Age
25 May 2011, Page: 4
WHICH would you rather have built near your home: a wind turbine or a coal power plant? Under Baillieu government policy, it appears you have some say about the former, but not the latter. The Coalition last year said that if elected it would return fairness to a lopsided planning system by not approving a wind turbine within two kilometres of a home without a signed contract with the resident. That policy is yet to be fleshed out.
By contrast, the Environment Protection Authority last week applied state law to grant Melbourne company HRL approval to build a 300 MW coal fuelled plant at Morwell. It would be built within two kilometres of about 250 houses. Lobby group Environment Victoria said the Coalition was making it easier for new electricity generation to come from coal than wind, at odds with national and state climate goals. "It obviously sends the wrong signal when we are trying to clean up the energy supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions", campaigns director Mark Wakeham said.
There was a mixed response yesterday from those living within two kilometres of the proposed plant site.. Catherine, who did not want to give her surname, was not happy about it. "It seems to me that the coal plants they are building are coming closer and closer to the township of Morwell, and that will mean that residents will have to move further out from the town to get away from them".
She said her asthma had worsened since she moved to the Latrobe Valley, and blamed air pollution from the stacks visible from her backyard. "If we get a choice of a wind turbine going in instead of another coal plant, that would certainly be the way to go". Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said people in the valley were used to living near coal fired power stations and did not object to a new one.
Doubt remains whether the plant will be built after the EPA approved a plant only half the size of what the company wanted, and The Saturday Age revealed that Australia's four big banks had refused finance. Federal government documents suggest the plant, trialling new coal gasification technology, needs to be at least 400 MWs to be viable.
About 300 people rallied at State Parliament yesterday to protest against the plant's approval, calling on the federal and state governments to withdraw financial backing. A state government spokeswoman said details of a wind turbine buffer policy were still being developed, but it would be specific to wind farms, not to coal or gas plants.
Climate for change
Adelaide Advertiser
25 May 2011, Page: 23
While Australian politicians variously run hot or cold on global warming, our UK motherland is putting its foot down. Carbon emissions there will be halved by 2025, British Prime Minister David Cameron promised last week. This puts our proposed 5% cut in the shade and our bickering very much in the spotlight. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is struggling to get her Parliament to agree global warming is real, never mind what to do about it.
She wants a tax on carbon; Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says that's "toxic" and he wants to plant more trees. Climate Change Minister Greg Combet was gushing after the UK announcement and probably more than a little envious. "The Australian Government welcomes efforts by the UK to increase the level of action it is taking to combat climate change", he said.
University of Adelaide climate change Professor Barry Brook says it would be a good idea to examine the UK energy policy and see how they hope to achieve such steep cuts in emissions. "Britain has come out with an extremely ambitious plan", he says. "They are going to have to have some strong policy underpinning that. "They're going to be picking technologies to drive forward. "One is to build a whole bunch of new nuclear power stations, as well as a large deployment of offshore wind (turbines)".
Australia, on the other hand, has set weak short term targets and stronger longterm targets, in the hope energy policy will be sorted out in the meantime. "There's the climate science imperative and then there's the reality of what Australia can do right now", Professor Brook says. "The White Paper on energy still hasn't materialised and until the carbon tax comes in, an energy plan isn't worth a lot really. "Australia seems to be waiting for all these things to happen before it does anything".
The British Government's 50% target is one giant step in its legally mandated commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030, and 80% by 2050. Most of the world's major economies have given undertakings on what they hope to achieve by 2020. For Australia, it's a 5% reduction on its 2000 emissions. The European Union promises between 20 and 30% on its 1990 levels, Japan and Russia are going for 25% over the same timeframe and the US is aiming for a 17% reduction on 2005 emissions. Britain's energy intensive industries, such as steel manufacturers, are warning the country risks making itself uncompetitive unless other European countries follow its lead.
They have pressured the Government to put in an escape clause that allows for the target to be dumped as early as 2014 if Britain's European partners fail to implement their own CO₂, cuts. Mr Cameron agrees. "It doesn't actually help climate change if you simply drive an energy intensive industry to locate in Poland rather than Britain", he said last week. "We believe that Europe should follow our lead and go for a 30% reduction".
Because Europe yet has to make the same commitment, Mr Cameron has sanctioned a review in 2014 "to make sure that if they are not on that pathway, then we shouldn't put ourselves on it too". The European Union's Climate Action Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, says Britain's pledge is "an outstanding example of strong willingness to act despite difficult economic times". On Monday, Australia's Climate Commission declared evidence of global warming "beyond doubt". The commission's report advocates a different "pathway" to emission reductions which would support initially small targets, such as Australia's 5%.
