German battery giant Sonnen teams with Australian solar tile maker to take on Tesla, One Step Off The Grid, By Sophie Vorrath on May 25, 2017 German battery storage giant and major Tesla rival, Sonnen, has opened up competition on yet another front in Australia, with the announcement this week of a partnership with a local roofing company that is set to launch its own version of an integrated solar tile.
Sonnen said on Thursday that it had signed an agreement with Australian company Bristile Roofing to be the national supplier of solar powered energy storage systems for homes using its new solar tile, which is due to hit the market in September.
Under the deal, Bristile will offer the Sonnen AC Coupled modular battery storage system to the builder market, as well as its new Sonnen DC Hybrid range.
The storage system includes an inverter, battery modules, and an energy management system with built-in smart appliance control. The systems have a 10-year guarantee, but are designed for a 20-year life, according to Sonnen.
Bristile, which is a part of the building materials group Brickworks, says it expects to target the estimated 102,000 new-build homes throughout Australia in 2017-18, with a number of builders the company deals with “looking to offer integrated solar systems” as a standard feature of off-the-plan homes…..
Tesla, which has previously claimed the tiles would be no more expensive that a regular roof, making the solar power generation “a bonus”, has estimated that the “typical homeowner” should expect to pay $US21.85 per square foot for the tiles. Bloomberg, however, puts the price at $US42 per sqaure foot, including materials and labour.
Two key Australian energy institutions have again pushed for more rapid and wholesale changes of market rules, saying this was essential if Australia was to manage new technologies and return to its former status of a low-cost energy nation.
Testimony from the Australian Energy Market Operator and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency underlined their plea for changes to market rules, changes which many in the industry say have been stalled under the current market rule maker. New AEMO chief executive Audrey Zibelman says Australia used to have low energy prices, but had obviously lost that status. “The question is, how do we use the resources we have to get back to that level of affordability?” she told a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra.
The answer was with new technologies like battery storage and demand management, a new set of market rules. “What we need is to think how to get these opportunities into the market. We are operating 20th Century power system trying to keep pace with 21st Century change,” Zibelman said.
Both AEMO and ARENA have been highly critical of the slow pace of reform of Australian energy market rules, the province of the Australian Energy Market Commission and the COAG energy ministers.
In its submission to the parliamentary inquiry into a modern electricity system, AEMO said that Australia’s rule making was not sufficiently forward-looking to meet the needs of the “paradigm shifts” the National Electricity Market was undergoing.
In particular, AEMO and ARENA want rule changes that can encourage battery storage and demand management, and that will address the over-investment in networks and generators that are responsible for Australia now having some of the highest electricity prices in the western world. Continue reading →
Nuclear the NSW Nationals’ solution to energy crisis, JAMES WAGSTAFF, The Weekly Times, May 24, 2017“…..NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said with rising energy costs “crushing businesses, farmers and families”, all available options, “including nuclear energy”, must be considered…….
NSW Greens energy spokesman Jeremy Buckingham labelled the comments as “extreme” and an example the Nationals were “stuck in the wrong century pushing coal and nuclear, and ignoring the massive renewable energy potential of Australia”.
Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said he would be “open to discussing any strategy that has sound economic, social and environmental principles; however, an opinion needs to be backed by a fact”…..
Most Queensland voters oppose taxpayer support for Adani coalmine – poll
59% give thumbs down to state or federal assistance for Carmichael mine as state government faces factional fight over whether to give project a royalties holiday, Guardian, Katherine Murphy, 25 May 17Queensland voters have given the thumbs down to taxpayer support for the controversial Adani coalmine, with 59% saying they were opposed to state or federal assistance.
A new poll of 1,618 Queenslanders taken by ReachTel indicates 57% of the sample objected to a loan for a rail link between the mine and Abbot point, which is championed by the federal resources minister Matt Canavan.
Just over 50% of the sample said a decision by the Queensland government to grant the project a royalties holiday would be a broken election promise.
The poll was commissioned by the progressive thinktank the Australian Institute.
Federal government sources have also told Guardian Australia that Canavan can expect strong internal pushback against any proposal to grant a concessional loan to Adani. Some argue the concept is objectionable.
