Solar thermal plant at Forbes, New South Wales,has great potential
“This sort of technology will put massive amounts of money into regional Australia if it takes off “.
“It could be very significant here in Australia but also, there are significant overseas opportunities for Vast where Australia could earn export dollars.”
Developer of $20 million Australian-first solar thermal pilot plant predicts sunny future under Turnbull ABC Central West By Melanie Pearce 23 Dec 15 After hours of steady rain, there is not a ray of sunshine in sight and the mud is thick on the ground at the $20 million Jemalong pilot solar thermal plant near Forbes in central west New South Wales.
But in a way, the fact it is overcast helps to explain the importance of this technology, which enables both capture and storage of energy from the sun, according to James Fisher, chief technology officer of Vast Solar.
The engineer, who formerly worked in the fossil fuel industry and said he never thought renewables could compete with coal, now has a much sunnier outlook on the subject.
Technology behind solar thermal power plant
The Australian company has developed what it hopes will be a low-cost, high-efficiency Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) generation technology.
The Jemalong pilot plant will be ready for commissioning in mid-January and is designed to prove the technology works. Continue reading
Australian media ignored the indigenous achievements in opposing a nuclear South Australia
Dennis Matthews 24 Dec 15 In response to Dave Sweeney’s “good nuclear news” – on the leadership of indigenous Australians in opposing the nuclear industry and nuclear waste dumping in South Australia
It’s correct, in December Karina and Rose Lester shared the Conservation Council of SA (Conservation SA) 2015, $1000, Jill Hudson Award for environmental protection for their opposition to the nuclear industry, but, apart from a small column in The Advertiser which didn’t mention the nuclear industry I’ve seen no mention of this important event.
I looked for a media release on the Conservation SA website but couldn’t find anything.
Perhaps someone could put the media release on this website?
PS. The first winners of the Jill Hudson award were Adnyamathanha activist Dr Jillian Marsh and ABC journalist Rose Crane. I understand that Jillian is involved in fighting attempts to put the proposed national nuclear waste dump on Adnyamathanha land.
South Australia power networks cannot impose tariff on solar homes
Federal Court rejects SA Power Networks’ proposed charge on solar-powered households http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-23/federal-court-rejects-solar-household-charge/7050600 The Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by SA Power Networks to charge a tariff on homes with solar panels.
The electricity distributor wanted it to approve a tariff of about $100 a year.
It argued that solar-powered houses have different energy consumption patterns and are effectively subsidised by houses without panels.
SA Power Networks took the matter to court when the Australian Energy Regulator rejected the proposed charge.
The distributor said that it was “disappointed by the appeal decision” and maintained that its application was about “fair and equitable cost-sharing among customers”.
“This was not about additional revenue,” SA Power networks said in a statement.
Solar farm for Parkes, could double as sheep farm
French company plans 240ha solar farm for Parkes http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-18/240ha-solar-farm-planned-for-parkes/7035218 Landholders adjoining a proposed solar farm near Parkes in central west New South Wales are being assured they will not be adversely affected by the development. The proponent Neoen is planning a 240-hectare plant west of the town that will include about 245,000 solar panels.
Cattle producer John Smeaton plans to lease his land to the company and says planting trees around the site will address any concerns about glare.
He said he was confident the area would remain productive and become ideal for grazing sheep.”These panels, cattle would wreck them, the only thing they could run there could be sheep,” Mr Smeaton said.
“Some of the other neighbours might be interested in running sheep there.
“From a fire prevention point of view I think it’s necessary for something to take the grass down, because it’s fertile farm land and the grass can grow a metre or more high and it grows hot when it burns.”
The company plans to create 120 jobs during construction if it is successful in getting grant funding and planning approvals next year. Mr Smeaton said it would also have tourism potential.
Research into wind turbines and their role in reducing carbon emissions
The effect of increasing the number of wind turbine generators on carbon dioxide emissions in the Australian National Electricity Market from 2014 to 2025, Australian policy Online
18 December 2015……
Shire of Leonora, Western Australia, enthusiastic for nuclear waste dump
WA shire wants nuclear waste facility despite Federal Government knockback, ABC News 17 Dec 15 By Rhiannon Shine A shire in Western Australia’s Goldfields is determined to host a radioactive waste facility, despite being knocked back by the Federal Government last month.
The shire of Leonora was disappointed it did not make the Government’s shortlist for a proposed low-level radioactive waste facility.
