$6 billion cut to investment as result of new renewable energy target will mean
New renewable energy target will mean $6 billion cut to investment: analysts, SMH, May 18, 2015 Lisa Cox National political reporter Six billion dollars in investment in wind and solar power will be lost as a result of a compromise deal on the renewable energy target, energy market analysts say.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance says investment in Australian projects will fall from an expected $20.6 billion by 2020 to $14.7 billion after the Abbott government and Labor reached a deal to reduce the target.
Monday’s agreement, which came after more than 12 months of political gridlock, will slash the original large-scale target of 41,000 gigawatt hours of annual renewable energy production by 2020 to 33,000 gigawatt hours.
Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton said the expected drop in projects is “what we’ve had to accept in order to resolve this situation”.
“The industry was entirely frozen. There was no new investment if the situation continued,” he said. Continue reading
Senators out to sabotage wind energy industry
Senators could demand wind power restrictions in RET scheme, The Age, May 19, 2015 Lisa Cox National political reporter Crossbenchers are set to demand the government shut wind power out of a portion of Australia’s renewable energy target, in exchange for backing the inclusion of native timber burning.
Liberal Democratic senator David Leyonhjelm, Family First senator Bob Day and independent John Madigan will support the government’s proposal to bring wood waste into the scheme, but could seek conditions that would reserve part of the 33,000 gigawatt-hour target for solar and hydro power only.
The three senators are vocal opponents of wind turbines and sit on a parliamentary
committee examining their health effects that held public hearings in Canberra on Tuesday……..
He [David Leyonhjelm] said the senators were also talking about conditions they could seek for wind power to “prevent people from getting sick”.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he feared this could see the Senate debate being sidetracked by views that were anti-science.
“The first place to start is that there is not one medical scientific body anywhere in the world that accepts wind turbines cause physiological illness,” he said.
“What’s really most disappointing in this is that it’s the aggressive anti-wind stance adopted by politicians and some members of the community that spreads alarm … and is a potential cause for some of the symptoms people experience.”
Independent senator Nick Xenophon said he was concerned solar and hydro projects could be “crowded out” of the renewable energy scheme by wind power.http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/senators-could-demand-wind-power-restrictions-in-ret-scheme-20150519-gh574r.html
Australian breakthrough solar technology built in Cyprus in five weeks
Australian scientists have designed and installed solar energy technology in Cyprus to help the island nation shift away from fossil fuels and also to tackle its chronic water shortages.
A team from the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, took five weeks to construct a ‘solar thermal field’ containing 50 heliostats – large mirrors that reflect the power of the sun. The solar thermal field lies in Pentakomo, on the southern coast of Cyprus and places the country at the frontier of solar energy research in Europe.
The CSIRO won an international tender to provide its technology to Cyprus for a trial that could lead to broad solar take-up in the country and elsewhere. It is understood that several other countries in Europe and the Middle East are interested in adopting CSIRO solar technology.
Cyprus hopes to take on the technology so it can reform its oil-dependent economy and meet a European Union target of 13 per cent of energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. The Mediterranean country is also plagued by water shortages and may use solar energy to power desalination plants.
The CSIRO technology uses mirrors to track the sun and reflect it towards a single receiving point on top of a tower. This heat then warms a fluid, in this case molten salt.
The molten salt, heated to 250°C, is stored in a hot tank and the steam produced powers a turbine for electricity. Crucially, this storage method allows for energy to be produced long after the sun has disappeared.
“The question about solar is always about storage at night-time,” said Wes Stein, solar research leader at CSIRO.
“This liquid is cheaper and more efficient than batteries, such as those made by Elon Musk. We can generate steam for electricity on a cloudy day. Continue reading
Australia leads the world in percentage of homes with solar power
Australian households chase sun to lead world on solar adoption http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/australian-households-chase-sun-to-lead-world-on-solar-adoption-20150516-gh2uh9.html May 16, 2015 Mark Sawa Northside Chronicle reporter Australian households are world leaders in solar power installation, according to new figures from Australia’s peak industry body representing the fossil fuel and renewable energy sector.
The Energy Supply Association of Australia, representing the fossil fuel and renewable energy sector, has sourced data from around the world revealing household solar photovoltaic (PV) penetration in Australia is way out in front of any other nation.
The report shows almost 15 per cent of Australian households have adopted the technology to power their homes.
