Put nuclear in the energy mix, Coalition MPs tell Malcolm Turnbull, SMH, James Massola, Adam Gartrell, 16 Mar 17 One in 10 Turnbull government MPs say nuclear power should be on the table as federal and state governments grapple with Australia’s future energy needs.
The 11 Coalition MPs – Andrew Broad, James Paterson, Tony Pasin, Tim Wilson, Chris Back, Craig Kelly, Eric Abetz, Andrew Hastie, Warren Entsch, Bridget McKenzie and Rowan Ramsey – are from both the Liberal and National parties and come from the moderate and conservative wings of the government…..
The call to consider nuclear power came as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and senior ministers met the chief executives of major gas companies including Santos, Origin, ExxonMobil and Shell to discuss shortfalls in gas supplies projected to hit the eastern and southern states in the coming years……
The talks came amid escalating debate over energy security and a day after South Australia announced a “go it alone” energy policy that includes plans for a new $360 million gas-fired power plant……
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews took a swipe at Mr Turnbull, calling on him to “admit that the national energy market is failing households and businesses across the country, especially in Victoria. If he can bring himself to acknowledge that, we can then have a mature discussion about our energy future”.
A nuclear power plant would take an estimated 15 to 20 years to build and would cost several billions of dollars. It would also be expensive, relative to coal and gas-fired power, though a carbon price or emissions intensity scheme for electricity sector could make it more competitive.
Nuclear would not, therefore, offer a solution to short-term gas shortages but – the MPs said – in the medium term it should be considered. However, partisan politics in the form of opposition from Labor and the Greens could get in the way……
Both Mr Turnbull and deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop have both previously backed nuclear power. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/put-nuclear-in-the-energy-mix-coalition-mps-tell-malcolm-turnbull-20170315-guylds.html
March 17, 2017
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S.A. wants first round battery storage offers within two weeks http://reneweconomy.com.au/s-a-wants-first-round-battery-storage-offers-within-two-weeks-92337/ By Giles Parkinson on 15 March 2017
The South Australia government has pressed the fast-forward button
on its 100MW battery storage tender, announcing that expressions of interest for the country’s biggest battery storage installation are now open, and will close within two weeks.
Continue reading →
March 17, 2017
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politics, South Australia, storage |
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Snowy Hydro expansion won’t be ‘magical’ solution to power problems, experts say, ABC Radio The World Today By Nick Grimm 16 Mar 17 Engineering experts are less critical than the South Australian Premier but some are warning that the expansion of the hydro-electric scheme won’t be a “magical” solution to Australia’s power problems.
And they point out that it is an old idea that has previously been ruled out as too expensive…….
Max Talbot, the former executive officer of Strategic Engineering at the Snowy Hydro Scheme, told ABC Local Radio previous expansion plans had proved too expensive.”We did look at that prospect briefly, expanding the scheme goes back nearly 20 years ago,” he said. “If he’s [Malcolm Turnbull] talking about what I think he’s talking about, then that was considered a feasible but far too expensive at the time…….
Energy experts wary over hydro expansion But with the details of the plan yet to be resolved, energy experts are inclined to reserve judgement on whether the plan is the answer to Australia’s looming power shortage.
The Grattan Institute’s Tony Wood said the project faced so many stumbling blocks and was unlikely to be a “magical panacea”. “The real question here is the economics,” Mr Wood said. “And whether it’s privately owned or publicly owned, is this a good use of public funds? That’s going to be the trick for the feasibility of the study to determine.
“And that would also be therefore the reason why no-one has leapt into this before. “To be fair some of the really sharp issues only started to crystallise in the last six months or so, particularly for example with the announced shut down of the Hazelwood power station.”
That is echoed by another energy economist — Danny Price from Frontier Economics.As he told RN Breakfast, he is sceptical about the plan’s viability, especially given the shared ownership of the scheme, split between the Commonwealth, Victorian and New South Wales governments.
“I’ve worked on the Snowy Hydro corporation over many years, and let me say getting anything done in the Snowy is extremely difficult as it involves the three governments that own it,” he said.