"The budget approach sees far more flexibility so that your emissions might be far larger now, but with a payoff in the future and that's allowed for", says Professor Will Steffen, a climate science expert and the executive director of the Australian National University's Climate Change Institute, said. "You could be a big emitter but it's because you are building new infrastructure which in 10 years will see a big reduction in emissions. "It allows more flexible strategies".
25 May 2011, Page: 23
While Australian politicians variously run hot or cold on global warming, our UK motherland is putting its foot down. Carbon emissions there will be halved by 2025, British Prime Minister David Cameron promised last week. This puts our proposed 5% cut in the shade and our bickering very much in the spotlight. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is struggling to get her Parliament to agree global warming is real, never mind what to do about it.
She wants a tax on carbon; Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says that's "toxic" and he wants to plant more trees. Climate Change Minister Greg Combet was gushing after the UK announcement and probably more than a little envious. "The Australian Government welcomes efforts by the UK to increase the level of action it is taking to combat climate change", he said.
University of Adelaide climate change Professor Barry Brook says it would be a good idea to examine the UK energy policy and see how they hope to achieve such steep cuts in emissions. "Britain has come out with an extremely ambitious plan", he says. "They are going to have to have some strong policy underpinning that. "They're going to be picking technologies to drive forward. "One is to build a whole bunch of new nuclear power stations, as well as a large deployment of offshore wind (turbines)".
Australia, on the other hand, has set weak short term targets and stronger longterm targets, in the hope energy policy will be sorted out in the meantime. "There's the climate science imperative and then there's the reality of what Australia can do right now", Professor Brook says. "The White Paper on energy still hasn't materialised and until the carbon tax comes in, an energy plan isn't worth a lot really. "Australia seems to be waiting for all these things to happen before it does anything".
The British Government's 50% target is one giant step in its legally mandated commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030, and 80% by 2050. Most of the world's major economies have given undertakings on what they hope to achieve by 2020. For Australia, it's a 5% reduction on its 2000 emissions. The European Union promises between 20 and 30% on its 1990 levels, Japan and Russia are going for 25% over the same timeframe and the US is aiming for a 17% reduction on 2005 emissions. Britain's energy intensive industries, such as steel manufacturers, are warning the country risks making itself uncompetitive unless other European countries follow its lead.
They have pressured the Government to put in an escape clause that allows for the target to be dumped as early as 2014 if Britain's European partners fail to implement their own CO₂, cuts. Mr Cameron agrees. "It doesn't actually help climate change if you simply drive an energy intensive industry to locate in Poland rather than Britain", he said last week. "We believe that Europe should follow our lead and go for a 30% reduction".
Because Europe yet has to make the same commitment, Mr Cameron has sanctioned a review in 2014 "to make sure that if they are not on that pathway, then we shouldn't put ourselves on it too". The European Union's Climate Action Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, says Britain's pledge is "an outstanding example of strong willingness to act despite difficult economic times". On Monday, Australia's Climate Commission declared evidence of global warming "beyond doubt". The commission's report advocates a different "pathway" to emission reductions which would support initially small targets, such as Australia's 5%.
"The budget approach sees far more flexibility so that your emissions might be far larger now, but with a payoff in the future and that's allowed for", says Professor Will Steffen, a climate science expert and the executive director of the Australian National University's Climate Change Institute, said. "You could be a big emitter but it's because you are building new infrastructure which in 10 years will see a big reduction in emissions. "It allows more flexible strategies".
Time for physicians to step up campaign on climate change
Canberra Times
Tuesday 24/5/2011 Page: 10
Tony McMichael ("Folly to ignore climate change dangers on health", May 20, p17) is absolutely right in criticising the Royal Australasian College of Physicians for their myopic failure to support a carbon tax. The college is a champion of evidence based medicine in the treatment of individual patients. It also favours increased cigarette pricing for the prevention of tobacco related diseases.
Yet the evidence for human induced climate disruption through increased greenhouse gas emissions from our prodigious combustion of fossil fuels is no less compelling than the links between smoking and disease. Potential climate effects both globally and in Australia are far more widespread and dangerous than tobacco toxicity. The tremendous political and financial clout of the fossil fuel industry promotes misinformation about scientifically well established facts on the impact of CO₂, pollution on the environment, including loss of biodiversity and the health of humans.
The good state of human health and life expectancy, at least in industrialised countries, is predominantly due to the infrastructure of public health measures introduced in the 19th century and immunisation procedures during the 20th century. It is regrettable that the RACP, supposedly an independent professional organisation, is failing to provide leadership on the mitigation of the greatest public health hazard facing Australia and the world in the 21st century, namely anthropogenic global warming.