This is more than triple that of Germans, who are second on the world stage and typically thought of as the most prolific solar adopters. Continue reading
Solar trams for Melbourne
Renewable energy group bids to turn Melbourne’s trams solar May 18, 2015 Tom Arup Environment editor, The Age
Melbourne’s entire tram network could be powered by solar if the state government gave a bold renewable energy proposal the green light.
While the pitch may conjure up images of trams with rooftop panels on them like the family home, the power would instead be generated at two new solar farms the project proponents plan to build near Swan Hill and Mildura.
The company behind the bid, the Australian Solar Group, have held quiet talks over four years with different arms of the government to try get the project off the ground, but has so far not got final backing.
The two solar farms would generate 80 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year, about the same amount used by Melbourne’s tram network, which is the world’s largest.
Under the proposal the government would back the project by signing Public Transport Victoria (PTV) up to a power purchase agreement with the solar farms, creating a reliable revenue source alongside the renewable energy target.
The proponents say the project has been designed to ensure the cost of tram tickets would not rise, nor would it add to PTV’s power bill. It would cut 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year from running trams and give the city an obvious global selling point (see the mock-up tram design above), according to the pitch…….http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/renewable-energy-group-bids-to-turn-melbournes-trams-solar-20150518-gh3ime.html
Tasmania keen to fast track electric vehicles – and become 100% renewable energy powered
Tasmania looks to EVs as next step to 100% renewable energy, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 19 May 2015 Tasmania looks to fast-track take-up of electric vehicles to boost its credentials as a green manufacturing hub to replace old industries, and export clean energy to the mainland. Tasmania could end up totally renewable – a Green Apple Isle – in both electricity and transport. Tasmania is looking closely at electric vehicles to take the next step towards 100 per cent renewable energy – both electricity and transport – and boost the state’s strategic advantage as a clean energy manufacturing hub. Continue reading
Australia has the most affordable solar systems in the developed world.
But while this was happening a revolution was unfolding in the affordability of solar power systems. Rather fortunately for Australia, we are one of the best positioned nations to take advantage of this revolution. Continue reading
50% renewable energy by 2030 – Queensland government pledge
Queensland government pledges to reach 50% renewable energy by 2030 Australian states are finally taking action, Science Alert MYLES GOUGH 15 MAY 2015 Queensland’s newly elected Labor government plans to generate 50 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030, and wants one million homes to have rooftop solar systems within five years.
The 50 percent renewable energy target was outlined in the party’s pre-election policy, and the new energy minister recently confirmed that the government is determined to make it happen, and will establish a productivity commission to come up with the right policy pathway to get them there. The government also has a plan to see the number of households with rooftop solar more than double by 2020, growing from 400,000 to one million.
“Renewable energy has long since stopped being a fringe issue, now is the time for Queensland to make this happen,” said energy minister Mark Bailey, before a speech at the Australian Solar Conference in Melbourne. As Giles Parkinson points out for RenewEconomy, there was some speculation that the ambitious target represented “the aspirations of a party that expected to remain in Opposition.”……..
the political tide has turned in Queensland, and with this commitment, all three Labor states – including Victoria and South Australia – are planning ambitious renewable energy targets. South Australia, which is already at 40 percent renewables, wants to make the jump to 50 percent by 2025. And Victoria is looking to sidestep recent legislation, which prevents it from having a state-based scheme, to try and install a similar target.
The federal government, by comparison, seems to be going in the wrong direction. It’s looking to cut the national target for large-scale renewables from a planned 41,000 GWh by 2020, to 33,000GWh. This has already caused the renewable energy industry a lot of grief, as investment in large-scale projects has virtually stalled over the uncertainty……
Still,several large-scale solar plants have been proposed in the state, along with a large wind farm in the north near Mount Emerald, Parkinson reports……http://www.sciencealert.com/queensland-government-pledges-to-reach-50-renewable-energy-by-2030
BY 2040 Australia could reach 100% renewables
Australia could reach 100% renewables by 2040 http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/australia-could-reach-100-renewables-by-2040 By Sophie Vorrath on 14 May 2015Australia could reach 100 per cent renewables as early as 2040 by adding 1.9GW of solar PV and 1.9GW of wind power capacity a year, according to one of Australia’s top renewable energy experts. Continue reading
We need a proper judicial investigation of wind farm danger claims
a judge should investigate the following:
1. ‘Abandoned homes’
How many Australian families have really “abandoned” their homes near wind farms,………
2. Medical records
The judge should request the medical records of complainants from periods both before and after the operation of wind farms……
3. Has there ever been a wind disease diagnosis?
Next, public notices should be placed in the press and publicised in the attempt to find any medical practitioner who has ever diagnosed even a single case of “wind turbine syndrome” in Australia.
