Home Affairs Minister, and wannabe Australian P.M> Petewr Dutton rubbishes the climate action schoolkids
‘Defies common sense’: Peter Dutton takes aim at school climate strikers Peter Dutton has taken aim at school students who protested about inaction on climate change, saying they would be sitting in the dark without coal-fired power. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/defies-common-sense-peter-dutton-takes-aim-at-school-climate-strikersHome Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has laid the boot into Australian students who skipped school to rally against inaction on climate change.
Nearly 40,000 students took the day off school last Friday to participate in strikes around the country.
Mr Dutton said it was “100 per cent right” to suggest people would be left to sit in the dark if coal-fired power was stripped from the grid for 48 hours.
“Let the teachers tell their students that and go out on strike – but their mobile phones aren’t being charged,” he told 2GB radio on Thursday. This is how stupid the debate’s gotten, it defies common sense.”
NSW goes to the polls as major parties go quiet on climate, renewables — RenewEconomy
As NSW prepares to vote in a too-close-to-call election, the silence on the hot-button policy issues of climate change and renewable energy is deafening. The post NSW goes to the polls as major parties go quiet on climate, renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via NSW goes to the polls as major parties go quiet on climate, renewables — RenewEconomy
March 22 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “A New Energy Future For Puerto Rico Beyond Recovery” • The people of Puerto Rico have an opportunity to build a new type of energy system. They can build one that better protects residents from future super storms, improves the quality of life for everyone, and supports the island’s economy for decades to […]
It’s time Australia got serious about shift to 100% renewables — RenewEconomy
The transition to 100% renewables is still not taken seriously by many in the energy industry. It should be. The post It’s time Australia got serious about shift to 100% renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via It’s time Australia got serious about shift to 100% renewables — RenewEconomy
How I got solar installed at my NSW school – and how you could, too — RenewEconomy
Within six months, I single-handedly organised, lobbied and arranged funds for a $100k, 100kW solar installation for my school in Sydney’s south. Here’s how it was done. The post How I got solar installed at my NSW school – and how you could, too appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via How I got solar installed at my NSW school – and how you could, too — RenewEconomy
NSW goes to the polls as major parties go quiet on climate, renewables — RenewEconomy
As NSW prepares to vote in a too-close-to-call election, the silence on the hot-button policy issues of climate change and renewable energy is deafening. The post NSW goes to the polls as major parties go quiet on climate, renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via NSW goes to the polls as major parties go quiet on climate, renewables — RenewEconomy
Climate and nuclear news to 21 March
The various human-caused threats to life on this Earth are becoming more apparent. Sometimes, it seems almost silly to separate them out -as climate change, pollution, deforestation etc, as they all add up to one grand global human disrespect for nature. The latest U.N. study reports loss of biodiversity as a even greater crisis than climate change.
It’s a global disgrace, that it’s been left to children to take the lead on climate action. World wide climate protests, by hundreds of thousands of school students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtZ12FOat_8
Southern African States, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, are now devastated by Cyclone Idai. Sure, they’ve had cyclones before, but climate change is increasing the intensity, to record levels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S5RlM7KGZI
On the nuclear scene, one veteran correspondent asks “Who will be the world’s next nuclear policeman?”, as USA abandons its historic role as the world’s chief advocate for de-nuclearis.ation. Meanwhile, Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton leads us back to the Nuclear Precipice. Trump’s USA is committed to dominating the world – heading for weapons in space.
AUSTRALIA
NUCLEAR. Curiouser and curiouser. Australia’s nuclear high priest, Dr Adi Paterson, has just been to China, and quietly signed Australia up to partnering a Chinese state-run nuclear firm in developing generation IV nuclear reactors. By whose authority, I wonder? More on this later.