This week officials from Infrastructure Australia told Senate estimates they had not identified the proposed rail line as a priority, and they had not consulted the body which is expected to stump up a concessional loan, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
Adani is seeking a $900m concessional loan from the Naif for the rail line. Infrastructure Australia and the Naif are required to consult on projects worth more than $100m.
As well as facing internal resistance to taxpayer support, the environment group, the Australian Conservation Foundation, has warned the Turnbull government it will pursue all avenues, including possible legal action, to stop a concessional loan being granted to the rail line.
I do believe that Treaty is the mechanism in which we can hold the government to account for past and present atrocities; it is our means of asserting our sovereignty and ensuring the structures that will see our communities flourish are funded.
The Treaty model I support is one where parallel to the existing Australian framework is an Indigenous organisational framework brought about by the signing of a treaty. In the same way, mainstream Australia has local government councils, Indigenous nations can have their own nation councils to deal with local issues.
The Uluru walkout: Constitutional recognition, Treaty and structural change, Independent Australia Natalie Cromb26 May 2017, Yesterday, several Indigenous delegates walked out of a Constitutional recognition summit. Indigenous affairs editor Natalie Cromb explains why, before proposing a better way.
Indigenous Australians have for some time been discussing Constitutional recognition via the well-known Recognise campaign, as well as some smaller conservative offshoots, which have alternative Constitutional recognition models.
This week, a national First People’s summit has been holding a Constitutional convention to discuss constitutional recognition at Uluru in the Northern Territory. Yesterday, seven delegates and a large number of their supporters walked out of this Convention.
REneweconomy, By Sophie Vorrath on 24 May 2017 The Clean Energy Seed Fund established just under a year ago as the first investment of the Coalition government’s re-badged Clean Energy Innovation Fund, has this week completed a $26 million capital raising, easily surpassing its $20 million target.
The fund’s manager, Artesian Venture Partners, said on Wednesday that the bumper capital raising included $10 million commitments from cornerstone investor the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and Australian Ethical Investment, and further investments from Hostplus and Future Super.
Launched in September 2016 with a $10 million cornerstone commitment from the $1 billion CEIF, the fund was set up to focus on clean energy sub-sectors including the internet of things, battery storage, biofuels and metering and control.
It aims to provide “pull-model” venture capital support to encourage greater investment and participation in the early-stage cleantech sector and co-investment from a wide range of investors, including high net worth individuals, angel investors, venture capital firms, corporates and institutions.
In the short-term, its goal is to invest at seed, angel and later stage follow-on rounds in 30-50 startups over a four-year investment period.
The fund also draws on the finance and skills of both the CEFC and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), the latter of which was, at the time of the fund’s establishment, facing steep budget cuts.
Video ft. Fred Hooper, Dubbo delegate
“But seven delegates & about a dozen of their supporters from NSW & Vic derailed the meeting on its second day by staging a walkout and stating ‘we won’t sell out our mob’.
Should Australia invest funds and resources in developing Generation IV nuclear reactors? Online opinion,
By Noel Wauchope, 23 May 2017 Without any fanfare, with no media coverage, Australia’s Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) is presently considering Australia signing up to the International Framework for Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems (GIF), which will commit this nation to take part in developing new nuclear reactors.Dr Adi Paterson, CEO of the Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, signed up to this GIF Framework last year. However, that does require confirmation by the Australian government. Hence there was the need for the JSCOT Committee to at least take a look at it, before the government completes the membership. Apparently there is no need for public discussion, or probably even Parliamentary discussion.
Anyway, it looks as if ANSTO is the driving force behind this process, and judging by the submissions received, the nuclear lobby was in the know, even if the public was not. Fourteen submissions were received. Of these, eleven were strongly pro- nuclear, and three were opposed. The opposing submissions came from Friends of the Earth (FOE), (jointly with the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF ), Medical Association For The Prevention of War (MAPW), and myself, (I came upon the Parliamentary website just by chance).