4. Experimental tests
Claims made by prominent opponents of wind farms that wind turbines can rock a stationary car at 1 km, cause lips to vibrate 10km away, “bring some men to their knees when out working in their paddock” near wind farms and be heard 100km away could be easily subjected to tests under blinded experimental conditions……..
5. Magical mystery tour
Similarly, Senator Madigan may like to cooperate in organising a fully supervised experiment where those claiming to be adversely affected by wind turbines at distances up to 10km could have this claim experimentally tested……..
Let’s appoint a judge to investigate bizarre wind farm health claims The Conversation, Simon Chapman Professor of Public Health at University of Sydney 14 May 2015, On April 30, 2015, South Australian Family First Senator Bob Day published an opinion piece on his website titled Wind turbines’ inconvenient truth. In gotcha-style exuberation, Senator Day noted that wind turbine motors incorporate rare earths, which are often sourced from heavily polluting mining in inner Mongolia.
Highlighting in bold an excerpt from a 2011 Daily Mail report, Day emphasised:
Whenever we purchase products that contain rare earth metals, we are unknowingly taking part in massive environmental degradation and the destruction of communities.
The subtext was plain: green wind energy supporters are indifferent to the environment and suffering and so are massive hypocrites.
A small problem with this accusation is that by far the main use of rare earths are not in wind turbine motors, but in a wide range of electronics that include billions of mobile phones, computers, DVDs and fluorescent lights, all of which Senator Day uses himself.
Senator Day, who has no training or experience in assessing medical evidence, also wrote to The Australian recently that he had heard “compelling” evidence about the adverse effects of wind turbines on humans and animals. Continue reading
Victoria wants its own renewable energy target, in light of Abbott govt’s anti climate policies
Victoria demands government let it establish its own renewable energy target, Guardian 14 May 15 State wants federal legislation changed to remove barriers to establishing schemes similar to the national RET Victoria has demanded the federal government allow it to establish its own system to drive uptake of renewable energy, following a year of national inertia in the clean energy industry.
The Victorian government wants federal legislation altered to remove barriers to states establishing schemes similar to the national renewable energy target (RET).
Victoria has criticised the federal government’s attempts to slash the RET, which requires that 41,000 gigawatt hours of Australia’s energy comes from renewable sources by 2020, for stymying jobs and investment.
Allowing a “top up” Victorian RET would allow projects in Ballarat, Ararat, Warrnambool and Port Fairy to go ahead, according to the state government. Victoria gave up its own renewables target in 2009 to join the national arrangement.
Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, said the government wanted a 2020 renewables target of “at least 20%”. Victoria currently derives 13% of its energy from clean sources.
“Tony Abbott has put a strong bipartisan position on the national RET into the dustbin,” D’Ambrosio told Guardian Australia. “We’ve said enough is enough, Tony Abbott needs to get out of the way and allow us to provide industry confidence and facilitate billions of dollars in investment.
“If the target was, for example, 20%, it would create 1,400 construction jobs in Victoria. There’s too much at stake here, too much at risk. We’ve already forgone too many dollars and jobs. We were elected to create jobs and this is one sure way, along with our other policies, to get action happening.”
D’Ambrosio said she’d be happy to talk to states such as New South Wales andSouth Australia that might be interested in their own schemes to overcome what she called the prime minister’s “stubbornness and ideological zeal” over renewables………
South Australia has a goal of a 50% renewables share by 2025, while the Australian Capital Territory wants 90% of electricity to come from clean sources by 2020. However, these are aspirational targets, whereas Victoria wants a binding system to ensure renewables uptake.
Under current laws, a corporation “need not comply with any law of a state” that is similar to the national RET. Victoria wants this stipulation scrapped………….http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/may/14/victoria-demands-government-let-it-establish-its-own-renewable-energy-target?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it
Australian electricity utility Origin launches solar energy leasing programme
Origin launches solar services program for homes, small business, REneweconomy, By Sophie Vorrath on 12 May 2015 Major Australian utility, Origin Energy, is set to launch a solar leasing program in three separate states, focusing on small-scale residential and commercial solar systems.