The town, about 260 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie, east of Perth, was one of two local governments from the Goldfields region to express interest in hosting the facility.
But this week the council voted to engage a geological consultant to search for suitable nuclear waste sites in the area.
Chief executive Jim Epis said it was a long-term investment.
“I’m talking about maybe five, 10, or even 20 years away,” Mr Epis said.
“We are going to have quite a few uranium mines around our neck of the woods and we think it’s fair that someone in the area should be responsible for taking the waste back.
“We’re going to head off now and look into the future, and see if we can identify these sites where we can take nuclear waste from anywhere in Australia.”
Councillors voted unanimously to spend about $13,000 on the services of Al Maynard and Associates geological consultants.
Mr Epis said the geologists would likely focus on areas in the northern part of the shire.
“A lot of that land up there is in granite, which is ideal for nuclear waste deposits,” he said.
Council braces for opposition from locals
Mr Epis said he expected the decision would be met with some opposition.
“Over the last 10 years the Leonora community has had plenty of opportunity to discuss nuclear mining with a number of different companies,” he said.
“There [are] those out there that are totally against the idea.
“It just creates healthy debate.”……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-17/wa-town-determined-to-secure-radioactive-waste-despite-knockback/7037398
Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people granted Native Title
Native title granted by Federal Court for Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people, ABC News, 17 Dec 15 By Nicola Gage Descendants of Aboriginal families who helped Burke and Wills on their ill-fated expedition through central Australia have won native title over their outback land.
Hundreds of Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people have gathered near Innamincka in South Australia for a bush hearing of the Federal Court.
It determined the group to be the rightful native title holders of 40,000 square kilometres of the outback. The area stretches across seven pastoral leases and includes Coongie Lakes National Park, Innamincka Regional Reserve and Strzelecki Regional Reserve.
Lawyer Michael Pagsanjan said the Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people fought for decades for recognition, after filing their original claim in 1998.
“The Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people will have the right to hunt, the right to camp, the right to fish and the right to look after special places,” he said.
“Today is a really momentous occasion where they can sit back, take a deep breath, a sigh of relief.
“This day isn’t just important for them, it’s important for their ancestors who have passed away.”……..
Historical past where two cultures met
The remote region includes places of significance to the Burke and Wills expedition, including the old “dig tree” under which food was buried.
The Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people helped the explorers, giving them food and shelter, and sharing knowledge about the land.
“For those explorers who were willing to accept their help, they luckily survived,” Mr Pagsanjan said.
“But unfortunately for those explorers who denied or rejected that help, they perished.”
Mr Pagsanjan said the native title determination marked a new chapter in South Australia.
“This is the last of the larger, far northern claims that’s been resolved,” he said.
“Now we’ve got close to about 60 per cent of the state which is capable of being determined.
“We’ve got a goal that soon we’ll hopefully have resolved the vast majority of claims in the state.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-16/native-title-claim-acknowledged-at-sa-bush-hearing/7033858
Battery storage for renewable energy: boom expected in 2016
2016 boom in uptake of electricity battery-storage systems predicted by Clean Energy Council, ABC Radio 17 Dec 15 The year ahead will see a booming take-up of battery-storage energy systems, the Clean Energy Council predicts.
Key points:
- Battery storage costs ‘becoming affordable’
- Clean Energy Council says best power deals require aggressive ‘shopping around’
- Fewer power lines in bushfire risk zones could have benefits
“The main barrier has been that batteries have been fairly high cost but that cost is really coming down,” solar policy manager Darren Gladman told 891 ABC Adelaide.
“People are expecting in the next year or two batteries will become quite affordable and it’ll become a real option for households and businesses.”
He said South Australia and Queensland led the world in uptake of solar panel rooftop systems and battery storage of that energy was the next logical step.
“We don’t have a lot of big solar farms in Australia but we do have a lot of rooftop solar,” he said……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-17/battery-electricity-storage-systems-2016-clean-energy-council/7037416
Lithgow concerned about transport of radioactive trash
Calls for clarity over nuclear waste transportation plans http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-15/lithgow-councillor-concerned-about-nuclear-dump-proposal/7027780
The Federal Government is being urged to provide more details about the planned route for a proposed nuclear waste dump in the central west. The government is considering housing the waste at Sallys Flat near Bathurst and federal MP John Cobb has said regional roads would be upgraded to support heavy vehicle movements.
But Lithgow City Councillor Wayne McAndrew says it is highly likely the material will be transported through Lithgow to get to the site.