Matt Canavan, Australia’ s Minister For Nuclear and Coal, skirts around the truth about radioactive waste dump plan. Do we want another nuclear industry puppet (RICHARD CARMODY – Independent) in the South Australian federal seat of Grey? Animal Justice Party – pro nuclear advocate in sheeps’ clothing? Hypocrisy in Scotland. For political reasons, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon refused to meet Aboriginal nuclear waste protestor. Dismissing Aboriginal objections, Leonora Shire Council, (Western Australia) wants an underground nuclear waste dump!
CLIMATE. Students’ climate action strike: 150,000 people at 60 locations across Australia. New South Wales school students rallied for climate action, despite the Premier’s disapproval. Good to see former Australian Chief Scientist Penny Sackett with the kids in Canberra climate march. Liberal Coalition government ramps up scare campaign against climate action, renewables . Angus Taylor, Energy Minister, confirms that the Morrison government considering supporting new coal projects . More drought, more heat, if a large El Nino event occurs in 2019. Adani protesters shut down Western Australian Parliament, ejected from public gallery.
Landmark High Court decision guides how compensation for native title losses will be determined.
RENEWABLE ENERGY. Australia was fourth biggest market in world for large-scale solar in 2018 . How the Tesla big battery kept the lights on in South Australia. New South Wales Solar powered election race hots up, as new round of PV policies unveiled. New South Wales Labor’s pledge for ‘solar schools. Federal election: Frydenberg challenger Oliver Yates unveils “bold” rooftop solar plan. Western Australia’s Carnegie wave energy project gets anew lease of life, with new investors.
Nuclear transport an attractive target for terrorists, example Brazil –
Brazilian drug gang opens fire on convoy of trucks carrying nuclear fuel, Guardian Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro 20 Mar 2019 Latest incident raises concerns about Brazil’s nuclear security in a state struggling with violent crime A convoy of trucks carrying nuclear fuel came under armed attack on a highway in Rio de Janeiro state on Tuesday as it drove past a community controlled by a drug gang. Gang members armed with rifles opened fire on the convoy, Rio’s O Globo newspaper said.
Armed police escorting the convoy exchanged fire with armed gang members as the trucks carrying uranium continued to a nearby nuclear plant. The attack is the latest of several violent incidents in the area where Brazil has two nuclear reactors and has raised concerns about its nuclear security in a state struggling with high levels of violent crime.
The attack happened as the convoy passed the Frade community around noon near the tourist town of Angra dos Reis in the Green Coast (Costa Verde), around 200km from Rio de Janeiro. It reached the Angra 2 nuclear plant less than half an hour later, Brazil’s nuclear agency said……
Typically, such convoys have around five or six trucks and are escorted by regular police and motorbike outriders from Brazil’s Federal Highway police, the Eletronuclear spokesman Marco Antonio Alves told the Guardian. It was carrying uranium fuel to supply the Angra 2 nuclear power plant, which began operating in 2001. ……. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/20/brazilian-drug-gang-opens-fire-on-convoy-of-trucks-carrying-nuclear-fuel?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR3RPlZ7l2eqbDbUKOavFnccBnocR5AjCpeedTMeCQT7686-HKxuii8rfwE
Comment by Raymond John Cockram I‘m figuring the probability that it was refined into fuel rods is closer to the truth given it was on its way to the reactor site, what you need to remember is that the Brazilian President is a self confessed fascist so media manipulation MUST be expected.
Adani protesters shut down WA Parliament, ejected from public gallery
WA Today, By Nathan Hondros, March 19, 2019 Protesters against a coal mining project in Queensland briefly shut down question time in WA Parliament on Tuesday.
About eight protesters in the public gallery interrupted Housing Minister Peter Tinley to shout slogans about Adani’s Carmichael mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin…….https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/adani-protesters-shut-down-wa-parliament-ejected-from-public-gallery-20190319-p515kv.h
A very worrying milestone reached: Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant now stores over 1 million tons of radioactive water
Toyoshi Fuketa, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, has repeatedly said a decision must be made soon on how to deal with the contaminated water.