In assessing these submissions, of course, I have to admit to bias on my part. Still, I think that any reader would find that there is one submission that stands out for clarity, and a detailed, factual discussion of the GIF plan. That is the one written by Jim Green and Dave Sweeney, for FOE and ACF.
Green and Sweeney respond to assertions made in ANSTO’s National Interest Analysis. They question claims that the new reactors reduce weapons proliferation risks, are economic, efficient, and solve waste problems. They rebuke the claim of ANSTO that “a significant expansion in nuclear power production is underway “, listing the overall decline in nuclear power growth, with the exception of China. They discuss at length the very long time frame expected even by nuclear industry experts, before any Generation IV reactors could be commercially viable.
They go on to discuss each of the six proposed new nuclear reactors, giving a detailed history of the attempts to develop each, and factual information that refutes those claims made by ANSTO. For all of their statements, Green and Sweeney provide evidence and references.
The Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW)’s submission questions the government’s high subsidising of ANSTO, and points out the poor prospects for private investment in new nuclear power. It refutes the argument that Gen IV reactors would solve the nuclear waste problem, quoting analysis by the US National Academy of Sciences. They discuss the history of attempts to develop Gen IV nuclear reactors: ” a track record of repeated failure and massive cost”. They discuss the direct and indirect costs, and ANSTO’s secrecy about nuclear costs. Safety and reliability issues, and proliferation risks, are examined. They also point out that the recent Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission (NFCRC) was not supportive of new nuclear technology. The Commission proposed:
…monitoring and reporting” of new designs, not participation in research and active subsidization. The Royal Commission also places emphasis on economic value for nuclear power generation, which is clearly entirely absent from fast reactor operations.
My own submission also discusses non-proliferation, nuclear waste, and claims about climate change, but it focuses on the lack of public information and discussion. In view of Australia’s laws prohibiting the development of nuclear power in Australia, I find it disturbing that the government is about to put money and resources into developing new nuclear reactors.
Now – to the eleven pro nuclear submissions. In general these faithfully repeat the claims made by ANSTO, stressing the value of Australia participating in an international forum. (e.g: submission from Australian Nuclear Association)
Now – to the eleven pro nuclear submissions. In general these faithfully repeat the claims made by ANSTO, stressing the value of Australia participating in an international forum. (e.g: submission from Australian Nuclear Association)
Most submissions praise ANSTO and universities ANU and UNSW for their expertise.
Then there’s the claim that nuclear power will decarbonise the economy. (submission by The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE)). (and from Barrie Murphy)
Joining GIF will increase the visibility of Australia’s cutting-edge research (from Nuclear Engineering Research Group, School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney)
Would increase Australia’s ability to influence international policy – will increase the international status of ANSTO and Australia’s universities. (from Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering)
Australian Conservation Foundation vows to pursue all avenues to stop Adani loan
Environmental group warns it will take legal action against Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility directors if funding granted for rail line, Guardian, Katharine Murphy, 24 May 17,Infrastructure Australia produces a priority list of nationally significant investments which is supposed to guide government investment decisions.
Infrastructure Australia’s chief executive, Philip Davies, said he had not yet discussed the Adani project with the Naif, even though the rail project has completed a preliminary assessment and been referred for further consideration.
Adani is seeking a $900m concessional loan from the Naif for the rail line which links the mine with Abbot point. Infrastructure Australia and the Naif are required to consult on projects worth more than $100m.
Cousins said the evidence given in Senate estimates this week indicated the loan was nowhere near being granted. “Clearly all the rumours that this loan is about to be granted are untrue,” he said.
“I cannot see from this evidence that there is any way this loan can be granted.”
Adani indefinitely postpones final investment decision on Carmichael coal mine, ABC News, 23 May 17 Senior Queensland Government members were in meetings on Monday night, discussing how to urgently convince Indian company Adani to proceed with a board meeting to fund the proposed Carmichael coal mine.
The mining giant has postponed its final investment decision on the $16.5-billion project in central Queensland until the State Government gives “clarity” over lower or deferred royalties.
A company spokesman said they were waiting for the State Government to advise on whether it would offer a lower royalty rate or deferred royalties.
The Adani board was to meet in India next week for final approval but has postponed the meeting.