“So at this stage I would regard the Snowy proposal as a thought bubble, and it’s a bit like saying ‘I’m about to begin building a boat and rescue someone’ — it will be years off before anything happens.“…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-16/snowy-hydro-expansion-wont-be-magical-solution-to-power-problems/8360320
March 17, 2017
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Malcolm Turnbull says Snowy Hydro plan will outdo South Australian battery storage
PM says plan would turn Snowy Hydro into energy storage system but Labor says proposal leaves unanswered questions, Guardian, Gabrielle Chan, 16 Mar 17, Malcolm Turnbull has used his expansion plans for the Snowy Hydro to try to outdo South Australia on battery storage, saying it would provide 20 times the capacity of the battery system proposed by the premier, Jay Weatherill. Continue reading →
March 17, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, New South Wales, politics, Victoria |
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Phoney energy crisis merely a ploy to access off-limits gas, SMH, Waleed Aly, 17 Mar 17,
Turns out manufacturing is alive and well in Australia. Only these days we’re manufacturing crises. This week’s exhibit is from the gas industry, which having witnessed the energy market regulator’s grave warnings that we’d all be having cold showers in the dark in a couple of years, found itself summoned to the Prime Minister’s table…..
Let’s be clear: there is no gas shortage. Not in Australia, and not around the world. In fact, there’s the opposite: a global glut of the stuff. BHP has already admitted there’s enough gas in Bass Strait to supply the east coast “indefinitely”. And globally, by the end of 2015 the gas industry was capable of producing about 25 per cent more liquefied gas than the world wanted to import.
By 2020, production capacity looks set to increase another 30 per cent. Even if demand is increasing – and that’s not absolutely clear – it’s not keeping pace with that……..
What’s much easier to believe, though, is that the gas industry is desperate to get its hands on gas supplies that are off limits – especially controversial ones like, say, coal seam gas. And if they have to offer a little more domestic supply to do it – at a time when global demand is slowing anyway – then it’s hardly a sacrifice. Oh, and as it happens, that’s exactly what Turnbull would like to offer them, hence his condemnation of the states’ bans on further gas extraction.
It’s a neat trick, really. Take a country with enough gas to supply itself “indefinitely”, send the vast majority of it overseas, refuse to sell locally at a fair price, create a domestic shortage, then demand access to some of our most environmentally sensitive resources as though it’s an emergency measure.
And if you’re going to pull a trick like that, this is the government to pull it on. Sure, Turnbull announced some useful initiatives to increase transparency in the market. But the Turnbull government’s energy wars have led it to the point that it simply cannot resist any opportunity to turn this back on the (Labor) states. It’s only too happy to paint this as a problem of Victoria or South Australia’s creation, as though gas companies have been passive observers, …http://www.smh.com.au/comment/phoney-energy-crisis-merely-a-ploy-to-access-offlimits-gas-20170315-guz8pb.html
March 17, 2017
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South Australia’s new energy plan released http://www.transcontinental.com.au/story/4529329/south-australias-new-energy-plan-released/?cs=4180 A $550 million energy plan unveiled by the South Australian government will aim to improve the reliability of statewide power.Premier Jay Weatherill released details of the plan on Tuesday, March 14, saying the goal was delivering “reliable, affordable and clean” power.
The state government expects the plan to create 630 new jobs in South Australia. South Australian Power for South Australians will ensure more of the State’s power is sourced, generated and controlled in South Australia.
The plan will include:
- Building Australia’s largest battery to store energy from the wind and sun, part of a new Renewable Technology Fund that supports clean, dispatchable and affordable power
- Building a government-owned 250MW gas-fired power plant to provide emergency back-up power and system stability services for South Australians, in the meantime procuring temporary back-up generation if necessary
- Introducing new Ministerial powers to direct the market to operate in the interests of South Australians
- Incentivising increased gas production to ensure more of our State’s gas is sourced and used in South Australia
- Introducing an Energy Security Target to ensure our power system uses more clean, secure energy generated in South Australia
- Using the Government’s purchasing power through its own electricity contract to attract a new power generator, increasing competition in the marketThe new gas-fired power plant is budgeted to cost $360 million, $150 million will be committed to the SA Renewable Technology Fund and new PACE grants are worth $24 million.