“We are entering a period in which further delays in deciding what measure to implement will no longer be tolerable,” Fuketa recently said.
Groundwater becomes contaminated when it flows into the buildings of the three reactors that suffered meltdowns in 2011 following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Water that is used to cool the nuclear fuel debris is processed to remove radioactive substances, but the system cannot get rid of tritium.
These problems have forced TEPCO to store the contaminated water in hundreds of tanks installed at the Fukushima plant.
If more storage tanks are constructed, the overall capacity of 1.37 million tons at the site will likely be reached by the end of 2020.
Fukushima fishermen are already on alert for the one option they have already criticized–diluting the water and dumping it into the Pacific Ocean.
The economy ministry in 2016 said that measure could be implemented in the shortest time frame and at a low cost.
Fuketa has also said this is the most realistic option, but he noted that it would require years of preparation.
Some experts said the go-ahead for the dilution measure should have been given at the end of 2018 to start the process before the storage tanks reach capacity.
Economy ministry officials tried to explain various measures being considered at a public hearing in Fukushima in August 2018, including releasing the diluted water into the ocean.
“It will have a devastating effect on fishing in Fukushima,” said Tetsu Nozaki, who heads the Fukushima prefectural federation of fisheries cooperative associations.
Fukushima fishermen have slowly resumed operations since all forms of fishing were prohibited after high levels of radiation were found in fish caught off the Fukushima coast.
Fish auctions restarted at Fukushima ports in spring 2017, but the volume of fish brought in is still only about 20 percent of levels before the 2011 nuclear accident.
The last thing Fukushima fishermen want is an increase of negative publicity about their catches if the diluted water is dumped into the Pacific.
The government has spent about 34.5 billion yen ($309 million) to build a frozen underground earth wall around the three reactor buildings to divert the groundwater to the ocean. The “ice wall” has cut down the flow of groundwater, which at one time reached about 500 tons a day.
But still, groundwater continues to flow into the three reactor buildings at a rate of about 100 tons daily.
(This article was compiled from reports by Chikako Kawahara, Hiroshi Ishizuka, Toshio Kawada and Kazumasa Sugimura.)
Will the NSW election deliver a change in electricity policy? — RenewEconomy
The major parties in NSW have developed policies to address climate and energy, but they don’t talk about them. The post Will the NSW election deliver a change in electricity policy? appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Will the NSW election deliver a change in electricity policy? — RenewEconomy
GAO Probe into Trump Admin Nuclear Deal Negotiations With Saudi Arabia Formally Requested By Two Members Of US Senate Foreign Relations Committee — Mining Awareness +
“Members of the Committee understand that the Department of Energy (DOE), rather than the State Department which usually leads nuclear cooperation negotiations, has served as the principal U.S. government agency leading efforts with Saudi counterpart agencies and industries regarding potential nuclear cooperation between the Kingdom and the United States. We are aware, among other things, […]
March 20 Energy News — geoharvey
Science and Technology: ¶ “Can We Go Back To A Clean Future With Hybrid Airships?” • China is betting big on airships for freight with a partnership with French company Flying Whales. Better access to remote areas and big cost savings are the reason, but will airships open a path to cleaner air transport? There […]
Sun Metals eyes wind, battery storage in shift to “most competitive electricity” — RenewEconomy
Sun Metals CEO says company looking to expand portfolio of renewable generation assets to further reduce its exposure to volatile grid electricity prices. The post Sun Metals eyes wind, battery storage in shift to “most competitive electricity” appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Sun Metals eyes wind, battery storage in shift to “most competitive electricity” — RenewEconomy
Why the network push to limit rooftop solar exports should be resisted — RenewEconomy
The push by the network lobby to limit exports from rooftop solar is more about defending their investment in gas pipelines. It must be resisted. The post Why the network push to limit rooftop solar exports should be resisted appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Why the network push to limit rooftop solar exports should be resisted — RenewEconomy
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