Big companies urge action on climate change (but beware of BHP’s nuclear lobbying
This sounds good, and it IS good. At the same time BEWARE of BHP Billiton. They are part of the nuclear lobbying to get nuclear accepted as the cure for climate change
Paris 2015: Australian corporate giants sign up for action on climate, SMH November 5, 2015 Peter Hannam Environment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald More than a dozen of Australia’s largest companies including BHP Billiton, Westpac and Origin Energy, have signed up to take long-term action on climate change.
The firms have joined more than 250 global corporations, boasting more than $US5.6 trillion ($7.7 trillion) in annual turnover, that have agreed on steps such as putting a price on carbon and buying 100 per cent of their electricity from renewable sources.
The pledges by companies, which also include ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, AGL, Infigen and Brambles, come just weeks before delegates from almost 200 nations meet in Paris to negotiate a global climate treaty aimed at keeping temperature increases to within 2 degrees of pre-industrial levels…….http://www.smh.com.au/environment/un-climate-conference/paris-2015-australian-corporate-giants-sign-up-for-action-on-climate-20151104-gkqk2c.html
Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg expresses nuclear lobby’s religious belief in future uranium boom
Uranium will rebound: Frydenberg The West Australian, 3 Nov 15 New Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg has backed WA’s fledgling uranium industry to climb off the canvas as Australia works towards a free trade agreement with yellowcake-hungry India…….
WA is yet to mine any yellowcake, with uranium prices depressed since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.Before the disaster the uranium price was above $US70 a pound, today it is $35/lb….
Too good to be true? Greg Hunt’s new found enthusiasm for renewable energy
Hunt Talks Up Australian Renewables In Shanghai http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/hunt-australian-renewables-em5168/ November 4, 2015 Energy Matters Australia’s Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt, provided a glowing report on the state of renewable energy in Australia at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Future of Energy Conference in Shanghai yesterday.
Minister Hunt didn’t want to discuss the not-so-glorious recent past for renewables under ex-Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s reign, stating he wished to focus on “the positive agenda that the Australia has in place to harness energy innovation, support renewables and reduce emissions.”
Mr. Hunt told those gathered Australia boasts 2.4 million solar power and solar hot water systems, and has the highest proportion of households with solar panels globally at 15 per cent. This growth has been supported by programs such as the Solar Credits subsidy, which is still available. Additional incentives such as a tax deduction for asset purchases valued up to $20,000 are available for small business.
The Minister said renewables currently make up approximately 13 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation, a figure that will rise to 23.5 per cent by 2020 under the Renewable Energy Target.
Mr. Hunt was also optimistic about the future of home battery storage, quoting Morgan Stanley research estimating up to a million Australian households could have solar + storage in place by 2020.
The Minister was also very positive about the efforts of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA); agencies the Abbott government attempted to axe.
” Australia also excels in the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies through the Renewable Energy Target and investments made by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and Clean Energy Finance Corporation,” he said; also detailing some of the projects both agencies have been involved with.
The Minister also mentioned the CEFC and ARENA working together to jointly support the deployment of large scale solar with a $350 million package.
Reading over his comments, it’s hard to believe that a short time ago Australia’s renewable industry was facing a major threat from a government-led attack that saw investment in large scale projects plummet. With a change of leadership, the attitude towards renewables seems to have changed for the better.
The transcript of Minister Hunt’s speech can be downloaded here (PDF).
Australia’s Environment Minister Greg Hunt joining the pro #nuclear dance troupe?
Greg Hunt open to nuclear industry for SA http://www.afr.com/news/policy/climate/greg-hunt-open-to-nuclear-industry-for-sa-20151031-gknvu6 1 Nov 15 Environment Minister Greg Hunt has an “open mind” on nuclear power generation and the creation of a nuclear waste industry in South Australia.
Mr Hunt said is waiting for the findings of the South Australian royal commission into nuclear, which is considering whether Australia should become more involved in the nuclear fuel cycle.
“We approach this with an open mind. We will look at the results of the royal commission,” Mr Hunt told ABC on Sunday.
“Nuclear energy is one of the many forms of zero emissions energy which will be available and what’s my broad vision, and our broad vision, we progressively move towards low and zero emissions energy over the coming decades.” The royal commission will be hosting a series of public sessions until December.