Commenting on the plan, Mr Weatherill said coal-fired power stations closing across Australia, no “coherent” national energy policy and “ideological attacks on renewable energy” had led to under-investment in new energy sources.
“The privatisation of our state’s energy assets has placed an enormous amount of power in the hands of a few energy companies,” he said. “These factors, together, have led to too little competition in our national energy market. It is a market that benefits the owners of the privatised assets, rather than the people and businesses who depend on this essential service.” He said the plan’s goal is to make the state more self-reliant. “Our plan will make our power supply more reliable, put downward pressure on prices and create jobs,”
“In the longer term, South Australia will become more self-reliant for its power supply. “As a state that has built its reputation on its clean green environment, this plan recognises that clean energy is our future.”
The South Australian Liberal party has not responded to the plan yet.
Visit the SA energy plan website for more details.
Victor Harbor Times
March 15, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
energy, politics, South Australia |
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Uranium calls for approved projects to go ahead, Paul Garvey, The Australian, Mining & Energy, March 13, 2017 Resources reporter Perth Labor’s emphatic victory in the West Australian election has cast a shadow over the state’s uranium sector, with the industry urging the incoming government to keep the door open for the most advanced uranium projects.
Labor went to the polls on a platform opposed to the development of uranium projects, with the exception of any proposal that had already received government approvals.
The WA uranium projects of ASX-listed duo Vimy Resources and Toro Energy, along with Canadian uranium heavyweight Cameco, were all ticked off by Colin Barnett’s government in the months leading up to the election.
But anti-nuclear campaigners argue that the ticks received by the projects to date fall far short of representing the full suite of approvals required before they can move into development.
Mia Pepper, a nuclear-free campaigner with the Conservation Council of WA, told The Australian she would be urging the new Labor government to block the proposed developments.
March 13, 2017
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Elon Musk, Malcolm Turnbull in talks on renewables after billionaire’s ‘100 days or it’s free’ pledge http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-12/elon-musk-malcolm-turnbull-in-talks-on-renewables/8347554 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he has held a “great, in-depth discussion” with Elon Musk, after the billionaire tech entrepreneur offered to fix South Australia’s energy problems within 100 days.
On Friday, Mr Musk said energy storage could solve the state’s electricity problems with a Tesla battery farm, and work could be completed within 100 days, or it would be free.
He followed that up in talks with South Australia’s Premier Jay Weatherill, later tweeting that he was impressed by the State Government’s commitment to a “smart, quick solution”.
Twitter was again the preferred medium of communication on Sunday, with Mr Musk and Mr Turnbull swapping appreciative tweets after speaking for nearly an hour.
March 13, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics, storage |
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Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges , 11 Mar 17 SA Response of the office of South Australian State Liberal leader Steven Marshall, to query about Liberal opinion on the plan to import nuclear waste.
The State Liberal Team is united in its decision not to proceed with a nuclear waste dump.We have carefully considered the Royal Commission Report. We have taken note of the outcomes of the community consultation. We have actively participated in the parliamentary committee process. We have visited Finland, France and the United States to consider the technical aspects and financial risks.
It is clear that Premier Jay Weatherill’s plan to make South Australia the world’s nuclear dumping ground exposes taxpayers to unacceptable financial risks without knowing whether the project will even proceed.
For 70 years the State Liberal Party has demonstrated its commitment to creating realistic opportunities in the nuclear industry with the establishment of the Radium Hill mine and later the Olympic Dam Mine under Liberal Premiers Playford and Tonkin respectively……
The Premier, lacking support from his own Cabinet, had to establish a Citizen’s Jury at taxpayers’ expense, to progress his own agenda and with access to a wide range of advice, two-thirds of that jury has determined that this venture should not be pursued ‘under any circumstances’.
Appointed by the Premier, Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce has acknowledged that it could take up to 10 years to secure vital public support and another 28 years to establish such a facility.