He said residents had raised concerns about the potential health impacts if a truck was involved in an accident.
“It’s not just a matter of the roads, it’s the icy conditions during winter coming down the Mount Victoria pass,” Councillor McAndrew said.
“That’s still a long way off from being resolved, the Victoria pass in relation to new roadworks, so it’s not just an issue of the roads it’s an issue of our long winter months and some of the dangers that poses for us.”
Sallys Flat near Hill End is one of the six sites shortlisted by the Federal Government.
Councillor McAndrew says there is little information about the planned route for transporting the waste.
Store nuclear waste at Lucas Heights -no need to rush to outback site
Alice Springs public meeting told Feds must stop rushing decision on new nuke dump sites http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/centralian-advocate/alice-springs-public-meeting-told-feds-must-stop-rushing-decision-on-new-nuke-dump-sites/news-story/53e8aefa3cd67d076e36c749c2913f7a December 10, 2015 SCIENTISTS, traditional owners, politicians and campaigners spoke to a crowd of almost 100 people at a meeting about a proposed nuclear waste dump to be housed at Hale, 80km from Alice Springs, on Monday night.
Dr Hilary Tyler, from Alice Springs Hospital, used the platform to urge decision-makers to “stop the rush” towards cementing plans for a waste facility, which is currently being chosen from six short-listed sites across the country.
She claimed there was 10-20 years of storage space remaining at the Lucas Heights facility near Sydney, Australia’s only nuclear reactor, rendering the need for a rural site as unnecessary.
She showed the crowd photographs of large barrels being transported by road, carrying a cargo of nuclear waste reportedly brought to Australia by ship at the weekend.
“Transportation should be minimised,” she said.
The site at Hale, the Aridgold date farm, was an unsuitable location for such a dump, she claimed, due to the distance the waste would need to travel, the lack of access for experts in case of any problems, and proximity to underground water aquifers. CSIRO scientist Dr Fiona Walsh said she believed the decisions were being made by people in distant locations with no understanding of the geology of Central Australia.
“We live in one of the most unpredictable environments in the world,” Dr Walsh said.
Labor candidate for Namatjira and councillor Chansey Paech also spoke at the event, and said the decision should be “based on science rather than political expediency”.
A consultation process into the viability of the waste dump is currently underway, with meetings between officials and Aboriginal traditional owners in Santa Teresa to take place next week.
Due to sorry business in Titjikala, the other nearest community to the proposed site, a meeting with traditional owners from this area will take place early next year.
A decision on where the dump will be housed is expected to be made following the federal election in the second half of 2016.
Western Australia’s Yeelirrie uranium proposal poses genuine extinction threat
State and national environment and Indigenous groups have called on the state EPA to reject Canadian company Cameco’s proposal to mine uranium at Yeelirrie in WA’s East Murchison region.
The call comes as the groups formally provided the EPA with a detailed critique highlighting specific community, environmental and procedural issues, along with wider nuclear industry safety and security concerns. Over 2,000 individual submissions were made to the EPA opposing the Yeelirrie uranium proposal.
A key specific concern involves the threat of species being made extinct as a result of the project. “This proposal threatens to make 15 species of subterranean fauna extinct,” said CCWA nuclear free campaigner Mia Pepper.
“We want the EPA to reject the proposal because of these unacceptable impacts. In its current form the project is likely to cause the extinction of ten species of stygofauna and five species of troglofauna.* These creatures might be small and hard to count but that does not mean that they don’t matter.”
Many of the area’s Traditional Owners have opposed proposals to mine uranium at Yeelirrie for more than 40 years. Pastoral operators and other stakeholders have also raised concerns about the impact on scarce water resources and the problems of dust and airborne pollution from a planned 9 kilometre open pit and large stockpiles of radioactive material in a region known for regular high winds.
“There is scant economic incentive for this mine,” said ACF campaigner Dave Sweeney. “The uranium market remains depressed and the commodity price has flat-lined. Cameco wants a paper approval to effectively warehouse a product that lacks social license and demand.
“Cameco – and two other WA uranium hopefuls – are racing to get assessments approved before the next state election. This might make sense for a company but it doesn’t make for good public policy.
“We are deeply concerned about fast tracked approvals for deficient proposals and urge the EPA to say no to extinction by saying no to this uranium mine.”