The Australian Financial Review reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was backing the creation of a nuclear fuel industry.Mr Turnbull said Australia should become involved in the nuclear fuel cycle to produce fuel rods, export them and then transport them back home once used, and store them in outback nuclear waste dumps.
Assistant Science Minister Karen Andrews told the Financial Review on Wednesday that developing a nuclear waste disposal industry was an option, and pointed out that there is Australian nuclear waste in transit from treatment in France which is expected to be stored by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. Mr Turnbull is yet to confirm the federal government’s short list of potential sites for a nuclear waste dump.
Australia has no environmental credibility, yet seeks to co-chair the Green Climate Fund
Australia bids to co-chair the Green Climate Fund criticised by Tony Abbott, Canberra Times, October 30, 2015 James Massola Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has launched a bid for Australia to co-chair the Green Climate Fund that former prime minister Tony Abbott once criticised as “a Bob Brown bank on an international scale”.
A decision on who the next two co-chairs of the fund will be is expected to be made in Zambia late next week. The co-chair positions are typically held by one developing and one developed country for a period of one year. Fairfax Media has learnt that Ms Bishop first proposed Australia put its name forward to co-chair the fund when Mr Abbott was still prime minister.
Final approval for the bid was not, however, forthcoming until the Liberal Party switched to Malcolm Turnbull last month…….
Greens climate change spokeswoman Larissa Waters, however, said the decision to nominate for the co-chair position was hypocritical given that, in her view, Australia’s estimated fair share contribution should be $350 million annually.
“Australia has no credibility in overseeing the Green Climate Fund when this government is simultaneously trying to open the southern hemisphere’s largest coal mine in Queensland,” she said.
“We are the largest per capita emitter of carbon pollution of any developed country and the Turnbull government’s measly reduction targets will keep it that way.”
The bid comes ahead of a crucial climate conference that will be held in Paris at the end of this year, which Ms Bishop, Environment Minister Greg Hunt and possibly Mr Turnbull will attend. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-bids-to-cochair-the-green-climate-fund-criticised-by-tony-abbott-20151030-gkmvv6.html#ixzz3q5fTp7CX
Nuclear waste dump idea is a political stinker: Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger is worried
Malcolm goes nuclear, Switzer, 30 Oct 15 Sir Humphrey might have called it a “courageous” suggestion. Determined to show everything is indeed on the table, the Prime Minister this week floated the idea of Australia storing nuclear waste. Not merely waste from the Lucas Heights scientific reactor, or indeed waste from a hypothetical Australian nuclear power industry down the track. No, Malcolm Turnbull is suggesting Australia welcome and store the nuclear waste shipped to us from other countries
After announcing a well-known nuclear advocate, Dr Alan Finkel, as Australia’s next Chief Scientist on Monday, the Prime Minister visited the South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill to congratulate him on his Royal Commission into the nuclear fuel cycle. Turnbull says he is a “bit sceptical” about the chances of a nuclear power industry stacking up financially in Australia (especially while coal is so cheap). But he does see a business case for digging up uranium, processing it here, shipping it off for others to use and then taking back spent fuel rods.
He spelt out his thinking on Adelaide radio: “We have got the uranium, we mine it, why don’t we process it, turn it into the fuel rods, lease it to people overseas, when they are done we bring them back and we have got stable, very stable geology in remote locations and a stable political environment. That is a business that you could well imagine here.”………
as anyone even mildly involved in the nuclear debate over the last twenty years will know, there’s no escaping the politics. Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger was typically blunt about the Prime Minister’s idea. “We look like everyone else’s rubbish bin, quite frankly, and Australians will see it that way…they will say ‘why is this stuff being dumped here?’” Kroger, the Victorian Liberal Party President, has a sharp nose for a political stinker………..
Matthias Cormann joins the Liberals’ pro #nuclear stampede
Nuclear could be lucrative: minister, http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/10/31/10/14/nuclear-could-be-lucrative-minister#m8FlUuWPGqSToruE.99 9 News, 31 Oct 15 A nuclear fuel industry could be potentially lucrative for Australia, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says.