The advice to State Parliament shows it will cost taxpayers $600 million to continue the consultation and select a site without any guarantee of eventually securing investors or customers for the facility……The Weatherill Labor government is playing poker with your money and our state will be forced to place a blind bet of $600 million just to stay in the game…..
Nuclear Waste storage is a responsibility for those nations using nuclear power. It is not the instant fix for the South Australian economy as promised by the Premier. https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
March 11, 2017
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Queensland govt slaps down LNP, Murdoch over renewable scareshttp://reneweconomy.com.au/queensland-govt-slaps-lnp-murdoch-renewable-scares-43765/ By Giles Parkinson on 8 March 2017
The Queensland government has attacked the LNP opposition and the Murdoch media for unfounded, baseless and “lazy” criticism of its plans to source 50 per cent of its electricity needs from renewable energy by 2030.
The conservative LNP has been getting a big run in the Murdoch press with a new anti-renewables campaign, which has wound up significantly since the start of the year with a host of new solar projects that will add 1GW of solar power to the state’s grid.
But Bailey wondered why the LNP hadn’t even bothered to make a submission to the government’s renewable energy review that it attacks so much. In total, 2,300 submissions were received, but none from the LNP or any of its MPs.
“Once again, all we’re hearing is anti-renewables doom and gloom, but of the 2023 submissions received by the Independent Panel following their public forums across the state, not one of them was from the LNP,” he said.
“On the leash of their Canberra mates, they run around the state, scaremongering and threatening to scrap Queensland’s RET if elected, but they were too lazy to do the work – to make a submission where it actually counts.
The LNP, in recent days, have been trying to make much of a report in The Australian which breathlessly announced in an “exclusive” story on its front page on Monday that it had acquired a “leaked” copy of an Australian Energy Market Operator submission into the Queensland government plans.
And while AEMO had warned that coal generators in Queensland may close earlier than expected, a line that the Murdoch media was keen to play up (it even wrote a follow-up story and an editorial the following day), Bailey pointed out that these generators were young, and most importantly, mostly government-owned.
That means that the Queensland government will not be in the same position as South Australia, which has had to watch with growing frustration as the private owners of the biggest gas plants in the state decide not to switch on during high demand periods, claiming they can find no economic incentive to help keep the lights on for their customers.
On the subject of South Australia, premier Jay Weatherill said the state had no intention of rowing back on its 2025 target of 50 per cent renewables, saying to do so it would have to effectively “physically prevent” developments in their tracks.
That much is true, because the build-out of the Hornsdale wind farm and the Tailem Bend solar project will take the state to 50 per cent wind and solar by the end of this year.
Weatherill says the biggest threat to power prices in South Australia is the lack of competition among generators, something that can addressed by having more renewable energy and other technologies such as battery storage.
Weatherill says the state will “soon” release” its planned intervention to ensure that no more rolling stoppages occur – as they did last month – while some gas generators sit idle. From that point of view, he must envy Queensland’s ownership of power generators.
Back in Queensland, Bailey also said Queensland has a high amount of (mostly government-owned) flexible gas-fired generation, which enables the system to ramp up quickly.
He said the government had confidence in the modelling, and in its conclusions that it would be broadly cost neutral to electricity consumers, and would not affect reliability.
Bailey also said the Palaszczuk Government is committed to transitioning to a clean energy future gradually and sustainably, while keeping affordability and network reliability front and centre.
“We’ve kick-started a renewable energy boom with more than 1GW of privately funded renewable energy projects currently in the works delivering more than $2 billion of new investment to Queensland and more than 1900 direct jobs, mostly in our regions,” he said.
“Energy is undergoing a transformational change in the way it is generated, transported and used – the former LNP government did nothing to prepare for this.
“Importantly, the benefits of the RET to the Queensland economy, particularly in regional areas will be largely driven by the additional $6 billion investment in renewable energy, and a projected increase of around 6,400-6,700 jobs per year on average between 2020 and 2030.
“The anti-renewables LNP have no credibility on energy policy. They oversaw the loss of 1300 renewable industry jobs while in government and inflicted 43 per cent electricity price hikes on consumers.”
