Solar power to the grid – NSW’s gross feed-in -tariiff
NSW to go gross with solar The Northern Rivers Echo by Andy Parks 12th November 2009 Environmental and industry groups have welcomed the announcement by the NSW Government that they will introduce a gross feed in tariff for renewable energy systems Continue reading
New ways for renewable energy for power grid
Renewable energy plans for power grid ABC Newcastle 14 Nov 09 Scientists at a renewable energy integration facility in Newcastle are working on new techniques aimed at integrating renewable energy into the state’s power grid. Continue reading
Smart grid will enable small and large renewable power sources
The CSIRO has launched a new research centre aimed at helping transform Australian electricity networks and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The Renewable Energy Integration Facility based in Newcastle, NSW, will develop grid management technologies that will allow greater penetration of renewable, low-emission energy resources into electricity networks. The facility will also be used to develop automatic fault detection techniques to help improve electricity supply reliability and reduce blackouts, according to the CSIRO…………..
“The facility demonstrates how electricity networks will work in the future where the electricity supply mix will include greater numbers of small power sources in conjunction with large, centralised power sources.”CSIRO scientist, Dr David Cornforth, said………..http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/326046/csiro_opens_renewable_energy_integration_facility.
Gross feed in tariff good news for solar households
Solar households to get paid for all their power ABC News Nov 10, 2009 The New South Wales Government has reversed its policy on solar power – meaning households with solar energy systems will soon be paid for all of the electricity they generate.
The state Government is adopting a gross feed-in tariff system for solar energy rather than the net model which is in place in other states.The Environment Minister John Robertson says it means households will be paid for all of the electricity produced by solar panels, not just the surplus which is fed back into the grid.“It will be the highest payment for families anywhere in the country at 60 cents per kilowatt-hour,” he said.”This will provide households the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint and also ensure they’re generating electricity using solar cells.”
Solar households to get paid for all their power – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Powerful influence of big polluting industries
revealed-polluters-fear-tactics-on-climate Brisbane Times MARIAN WILKINSON AND FLINT DUXFIELD
November 6, 2009
BIG greenhouse polluting companies around the world, employing thousands of lobbyists, are exerting heavy pressure on governments to weaken climate change laws at home and slow progress on an international climate agreement in Copenhagen, a global investigation reveals.
In Australia, 20 companies who have already won the most concessions from the Rudd Government’s emissions trading scheme employ 28 lobbying firms with well over 100 staff, many of them former politicians, political advisers or government officials.
In the US there are more than 2800 climate lobbyists, five for every member of Congress, an increase of more than 400 per cent over the past six years. From Washington to Canberra and New Delhi to Brussels, companies and their lobbyists are often raising the same widespread fears about jobs, power blackouts and economic losses unless governments weaken commitments to combat climate change.The report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists examined the climate lobby in eight countries including the US, Canada, Australia, India, Japan, China, Belgium and Brazil. It relied on more than 200 interviews, lobbying registers and political donation records. ………………In the US, chief executives of coal and power companies have hosted a public campaign against climate legislation which is being blocked in the Senate……….
Industry lobby groups have also carved out a permanent role at the UN talks as representatives of the so-called BINGOS – Business and Industry Non-Government Organisations.
While lobbyists for the renewable energy industry, the carbon traders and environmental groups are also becoming more prominent, the report finds that their voices ”can barely be heard above the clamour of the older, well-capitalised and deeply entrenched industries that have been lobbying on climate change for more than 20 years”.http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/revealed-polluters-fear-tactics-on-climate-20091106-i0ju.html
Australia should be leader in renewable energy
Get a supergrid The Geelong Advertiser, Gavin Brown 6 Nov 09 “…………………….The most powerful claim from coal and nuclear supporters is that renewable energy cannot provide baseload power, as it is not available at all times in the day. This is a partial truth. A small number of isolated series of solar and wind stations will not provide baseload power, however, as our renewable energy supply becomes larger and the variety of electricity-generation types increases, the variations in natural factors such as wind, sun, tides and waves cease to become a significant problem.
In fact, such a system would be less susceptible to power outages than our current system. If technologies such as hydro power, geothermal and bioenergy (burning crop waste) are included in the mix, these can allow simple fine-tuning of electricity supply to allow for variations in demand. Another common argument is that we need nuclear power to bridge the gap while renewable energy technologies develop to the point where they can replace coal. This argument is completely misleading. Many of the emerging renewable energy technologies will be able to provide large quantities of baseload power in Australia well before we can develop nuclear reactors or prove the concept of carbon capture and storage.