Senator Cormann says the government is keeping an open mind on any proposals put forward by a South Australian royal commission into the nuclear fuel cycle, which could identify opportunities to diversify the economic base on nuclear power.
“This could be potentially quite lucrative,” the minister told Sky News on Saturday, adding opposition to nuclear energy was often ideological.
Turnbull backs Sen Edwards plan to make South Australia the world’s radioactive trash toilet
PM Turnbull backs nuclear in SA, economy may get $35b injection, 
AFR, by Phillip Coorey Laura Tingle Simon Evans, 30 Oct 15 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is backing the creation of a nuclear fuel industry in Australia that experts say could be worth up to $35 billion for South Australia.
Mr Turnbull commended South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill for setting up an inquiry to consider if the state should have a nuclear industry. He said he was sceptical about the need for nuclear power, but Australia should become involved in the nuclear fuel cycle to produce fuel rods, export them and then transport them back home once used, and store them in outback nuclear waste dumps……
Assistant Science Minister Karen Andrews told The Australian Financial Review that developing a nuclear waste disposal industry was an option, and pointed out that there is currently Australian nuclear waste in transit from treatment in France which is expected to be stored by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
Those fuel rods come from the scientific reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney, whereas the proposal to manufacture and store spent rods from overseas concerns the high-level radioactive rods used to power nuclear reactors that generate electricity. Even after being reprocessed, they remain radioactive for many years.
Mrs Andrews referred to a proposal by South Australian Liberal senator Sean Edwards as an example of the sort of development that could emerge in the nuclear cycle industry in Australia and overcome concerns…..
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Senator Sean Edwards wants the whole toxic nuclear chain here, as well as the radioactive trash dump
Edwards pushing forward on nuclear, Sky News, 30 October 2015 A government senator is upping the ante on the nuclear debate, saying a revamp of the industry could help deliver free energy to his fellow South Australians and reduce state taxes.
Unlike Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is open to a discussion on exporting fuel rods, Sean Edwards wants to see spent ones recycled here and generators installed.
‘We are looking for an energy that week can generate at low cost so we can foster industry and foster jobs and ensure we are not destroying the planet at the same time,’ Edwards told Sky News on Friday, spruiking the economic benefits of having a local industry……. http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/national/2015/10/30/edwards-pushing-forward-on-nuclear-3.html#sthash.Okmc5vyv.dpuf– See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/politics/national/2015/10/30/edwards-pushing-forward-on-nuclear-3.html#sthash.Okmc5vyv.dpuf
On uranium sales to India, Malcolm Turnbull should heed Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties
Malcolm Turnbull should pay heed to the findings of the JSCOT report and not be rushed by those with poor track records and overt atomic agendas.
Nuclear ambitions must put safety first, http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/nuclear-ambitions-must-put-safety-first-20151030-gkmqtm.html Dave Sweeney, It’s now three years since then-Premier Campbell Newman back-flipped on a ‘crystal clear’ commitment and opened the door for the uranium industry in Queensland. The decision, made without consultation, evidence or any independent analysis was explained on the basis of a potential uranium sales deal with India.
Since this time – and to their considerable credit – the re-elected Labor government has reinstated the state’s long-standing and popular ban on uranium mining.
As the uranium lobbyists and former LNP mines minister Andrew Cripps continue to beat the radioactive drum it is useful to look at the risks and roadblocks that mean there will be no smooth passage to India for any Australian uranium.
In September the federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties completed a detailed examination of the proposed sales deal and its implications. Despite strong personal support for the sales plan by then PM Tony Abbot the government controlled committee took a far more considered and cautious approach.
The committee’s report identified a range of serious and unresolved nuclear safety, security and regulatory concerns with the proposed sales deal – as well as questioning its uncertain legal basis. Continue reading
MP Rowan Ramsey explains difference between Lucas Heights nuclear waste and the Sean Edwards import plan
A shipload of these rods, which are classified as medium-level waste, sent to France a decade ago for reprocessing is due home soon. With no place to store the radioactive material yet established, a special facility has been built at Lucas Heights in outer Sydney to store them until a location is secured…….
Mr Ramsey, who has a property outside Kimba in South Australia’s west, volunteered, but was told by then Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane, it would constitute a perceived conflict of interest.