March 11, 2017
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This summer saw record-breaking temperatures across New South Wales and most of eastern Australia. January 2017 recorded the highest monthly mean temperatures on record for Sydney.
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed the 2017 heatwave was the most severe since 1939, and since that time the frequency of such intense large-scale heatwaves has increased across spring, summer and autumn, and especially over the past 20 years. The maximum temperatures from the February 2017 heatwave now make up eight of the top 10 highest February temperatures for NSW ever.
What set this heatwave apart was the prolonged period of sweltering days and nights which impacted over one-third of the state. The people out at Moree suffered the most with 54 days in a row over 35 degrees. Walgett had 48 days above 35 degrees.
The heatwave contributed to almost 100 fires across NSW in February. Homes, stock and agricultural assets were lost.
NSW Health issued an air pollution alert and warning to those with asthma or respiratory problems on January 10, with ozone pollution made worse by the hot, still conditions. In Victoria, the heatwave was blamed for a large spike in deaths.
On the NSW South Coast, dairy farmers reported cattle dropping dead in the heat and humidity. Piles of dead turtle hatchlings were found on Queensland’s Mon Repos beach amid a heatwave which pushed the sand’s temperature to 75 degrees. This important breeding site for the Loggerhead turtle was turned into a baby turtle graveyard overnight.
Sydney Harbour suffered its first ever recorded coral bleaching last year and scientists predict more this year, with water temperatures exceeding 26 degrees at times.
Water temperatures have been more than 3 degrees warmer than average off parts of the NSW South Coast. It doesn’t sound like much when you’re enjoying mid 20s water on a 35 degree day, but marine life aren’t used to these spikes – these are signs that the ecological balance is at risk.
Of course, these heatwaves, fires, warming oceans and coral bleaching fit the predictions of climate change science about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions primarily by human activity.
New research released in February concluded that human activity was changing the climate 170 times faster than natural forces.
We are already seeing some key tipping points start to flip. In February, sea ice in Antarctica hit a record low. The melting permafrost in Siberia is causing craters to form on an ever-larger scale with the resulting methane release driving further global warming.
Before our very eyes the warnings of scientists are being realised. Climate change is not something off in the future – it is here and now – and given science has been right so far, their predictions about what happens next without action to drastically reduce emissions are truly frightening……..
The Greens, under Energy and Resources spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham have launched its ‘climate not coal’ policy. It sets out a 10-year framework for the phase out of thermal coal mining in NSW. This is a managed transition that calls for a 1 billion tonne cap on the amount of thermal coal that can be mined during the phase-out period while a supported exit of the industry occurs.
A $7 billion fund to assist impacted workers and communities would be created through the auctioning of permits to access the remaining coal allowance.
It is a bold plan but we need bold plans to respond to climate change. The Greens plan sits in stark contrast to no plan at all from the major parties in this state to deal with coal. https://newmatilda.com/2017/03/08/temps-rising-greens-plan-to-ban-coal-within-10-years-amid-record-heat-wave/
March 11, 2017
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Farmers back emissions trading scheme, THE AUSTRALIAN, SARAH MARTIN, 7 Mar 17, Australia’s peak farming group has thrown its support behind a carbon price to fix the country’s energy woes, calling on the government to reconsider its opposition to an emissions intensity scheme in the electricity sector.
In its submission to the Finkel review of the Australian energy market, the National Farmers Federation has warned the agriculture sector is struggling without “secure, reliable and affordable” power supply and urges a bipartisan approach to energy policy.
NFF president Fiona Simson said the sector believed the cheapest path to a low-emissions future was “some form of market-based approach”, which could include an emissions intensity scheme.
“For us it is about having everything on the table; we certainly want security of supply, we want affordable power, we are technology neutral and we know we’re moving towards lower emissions,” Ms Simson said.
“It is just how we can actually put everything on the table to guarantee a long-term national plan facilitating a smooth, reliable transition to lower emissions generation.”……
The federal government has ruled out adopting an EIS.