The State Cabinet on Monday discussed whether to give Adani a royalty discount or deferral, but no decision has been made…….
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Roads Minister Mark Bailey, from the Left faction, have publicly opposed any government subsidy of the mine and said that had been Labor’s position since before the 2015 state election.
However earlier on Monday, Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne said royalty arrangements were being considered by the Government…….
Greens, activists accuse Adani of bullying
Queensland Greens senator Larissa Waters said the mining company was trying to bully the State Government into handing over $320 million in free coal.
“So far, Adani is in line for a $1 billion handout, unlimited free water, new legal loopholes, special changes to Native Title, a free pass on reef destruction,” she said.
She called on the Queensland and Federal Governments to abandon their support for the project.
https://www.acf.org.au/dirty_deedsSTOP ADANI 24 MAY 2017
An Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) investigation has discovered the publically funded Export Finance Investment Corporation (Efic) could be used as a backdoor option to finance Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.
An Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) investigation has discovered the publically funded Export Finance Investment Corporation (Efic) could be used as a backdoor option to finance Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.
Efic could provide loan insurance to private investors for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine, leaving Australians exposed to billions of dollars being lost to a useless stranded asset.
These findings are part of a new report from ACF exposing the web of ties between the fossil fuels industry, the government, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and Efic.
Five of the seven NAIF directors have close connections to the fossil fuel industry.
NAIF Board has lack of experience with industries such as communications and renewable energy which are critical to the development from Northern Australia.
NAIF’s chief adviser, Efic, has a track record of investing in large fossil fuel projects, backing fossil fuels over renewables at a rate of more than 100:1.
Efic could insure private investment in Adani coal mine – Turnbull government has refused to rule it out.
“That public money could be put on the line to protect private profit from the Adani coal mine that will help destroy the Reef and Australian tourism jobs is a truly gobsmacking and outrageous idea.” said Kelly O’Shanassy, Australian Conservation Foundation CEO.
“Both NAIF and Efic must be prevented from supporting a mine that will end up being a stranded asset, potentially wasting billions in public money. The Turnbull government must take responsibility and rule it out immediately.
“When the Adani mine fails, the Australian public will be the very last people to get their money back and probably won’t.
“Public investment in coal is a losing proposition for public money, the Reef and the 70,000 tourism jobs that rely on it.”
Report; EFIC may finance Adani coal mine, Michael West, May 23, 2017Is the government secretly planning to put taxpayers on the hook to build the world’s biggest new thermal coal mine? It is refusing to rule it out.
Until now, speculation has centred on a $1 billion discount loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani to build a rail line from the Galilee Basin to Abbot Point on the Queensland coast. This is a “cart before the horse” proposition however. There can be no rail line without a mining project, and Adani is yet to attract project finance from commercial banks to build its mine.
A new report by the Australian Conservation Foundation notes that a number of approaches were made to the Federal Government and its credit agency, Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), asking whether the agency was considering supporting the Carmichael thermal coal project. Already EFIC has a team working within NAIF on project evaluation. Continue reading →
Urban island heat effect: Rising temperatures in Aussie cities could create death traps
SOME parts of Australia are very hot – unnaturally hot, in fact. They’re turning into death traps, and it’s our own fault. news.com.au Megan Palin@megan_palin 23 May 17 AUSTRALIAN cities are 5C hotter compared to surrounding areas because of a phenomenon known as the ‘Urban Island Heat’ effect that could eventually turn them into death traps.Densely populated urban areas including Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are baring the brunt of the UHI across the country and not even a looming winter can stop it.
The UHI occurs when natural permeable surfaces including grass, plants or bush land are replaced with concrete, asphalt and infrastructure.
According to the Centre for Science
AUSTRALIAN cities are 5C hotter compared to surrounding areas because of a phenomenon known as the ‘Urban Island Heat’ effect that could eventually turn them into death traps.
Densely populated urban areas including Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are baring the brunt of the UHI across the country and not even a looming winter can stop it.
The UHI occurs when natural permeable surfaces including grass, plants or bush land are replaced with concrete, asphalt and infrastructure.