In Australian Capital Territory panasonic home battery trial launched
First panasonic home battery trial launched in the ACT December 11, 2015 David Ellery Reporter for The Canberra Times ActewAGL has partnered with Panasonic to promote the installation of solar panel and storage battery packages across the territory. Continue reading
New wind farms to go ahead as Turnbull removes barrier to Clean Energy investment
End of Tony Abbott’s war on wind farms gives green light to Capital Region projects, Canberra Times, December 13, 2015 Clare Sibthorpe Canberra Times reporter Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s decision to lift Tony Abbott’s controversial ban on government investment in wind power has been embraced by the Australian Capital Region farming community.
On Sunday, Fairfax Media revealed Environment Minister Greg Hunt has issued the Clean Energy Finance Corporation with new orders that negate the Abbott government’s June decree, which prohibited the $10 billion green bank from investing in new wind power projects.
The move gives the Clean Energy Finance Corporation the green light to fund many wind farms in the Southern Tablelands – one of Australia’s fastest growing wind investment regions – enabling them to progress from planning to construction.
Crookwell farmer and NSW regional organiser for the Australian Wind Alliance, Charlie Prell, said wind farms now able to access funding include Collector, Rye Park, Yass Valley, Bango, Rugby, Crookwell two and three, Capital two, and Boco two.
“All of these wind farms will contribute massively to the local economy, not only during construction, but over the life of the wind farms,” Mr Prell said.
“It’s giving farmers in these regions a passive income stream with making our operations more sustainable, financially and environmentally, and giving local businesses the opportunity to participate in construction activities.”
Under the new mandate, the corporation will be allowed to invest in any wind projects provided they involve “emerging and innovative” technology, although it does encourage it to “focus on offshore wind technologies”.
Mr Prell said the wind farms already operating in this area have contributed significantly to small business, particularly in Goulburn, Bungendore, Taralga and Crookwel……..http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/end-of-tony-abbotts-war-on-wind-farms-gives-green-light-to-capital-region-projects-20151213-glmer9.html
Has Malcolm Turnbull got any hope of real action on climate change?
Paris UN Climate Conference 2015: Paris delivers, but can Malcolm Turnbull? SMH December 13, 2015 Tom Arup Environment editor, The Age With the Paris summit wrapping up having delivered an historic global climate agreement, questions will inevitably turn to whether Malcolm Turnbull will use the international momentum to advance the climate debate back home.
For half a decade, Australia has been stuck in a fact-free debate on climate policy – one that has seen one of the biggest challenges the world faces turned into a domestic political chew toy.
But where the failure at Copenhagen helped derailed Kevin Rudd’s climate ambition back in 2009, success in Paris presents the opposite opportunity for Turnbull, who many believe has a deep desire to move to a more robust climate policy.
We will soon find out whether two weeks on, and one historic agreement later, Turnbull feels the world has moved enough to take a few brave steps forward.
Deeper cuts will also require a bigger re-think of domestic policies – Australia will not be able to rely on the current combination of paying some farmers and businesses to cut emissions, carbon accounting fiddles and falling demand for electricity.
It will have to find a way to finally address pollution from the country’s fleet of large, ageing coal-fired power plants. Emissions from coal have been rising since the Coalition abolished the national carbon price scheme.
The government’s direct action scheme is not fit for this job – at least not as currently designed. It will need a radical overhaul, perhaps one that would make it look more like a type of emissions trading scheme……..forward. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/un-climate-conference/paris-un-climate-conference-2015-paris-delivers-but-can-malcolm-turnbull-20151212-glm6op.html#ixzz3uFQmfQc5
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funding new solar technology to reduce solar costs
ARENA supports new, cheaper solar technology to reduce cost of renewable energy in Australia, IBT By Darwin Malicdem on December 07 2015 The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is aiming to reduce the cost of renewable energy in the country by providing a funding boost to an innovative solar cell technology. The new perovskite solar cells could significantly be cheaper than and as efficient as existing solar cells.
ARENA will be providing about $892,000 to CSIRO for the development and application of guidelines for assessing the performance of the perovskite solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. The materials of perovskite can be used in solar cells with a less cost and labour intensive process compared to silicon.
ARENA aims to accelerate the development of perovskite solar PV cells in the country. “If perovskite solar cell technology matures to commercialisation, it has the potential to provide cheaper power from the sun,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht.
CSIRO is planning for new methods and guidelines applicable to perovskite solar cells, as international standards to measure solar PV cell performance are only applicable for silicon wafer cells…….http://www.ibtimes.com.au/arena-supports-new-cheaper-solar-technology-reduce-cost-renewable-energy-australia-1490089
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