Chief Scientist Alan Finkel is reviewing the national energy market and is expected to finalise his report to the Council of Australian Governments by mid-year. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/climate/farmers-back-emissions-trading-scheme/news-story/04146e9fba702b03c5730c9034a36af4
The Australian Institute of Architects has told the review government needs to focus on the demand side of the energy equation, arguing that making changes to energy efficiency of buildings could deliver up to 28 per cent of the 2030 emissions reduction target and achieve $20 billion in energy savings.
“Buildings contribute to nearly half of the country’s electricity consumption and the building sector offers a great opportunity for more energy productivity gains,” said institute president Ken Maher.
March 8, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics |
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The tragedy is that all this could have been avoided if we had seized the opportunity in the 1990s to build a unified national grid, with a single authority running transmission networks and the interconnectors between them. This would still allow competition in generation, but would abandon the idea of market incentives in the provision of network services.
The question has been addressed by pollsters in Britain, which provided the model for Australia’s energy reforms. The results show overwhelming public support for renationalisation, even though the electricity industry has been in private ownership for decades. Even a majority of Conservative voters support public ownership.
The issue will have its next electoral test in Western Australia, where the Barnett government is proposing to sell its majority interest in its electricity distribution enterprise Western Power. While nothing is ever certain in politics, current polls suggest the government is headed for defeat.
The case for renationalising Australia’s electricity grid https://theconversation.com/the-case-for-renationalising-australias-electricity-grid-73951 John Quiggin Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland March 6, 2017 The public debate over the problems of electricity supply displays a curious disconnect. On the one hand, there is virtually universal agreement that the system is in crisis. After 25 years, the promised outcomes of reform – cheaper and more reliable electricity, competitive markets and rational investment decisions – are further away than ever.
On the other hand, proposals to change the situation range from marginal tweaks to politically motivated mischief-making. The preliminary report of the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market, released last year, canvasses such options as the introduction of capacity markets for reserve power, which have done little to resolve problems overseas.
Meanwhile, the Turnbull government has used recent failures to score points against renewable energy (hated, for obscure historical-cultural reasons, by its right-wing base) and to promote the absurd idea of new coal-fired power stations.
A sorry state
This debate might make sense if the system had worked well in the past. In reality, however, the National Electricity Market (NEM) never produced lower prices or more reliable power for households. Continue reading →
March 8, 2017
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Coalition’s “clean coal” plan to power Gina, Clive, Adani in Galilee basin, REneweconomy. By Giles Parkinson on 1 March 2017 The so-called “clean coal” power generator being promoted by the Coalition has been revealed to be a 2009 proposal from businessman Clive Palmer that would be used to help provide electricity to Galilee coal mines planned by Palmer himself, Gina Rinehart, and Indian group Adani.
Waratah Coal, the company owned by Palmer’s Mineralogy, confirmed to the ABC on Tuesday that it had made an application to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation last Friday to finance a proposed 900MW coal generator that proposes to use an unproven technology, carbon capture and storage.
The revived plan was originated in 2009, and the details can be found here. It proposed to bury the emissions from the coal plant under the very same coal province that the three mining groups propose to mine – except that it will be “sequestered” in an “un-mineable” area of coal seams some 1km underground.
The $1.25 billion figure comes from its 2009 estimates, but it is expected that this is well out of the ball-park now. It also does not, the application makes clear, include the cost of carbon capture and sequestration.
No plant in the world has come close to making this a commercially viable proposition and the owners of the most advanced project, Kemper in Georgia, now admit it would be impossible make money from coal generation and CCS.
But that hasn’t stopped the Coalition continuing to push “clean coal” over renewables, despite overwhelming consensus that it would cost at least twice as much – and possibly four times as much with CCS – than wind and solar alternatives.
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull – who as recently as 2010 supported 100 per cent renewable energy scenarios – has now pitched the Coalition’s energy policy firmly behind the construction of new “ultra supercritical” coal plants.
Resources minister Matt Canavan has been particularly vocal in support of a new coal-fired power station in north Queensland. This proposal, from Palmer, is the only proposal in the pipeline. Most other energy investors in the area are instead looking to solar and wind farms.
This comes as new data shows that Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, jumping another 2.2 per cent in the last financial year and taking the growth since the repeal of the carbon price to more than 7 per cent.