Bryan Furnass, Hughes
Tuesday 24/5/2011 Page: 10
Tony McMichael ("Folly to ignore climate change dangers on health", May 20, p17) is absolutely right in criticising the Royal Australasian College of Physicians for their myopic failure to support a carbon tax. The college is a champion of evidence based medicine in the treatment of individual patients. It also favours increased cigarette pricing for the prevention of tobacco related diseases.
Yet the evidence for human induced climate disruption through increased greenhouse gas emissions from our prodigious combustion of fossil fuels is no less compelling than the links between smoking and disease. Potential climate effects both globally and in Australia are far more widespread and dangerous than tobacco toxicity. The tremendous political and financial clout of the fossil fuel industry promotes misinformation about scientifically well established facts on the impact of CO₂, pollution on the environment, including loss of biodiversity and the health of humans.
The good state of human health and life expectancy, at least in industrialised countries, is predominantly due to the infrastructure of public health measures introduced in the 19th century and immunisation procedures during the 20th century. It is regrettable that the RACP, supposedly an independent professional organisation, is failing to provide leadership on the mitigation of the greatest public health hazard facing Australia and the world in the 21st century, namely anthropogenic global warming.
Bryan Furnass, Hughes
Renewables are key to the future
Age
Tuesday 24/5/2011 Page: 10
THE elephant in the room, or rather the elephant absent from the room where they develop Australian climate policy, is any government declaration of renewable energy programs ("Climate science audit slams skeptics", The Age, 23/5), While the US, Europe, China and India are making firm commitments to renewables through tax and fiscal policies, Australia is reticent, coy or just plain terrified of the fossil fuel bullies when it comes to talking up large scale solar, wind and tidal power generation.
That there has yet to be any commitment as to how the other 50% of the collected carbon tax will be deployed should suggest that it will be used to compensate the same polluters who are causing the problem. That there is not one renewable energy expert on Greg Combet's six person Climate Commission also suggests that the government is window dressing a product that it has no intention of selling.
John Ashton, North Fitzroy
Tuesday 24/5/2011 Page: 10
THE elephant in the room, or rather the elephant absent from the room where they develop Australian climate policy, is any government declaration of renewable energy programs ("Climate science audit slams skeptics", The Age, 23/5), While the US, Europe, China and India are making firm commitments to renewables through tax and fiscal policies, Australia is reticent, coy or just plain terrified of the fossil fuel bullies when it comes to talking up large scale solar, wind and tidal power generation.
That there has yet to be any commitment as to how the other 50% of the collected carbon tax will be deployed should suggest that it will be used to compensate the same polluters who are causing the problem. That there is not one renewable energy expert on Greg Combet's six person Climate Commission also suggests that the government is window dressing a product that it has no intention of selling.
John Ashton, North Fitzroy
Paid to pollute
Adelaide Advertiser
24 May 2011, Page: 19
ACCORDING to my reckoning, if you are a large electricity utility generating electricity from polluting fossil fuels, then you can legally and uncritically command anywhere up to $10 per kW. However, if you are an SA homeowner generating electricity from clean solar power, you are being outrageous if you expect to get 54 cents for the same amount of electricity (The Advertiser editorial, yesterday).
The real problem is that whereas electricity retailers pay up to $10 to the big polluters, they pay no more than 10 cents to the small clean producers, with the taxpayer forking out any difference between the Government's solar feed in tariff and the retailers contribution.
If retailers paid the solar generators the same price as fossil generators, this would have no impact on electricity prices because it would be simply replacing one generator by another without any difference in the unit cost of the electricity supplied. What is needed is a level playing field with solar electricity getting no more or less than fossil electricity. This would produce better competition and greater certainty for all concerned.
Dennis Matthews, Ironbank
24 May 2011, Page: 19
ACCORDING to my reckoning, if you are a large electricity utility generating electricity from polluting fossil fuels, then you can legally and uncritically command anywhere up to $10 per kW. However, if you are an SA homeowner generating electricity from clean solar power, you are being outrageous if you expect to get 54 cents for the same amount of electricity (The Advertiser editorial, yesterday).
The real problem is that whereas electricity retailers pay up to $10 to the big polluters, they pay no more than 10 cents to the small clean producers, with the taxpayer forking out any difference between the Government's solar feed in tariff and the retailers contribution.
If retailers paid the solar generators the same price as fossil generators, this would have no impact on electricity prices because it would be simply replacing one generator by another without any difference in the unit cost of the electricity supplied. What is needed is a level playing field with solar electricity getting no more or less than fossil electricity. This would produce better competition and greater certainty for all concerned.