Australia’s Minister For Nuclear soon to release shortlist for waste dump site
Seven locations make nuclear waste dump shortlist October 29, 2015, James Massola http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/seven-locations-make-nuclear-waste-dump-shortlist-20151029-gklxu4.html
Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg is poised to release a shortlist of sites that could play host to a permanent nuclear waste storage facility in Australia.
Fairfax Media has been told the shortlist contains seven possible locations for the facility and had been finalised and approved by the Abbott government before Ian Macfarlane was replaced as Resources Minister by Mr Frydenberg.
The list of sites was originally scheduled to be released by August. Mr Frydenberg now intends to release the short list by the end of the year, after consulting with local MPs affected the decision, the opposition and other stakeholders over the politically sensitive issue.
Two locations in South Australia’s Kimba shire, west of Port Augusta, and two in Western Australia, at Leonora, north of Kalgoorlie and Yalgoo, north of Perth, have voluntarily nominated to be considered for the shortlist, while a proposal for the facility to be located at Mt Isa, in remote Queensland, was recently advanced. The full list of possible locations is a tightly held secret.
Once the shortlist has been released, a further period of public consultations will begin before a preferred site is identified in mid-2016, with a detailed business case due in mid-2017 and construction and operation of the facility due by the end of the decade.
The pending decision on the waste facility comes amid renewed debate on a possible future nuclear industry in Australia.
The facility will store low and intermediate-level radioactive waste from Lucas Heights and Australian-produced waste that had been sent to France, the United States and Britain between 1996 and 2009, which is to be returned under an international agreement.
An interim facility has been constructed at Lucas Heights to hold waste being sent back to Australia. A general purpose cargo ship called the BBC Shanghai is currently en route to Port Kembla from the French port of Cherbourg carrying 25 tonnes of waste and is due to arrive at the end of the month. The waste aboard that ship will then be driven to the Lucas Heights facility.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull went further on Wednesday, suggesting that many Australians had a “perfectly reasonable” view that said “we have got the uranium, we mine it, why don’t we process it, turn it into the fuel rods, lease it to people overseas, when they are done, we bring them back and we have got stable, very stable geology in remote locations and a stable political environment”.
“That is a business that you could well imagine here.”
South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill has an ongoing royal commission into the nuclear industry.
The Australian Conservation Foundation’s anti-nuclear campaigner Dave Sweeney, who was also a member of the government’s advisory panel on the permanent waste facility, said achieving consent from residents of whatever area was selected for the site was crucial.
“Successive governments have failed to realise the importance of this [consent], or to achieve it. We are at the point of the process now, which is the test of the government’s commitment to community inclusion and having social licence to do this,” he said.
“We believe there is no environmental or public health reason to rush this [site selection]. The majority of the waste is currently in secured federal facilities and we need to take the time to get it right.”
Malcolm Turnbull favours importing radioactive trash to Australia
Australia could store nuclear waste for other countries, Malcolm Turnbull says, Guardian, Daniel Hurst, 28 Oct 15 PM tells Adelaide radio that he was sceptical Australia would ever build nuclear power stations, but a larger role in nuclear fuel industry was worth exploring….
Australia should “look closely” at expanding its role in the global nuclear energy industry, including leasing fuel rods to other countries and then storing the waste afterwards, Malcolm Turnbull has said.
But the prime minister said he was “sceptical” about whether Australia would ever build its own nuclear power stations to provide electricity to domestic customers, given the country had plentiful access to coal, gas, wind and solar sources.
Turnbull made the observations in a radio interview on Wednesday, a day after he named Dr Alan Finkel, a vocal advocate of nuclear power and the outgoing chancellor of Monash University, as Australia’s next chief scientist.
He was asked to weigh in on the issue during a visit to South Australia, where the state Labor government has launched a royal commission into options for participation in the nuclear fuel cycle. Turnbull praised the premier, Jay Weatherill, for setting up the inquiry…..
“…it’s a perfectly reasonable view: we’ve got the uranium [and] we mine it; why don’t we process it, turn it into the fuel rods, lease them to people overseas; when they’re done, bring them back – and we’ve got very stable geology in remote locations and a stable political environment – and store them?”