In spite of all this talk about other technologies, a great majority of the renewable energy available to us is solar. So the solution to the debate depends upon relatively new technologies in solar power, a rapidly developing field. One new technology is called concentrated solar power (CSP). This uses hundreds of mirrors to concentrate the suns rays onto solar panels. A group in Europe has developed a concept called DESERTEC, which involves placing CSP arrays in desert areas in the Middle East and North Africa and transmitting the power generated from these throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa via a supergrid comprising super-efficient, high-speed, high-voltage transmission lines.
The DESERTEC foundation estimates it only needs to cover 0.3 per cent of the Sahara Desert with CSP plants to power these areas with electricity, with less than three per cent of the Sahara needed to power the world. Other scientific research has proved wind power could theoretically supply the entire world with 40 times the electricity used in the world today (and five times the total energy used)……………….Why is Australia not developing its own version of DESERTEC? We have a massive solar supply in our desert regions, many windy areas throughout the nation, great waves, plenty of rubbish (biomass) and one of the largest geothermal energy supplies in the world right here in Geelong. We have the scientific talent to make it happen _ if we get moving before our scientists all leave the country.
Manufacturers have left the country and the mining boom will one day be over. Our country will have to start producing sustainable incomes to adjust to this reality. An Australian supergrid is the simplest way for us to take a leadership position in the response to climate change and allow our economy to continue to flourish into the future.http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/11/06/119155_opinion.html
Australians against nuclear power – latest poll results
An opinion poll by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technnology Organisation (ANSTO) shows the latest results on Australians’ attitude to nuclear power. Poll results as at 5 November 2009
‘Clean coal’ – an expensive gamble
Victoria To Gamble Billions On Clean Coal by Energy Matters 4 Nov 09 Documents leaked to The Age reveal the Brumby Government is about to take a multibillion-dollar gamble on ”clean coal‘. Continue reading
Australia obliged to dump nuke-waste, on aboriginal land?
Nuclear waste dump a must Adelaide Now MARK KENNY
October 31, 2009
THE search for a suitable site for a high-level nuclear waste dump in Australia is back on because radioactive material currently stored overseas will be returned to Australia in five years, it has been revealed.
The material, described as “spent fuel” from the Lucas Heights research reactor, had been sent to France for re-processing.
Under French law it must be repatriated to Australia by 2015.
Responding to questions from Opposition frontbencher, Nick Minchin in Senate estimates hearings, the Government confirmed Australia is under an obligation to “have a facility built in time to receive that waste from France in 2015”.
“There is waste from France, from reprocessing of ANSTO research reactor spent fuel, that will return to Australia in 2015,” a departmental official told the Economic Committee.
The admission means the Government is faced with a tight time frame in which to identify the preferred site, conduct consultations with affected parties, meet environmental and other planning requirements, and build the super-secure facility.
According to evidence tendered, three sites, all in the Northern Territory, “two in the Alice Springs region and one in the Katherine region”, are being considered.
The Government also confirmed another site, described as being “a volunteer site on Aboriginal land near Tennant Creek”, was being assessed. A site in the Northern Territory now seems inevitable where constitutional limits on Commonwealth power do not apply.http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26283381-5006301,00.html
Gas needs fair govt policy, on the way to renewables
We must give natural gas a fair go to meet our clean energy targets THE AUSTRALIAN Cheryl Cartwright October 28, 2009 COAL or gas? Which is kinder to the environment? Which will be part of the solution to reducing carbon emissions? Continue reading
Natural gas – the key step towards truly clean energy
Natural gas plays key role in renewable energy future: APIA
The Australian Pipeliner October 26, 2009
There is an increasing awareness that natural gas will play a key role in Australia’s transition to renewable energy sources Continue reading
Australian government not supporting solar energy future
Tax breaks needed to keep us in the solar race, say experts Science Alert 22 October 2009 Towards a Sustainable Future By Mary-Lou Considine When Australia’s largest solar power project was put in the hands of an administrator in September – weeks after the Australian Government’s new 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme was approved by parliament – it reinvigorated widespread public debate about the nation’s renewable energy future………. Continue reading
Nuclear unnecessary: gas is the transition to renewables
Coal and nuclear just hot air, the immediate answer is gas Sydney Morning Herald PADDY MANNING October 17, 2009 People are looking for a cleaner energy source, one they can believe in, and enough to keep the lights on and power electric cars and desalination plants by 2050, when Australia’s population will be 35 million. Continue reading
Truly clean energy can provide baseload power – forget nuclear
Need energy? Forget nuclear and go natural WA Today MARK DIESENDORF October 14, 2009 – Is nuclear power the only way to meet Australia’s future energy needs and cut carbon emissions? The answer is no! Continue reading
Australia’s unique opportunity to develop non-nuclear energy
All that sun gives us a different glow The Age, Dr A. Barrie Pittock, author of Climate Change: The Science, Impacts and Solutions, October 14, 2009 THE Age editorial and feature on nuclear power as a means to decrease carbon emissions (13/10) continues the strange process of ignoring major alternatives. Continue reading
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