According to the Centre for Science Education (UCAR), urban development causes surfaces that were once permeable and moist to become impermeable and dry. They heat up during the day and retain the warmth but infrastructure prevents it from escaping into the cold night.
These changes cause urban regions to become warmer than their rural surroundings, forming an “island” of higher temperatures in the area.
“These surfaces absorb — rather than reflect — the sun’s heat, causing surface temperatures and overall ambient temperatures to rise,” according to a statement from UCAR.
“Displacing trees and vegetation minimised the natural cooling effects of shading and evaporation of water from soil and leaves.
“Tall buildings and narrow streets can heat air trapped between them and reduce air flow. Waste heat from vehicles, factories, and air conditioners may add warmth to their surroundings, further exacerbating the heat island effect.”
The UHI is perpetuated by residents in urban areas who suffer from the effects and increase usage of electric fans and airconditioners for relief. The increased energy demands strain resources which often leads to ‘rolling blackouts’ or power outages and contributed to an even hotter UHI.
But that’s not the only significant impact of the phenomenon.
According to UNSW researchers, extreme city heat could cause train lines to crumble and could cause heat stress, damaging our organs.
“Since 1900, extreme heat events have killed more Australians than bushfires, cyclones, earthquakes, floods and severe storms combined,” the researchers said.
WHAT’S BEING DONE ABOUT IT?……. http://www.news. com.au/technology/environment/ climate-change/urban-island- heat-effect-rising- temperatures-in-aussie-cities- could-create-death-traps/news- story/ 0b035c4707ea8f81e32ee0df4fa546 bf
Science is the winner from alliance, PETER BOYER, Mercury May 23, 2017 CSIRO is back in town and back on the world climate research stage. That was the real news in yesterday’s welcome announcement of a new Hobart-based Centre for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research.
The centre, which has the nifty acronym CSHOR (seashore), is financially supported by China’s largest marine science research institute, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (QNLM).
The full funding commitment for CSHOR is $20 million over 10 years, half of which will come from China. Two Australian universities, Tasmania and New South Wales, are also contributors, offering shared facilities and personnel.
The funding is modest, but the important point is the international connection, which will offer some protection against any further CSIRO funding cuts.
This is just what was needed after CSIRO’s decision early last year to cut climate research resources on grounds that it needed those resources to respond to a government drive for commercially-driven science.
Within a week of the decision’s announcement, thousands of climate scientists from around the world had put their names to a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, pointing out the critical importance of CSIRO’s multi-decadal investigation of Southern Hemisphere climate…….
It will be fascinating to see how CSHOR’s Chinese connection develops over time. Qingdao, on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula roughly halfway between Beijing and Shanghai, is a major Chinese port city with a long maritime history
QNLM is a brand-new institution being installed there by national, provincial and city governments. The aim is to make it a world-leading marine science institution, and given its financial and other resources (its workforce is already as big as CSIRO’s) that seems very likely.
The blend of QNLM resources and CSIRO’s decades of marine science experience looks propitious for both institutions. China is investing heavily in doing marine science, and CSHOR offers it a lot of hard-earned knowledge about ocean processes in southern regions.
CSHOR is a recognition by both governments of the fundamental importance of the global ocean, which covers more than 70 per cent of Earth’s surface, in Earth’s climate system. It takes up a quarter of our excess carbon dioxide from the air and over 90 per cent of excess heat energy.
Most of the world’s ocean waters are in the Southern Hemisphere, where fierce westerly winds drive huge currents which power the world’s ocean circulation. For marine scientists, the global action is here.
Both China and Australia are directly affected by two climate processes: the El Nino — Southern Oscillation, originating in the tropical Pacific, and an Indian Ocean phenomenon known as the Indian Ocean Dipole. These will be a key focus of the new centre’s work…….
— the arrival of the Climate Science Centre and CSHOR seems just what’s needed to put CSIRO back in its world-leading position in Southern Hemisphere climate science.
Another positive development: as it happens, the two Australian universities supporting CSHOR (NSW and Tasmania) have both engaged the expert services of John Church. So maybe, after all the trauma of 2016, things might turn out better than ever. Who would have thought it?
Antinuclear 