“That is a business that you could well imagine here.”….. playing that part in the nuclear fuel cycle I think is something that is worth looking at closely.”
Turnbull was environment minister in the Howard government, which commissioned a study into the feasibility of nuclear power by a task force led by the former Telstra chief, Ziggy Switkowski, who is now chairman of NBN Co……
The Australian Conservation Foundation described Turnbull’s comments as “ill-considered” and warned that radioactive waste was “a complex and contested policy area”.
“Radioactive waste presents serious environment, security and public health challenges – and it lasts a lot longer than any politician’s tenure,” said Dave Sweeney, a foundation campaigner.
Greenpeace dismissed nuclear power as “an expensive distraction from the real solutions to climate change, like solar and wind power”.
“It leaves a legacy of radioactive waste which remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years,” said Emma Gibson, head of program for Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
“We only have to look at the Fukushima disaster in Japan to be reminded of the health, social and economic impacts of a nuclear accident, and to see that this is not a safe option for Australians.”
Turnbull is seeking to bolster the Liberal party’s popularity in South Australia, where the government suffered political difficulties after his predecessor, Tony Abbott, backed away from a pre-election promise to build 12 submarines locally……. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/28/australia-could-store-nuclear-waste-for-other-countries-malcolm-turnbull-says
Australia’s govt and Opposition swing towards the nuclear industry
New Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg, who has said there is a moral obligation to exporting coal to provide energy for millions of people without access to electricity, has been a long-time supporter of nuclear power and said in his maiden speech that it was “inexplicable that in Australia we have yet to have a constructive and thorough debate about nuclear power, the only baseload, carbon-neutral energy source”.
Showing how the nuclear debate is moving, Mr Shorten also did not rule out nuclear power in the future, saying he would watch what the South Australian royal commission says
Nuclear power option should not be closed: federal government, Financial Review, by Laura Tingle, 27 Oct 15, The federal government is keeping open the possibility of adopting nuclear energy to fulfil Australia’s baseload electricity needs while asserting the central role of coal to global energy needs.
The government has told the South Australian Nuclear Royal Commission that nuclear power plants can deliver large amounts of electricity with very low carbon emissions, and should not be closed off as an option.
The revelation came as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected a call by a group of 60 prominent citizens for a moratorium on coal exports and new mines amid a revived debate about Australia’s energy future.
“No I don’t agree with a moratorium on the idea of exploiting coal”, Mr Turnbull said on Tuesday, a position backed by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten……. Continue reading
PM Turnbull appoints a nuclear energy enthusiast as Chief Scientist
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to appoint nuclear power advocate Dr Alan Finkel as chief scientist http://m.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-to-appoint-nuclear-power-advocate-dr-alan-finkel-as-chief-scientist/story-fnpp4dj5-1227581950975 October 26, 2015
The Herald Sun has learned that Dr Alan Finkel, a respected engineer who has long called for nuclear to be part of the nation’s energy mix, will this week be named as Australia’s chief scientist.
The appointment by Malcolm Turnbull could reignite public and political divisions over a nuclear industry, which has been debated since the mid-1970s and spawned a political and environment movement in the 1980s.
Dr Finkel, the outgoing chancellor of Monash University, has argued nuclear power is needed for Australia to achieve an “abundant, reliable supply of low-emissions electricity”.
The Prime Minister vowed last week to put science “right at the centre” of his Government’s agenda and at the “very heart” of its future.
As president of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Dr Finkel said Australia had a proud record for regulatory oversight and would “without doubt” be able to manage a nuclear electricity system at “very high safety levels” . Dr Finkel’s pending appointment comes as Labor leader Bill Shorten yesterday ruled out supporting a switch to nuclear energy, despite a push from state governments.
A divide within the party was reopened at the weekend, when Mr Shorten said he was prepared to assess the outcome of South Australia’s nuclear inquiry but federal Labor’s priority was renewable energy.
Mr Turnbull, as environment minister in the Howard government, said in order to deal with climate change, a “nuclear option” must be on the table while Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said last year nuclear was an “obvious direction” for Australia as it considered how to cut carbon dioxide emissions after 2020.
Dr Finkel will replace Professor Ian Chubb after his five-year stint as chief scientist.
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