The move by Origin follows the launch, a week earlier, of the battery storage product from rival gentailer, AGL Energy – which was announced ahead of schedule, and to coincide with Tesla’s sensational energy storage reveal.
AGL’s first “proposition” – customers are being asked able to “register their interest” – will be a limited number of 6kWh batteries the size of a large suitcase, made to suit a family home with around 3-4.5kW of rooftop PV. And while this makes AGL Australia’s first energy retailer to stake a claim in the energy storage market, Origin says it will be the first to enter the roof-rental space, and says it hopes to expand its program into other cities.
The solar power purchase agreement market represents huge and largely untapped potential in Australia. Companies like SolarGen and SunEdison are already taking advantage – the soon to be launched 350kW PV system at Tyrrell’s Wines Hunter Valley vineyard, which we report on here, offers one of the nation’s first commercial examples.
Utilities, however, have been slower to get with the program………
Abbott govt’s new Renewable Energy Target ensures uncertainty for renewables
Government’s RET compromise guarantees uncertainty for renewables, Michelle Grattan, The Conversation 8 May 15 As the Abbott government prepares Australia’s post-2020 emissions targets for this year’s Paris conference, the chairman of the Prime Minister’s business advisory council has make an extraordinary intervention in the climate debate.Maurice Newman, writing in the Australian, maintains it’s all a United Nations conspiracy – a power 
grab of massive proportions.“This is not about facts or logic. It’s about a new world order under the control of the UN. It is opposed to capitalism and freedom and has made environmental catastrophism a household topic to achieve its objective.” Newman claims that 95% of the climate models that we’re told prove the link between human emissions and global warming “have been found … to be in error”.
In his article he targets Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the UN’s Framework on Climate Change, who has been visiting Australia. Newman writes that “there is a real chance Figueres and those who share her centralised power ambitions will succeed.
“As the UN’s December climate change conference in Paris approaches, Australia will be pressed to sign even more futile job-destroying climate change treaties.”………….. Continue reading
Canberra battery storage trial likely to kill the myth of “no baseload renewables power”
Canberra-based renewable energy consulting company IT Power will analyse the performance of six major lithium-ion battery brands, comparing them to “old school” and advanced lead-acid batteries for use in large and small electricity grids.
A testing centre will be established at the Canberra Institute of Technology for the trials to be partially funded by $450,000 from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
T Power’s managing Director Simon Troman said storage was the next step needed to help integrate renewable energy, especially solar, into electricity grids.
“It kills the argument put out there by the anti-renewable mob that they’re intermittent and you can’t rely on them… and it turns intermittent renewables like solar and wind into a direct competitor for base-load power.
Rather than research new options for storage, Mr Troman said the trail will purchase batteries for
testing that are already commercially available making the impact more immediate and maintaining the independence of the data.
Electric car maker Tesla’s first foray into lithium-ion batteries for homes the Powerwall, announced last week featuring technology developed by Canberra start-up Reposit Power, could be part of the trials when it goes on the market. Continue reading
Cutback and inclusion of native wood burning – wrecking the Renewable Energy Target
Leigh Ewbank, Friends of the Earth’s renewable energy spokesman, said: “Today, the Abbott government has agreed to cut the renewable energy target by 20%. This means less clean energy, less jobs, and less investment for Australia. This cut to the RET means 3,680 less jobs by 2020.”
[Industry Ministe MacFarlane] – we would expect that the cross-bench will support us on wood waste.”
Australia’s renewable energy target deal hits last-minute snag over wood burning, Guardian, Oliver Milman, 8 May 15
Labor accuses Coalition of trying to include burning of wood waste as a renewable energy source after both sides agree to 33,000GWh target A deal to end the lengthy stand-off over Australia’s renewable energy target has hit a dramatic late hitch after Labor accused the Coalition of trying to include the burning of wood waste as a renewable energy source.
The federal government and the opposition have held on-off talks for several months over a deal to cut the renewable energy target (RET), which mandates that 41,000 gigawatt hours of Australia’s energy must come from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2020.
Talks between Greg Hunt, the environment minister, Ian Macfarlane, the industry minister, and Mark Butler, Labor’s environment spokesman, in Melbourne on Friday agreed that the RET be cut to 33,000GWh, with exemptions for energy-intensive industries such as aluminium.
However, Labor has objected to part of the deal after claiming that the government introduced a last-minute amendment that the burning of wood waste be included in Australia’s renewables target. Continue reading
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