin Ferguson and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd should be congratulated for putting Australia’s international security obligations ahead of the interests of uranium mining companies.”
Greens urge Labor to maintain principled stand on selling uranium to India, Scott Ludlam 20th January 2011, The Greens have applauded the decision of the Federal Government to reject the Indian government’s call for an end to Australia’s ban on selling uranium to India. Continue reading
Wikileaks revealed the danger of selling uranium to Asia
The existing reality of massive investment in nuclear weaponry in poverty-stricken South Asia, and the potential for vastly worse outcomes, needs to be factored into debates over Australian uranium export policy……The problem is that IAEA safeguards inspections in India will at best be tokenistic.
Rolling the nuclear dice with Australian uranium The Punch, Jim Green, December 2010, Secret US cables concerning nuclear politics in South Asia provide important context for debates over Australia’s uranium export industry…… Continue reading
Sound reasons for Australia to refuse to sell uranium to India
The arms control reasons for refusing uranium sales to India are serious. The first is the damage that could be done to the NPT system…..A second reason is that Australian uranium used for power generation could free other sources of uranium for use in Indian nuclear weapons, possibly fuelling a nuclear arms race with Pakistan..
We need to strengthen, not weaken, nuclear deterrent, Sydney Morning Herald, Andy Butfoy, January 21, 2011 Australia has a sovereign right to choose its customers. REPORTS that Delhi is pressuring Canberra to sell India uranium are predictable. The arguments for selling have been well rehearsed, and vested interests have long been encouraging Australia to cash in on the opportunities being dangled before it. But to understand why, one has to go beyond the spin produced by the Indian government and the nuclear industry…. Continue reading
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