Much of this growth has come from the electricity sector, due to increased coal-fired generation, and from the new LNG export facilities in Queensland, where more coal and gas is being burned to power the liquefaction of coal seam gas, so it can be shipped overseas.
New studies have again questioned whether coal seam gas is any “cleaner” than coal power, given evidence that “rogue methane emissions” which are not measured by the gas companies, are actually making CSG a dirtier power source than coal…..
The Minerals Council, it has been widely reported, supplied the lump of coal brought into Question Time last month by treasurer Scott Morrison, in the middle of a record-breaking heat wave. The coal was lacquered so Coalition ministers and MPs would not get their hands dirty.
The proposed coal-fired power station in the Galilee Basin reveals the farcical depths of Australia’s energy policy debate. Even the Energy Supply Council, which represents the country’s fossil fuel generators, admits that new coal power is now “un-investable”.
The Coalition wants such coal plants to be funded by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, but this has been dismissed on several occasions by CEO Oliver Yates, who points out that co-financiers would be impossible to find, and any such investment would require billions of dollars in government guarantees and indemnities against a future carbon price.
The Minerals Council, though, is pushing the Galilee coal basin hard. It has previously fought against a carbon price and has launched numerous campaigns to promote coal as a commodity……http://reneweconomy.com.au/coalitions-clean-coal-plan-power-gina-clive-adani-galilee-basin-35115/
March 3, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, business, climate change - global warming, politics |
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Climate pollution rising: Turnbull, Frydenberg failing, REneweconomy, By Matthew Rose and Suzanne Harter on 1 March 2017 If the Turnbull government had to pay a dollar for every time a minister claimed Australia was ‘meeting and beating’ its climate targets, the money would be stacking up. Their claims, however, would not.
New data, just released under the National Greenhouse & Energy Reporting Scheme, shows the climate policies of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Environment & Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg are simply not working.
The data reflects the emissions of approximately 400 of Australia’s biggest companies and sits alongside the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory as an indicator of our emissions trajectory.
The 10 biggest polluters remain the same as last year. although the order has slightly changed.
They include Australia’s biggest electricity generators, AGL, Energy Australia, Origin, Engie and CS Energy, along with mining giants Rio Tinto and Glencore.
Overall, climate pollution is up by 3.4 per cent since last year and by 7.5 per cent since the Abbott-Turnbull government axed the carbon price. Unlike the government’s current policy, the carbon price was reducing Australia’s pollution. This is evident in the data. [graph on original]
The new data also shows pollution from Australia’s electricity sector, which is responsible for about 35 per cent of our climate pollution, went up 2.6 per cent on the previous year and 5 per cent since the carbon price was removed.
The pollution increases — from specific generators and overall — show there is little incentive for big polluters to clean up their acts when they have a free ride to pollute.
Meanwhile, global warming continues to damage Australian treasures, like the Great Barrier Reef, and increase the likelihood and severity of heatwaves and bushfires.
And there’s no sign Australia’s international commitments under the Paris agreement, including our 2030 target for 26-28 per cent pollution reduction in 2005 levels, will be able to be reached without major policy changes that see Australia phase out fossil fuels and enable a rapid transition to clean renewable energy.
However, instead of acknowledging global warming as a national crisis that demands immediate serious action, the federal government is considering loaning Adani $1 billion for a coal-carting railway line from the Galilee Basin to the Great Barrier Reef coast and wants the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to fund new coal-fired power stations.
None of this stacks up for investors that see coal in terminal decline and are unwilling to sink their money into facilities that will undoubtedly end up as stranded assets.
Nor is support for coal consistent with our Paris commitments, which include driving down pollution to net zero well before mid-century keeping global warming under 1.5—2 degrees………
Turnbull and Frydenberg continue to blame renewable energy. The data released this week is hard evidence Australia’s pollution is going up and that means Turnbull and Frydenberg’s policies are failing. http://reneweconomy.com.au/climate-pollution-rising-turnbull-frydenberg-failing-15377/
March 3, 2017
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AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics |
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Antinuclear 