Dennis Matthews, Ironbank
Turning jobs green
Adelaide Advertiser
21 May 2011, Page: 1
Sustainable industries will provide some of the biggest opportunities for employment growth in the next 10 years, industry research predicts. Modelling commissioned by the Clean Energy Council shows that renewable energy jobs are expected to grow to about 55,000 by 2020, with a large part of these figures in solar power.
Clean Energy Council spokesman Mark Bretherton says there are huge long term employment opportunities for solar power, which are tempered by challenges over the next couple of years. "Years of stop start policy from governments of all sizes has led to a series of boom bust cycles that the industry has endured at regular intervals since the middle of the last decade", Mr Bretherton says.
"These well meaning initiatives have vastly underestimated the appetite among the public to install solar power, protecting themselves from rising electricity prices and taking individual action on climate change. The only thing we know for certain at the moment is that Australians love solar power".
He says incentive schemes still are required in the short term to support the industry and rough patches will gradually smooth out as the cost of solar continues to fall and support is ramped off. A recent survey of solar panel and solar hot water installers from around Australia finds most are optimistic about the performance of their business and their position within the industry in the next year.
solar panel and inverter installer Sun Connect operations manager James Strahan says many companies are keen to put on extra staff and nearly all expect positive financial returns. "From our collated responses of more than 100 solar businesses, it looks as though solar companies are on target to add jobs at a greater rate than the majority of business sectors in the economy", Mr Strahan says.
"In August 2010, the Australian solar industry employed an estimated 11,500 solar workers and over the next 12 months, our research shows that 89% of solar firms expect to add jobs while only 3% expect to cut workers. "You don't have to have a degree in solar engineering to work in this field. It's similar to how you can be a great salesperson in retail or insurance or medical equipment; with the right training you can use your skills to sell anything".
He says that their research finds manufacturing, wholesale trade and installation are the primary sectors poised for growth. "Within each group, there are a variety of jobs, including solar installers or technicians, plumbers with specific skills in solar installations, production workers, marketing and legal staff, finance staff, supervisors, production managers and operating workers", he says.
Another company within the solar industry is Zen Home Energy Systems, which has increased its staff numbers by more than 50% since the beginning of the year. Zen Home Energy chief executive Richard Turner says his company has taken on 27 new employees since January, taking the total number to 75. "Many of Zen Home Energy's latest recruits are new to the solar industry and bring with them a wide range of knowledge and skill sets", he says. "The solar industry is proving to be an attractive career choice for people of all ages, demographics and at all stages of their working lives.
Some of the newly created positions are in sales, management, reception, marketing, human resources, accounts, ICT, administration and IT". One of Zen Home Energy's new recruits, water systems manager Tim Ielasi, says his career has been a natural progression. "The first manufacturing company I was with about 10 years ago was into plumbing and gas. They made a natural progression into the solar industry and so did I", Mr Ielasi says.
"I oversee the product development and testing and approval procedures of all of our water product, including solar hot water and rainwater, and we are looking at getting into pool and underfloor heating. "It is still a relatively new industry. "There are up to 750,000 hot water systems sold in Australia yearly and only 8% of the market is solar hot water, and that figure will only go up. "As we push towards renewable energy, there is a lot more focus on the homeowner to push into being sustainable in their own home.,.. however small the industry may seem at the moment, it is ever growing and will continue to mature".
21 May 2011, Page: 1
Sustainable industries will provide some of the biggest opportunities for employment growth in the next 10 years, industry research predicts. Modelling commissioned by the Clean Energy Council shows that renewable energy jobs are expected to grow to about 55,000 by 2020, with a large part of these figures in solar power.Clean Energy Council spokesman Mark Bretherton says there are huge long term employment opportunities for solar power, which are tempered by challenges over the next couple of years. "Years of stop start policy from governments of all sizes has led to a series of boom bust cycles that the industry has endured at regular intervals since the middle of the last decade", Mr Bretherton says.
"These well meaning initiatives have vastly underestimated the appetite among the public to install solar power, protecting themselves from rising electricity prices and taking individual action on climate change. The only thing we know for certain at the moment is that Australians love solar power".
He says incentive schemes still are required in the short term to support the industry and rough patches will gradually smooth out as the cost of solar continues to fall and support is ramped off. A recent survey of solar panel and solar hot water installers from around Australia finds most are optimistic about the performance of their business and their position within the industry in the next year.
solar panel and inverter installer Sun Connect operations manager James Strahan says many companies are keen to put on extra staff and nearly all expect positive financial returns. "From our collated responses of more than 100 solar businesses, it looks as though solar companies are on target to add jobs at a greater rate than the majority of business sectors in the economy", Mr Strahan says.
"In August 2010, the Australian solar industry employed an estimated 11,500 solar workers and over the next 12 months, our research shows that 89% of solar firms expect to add jobs while only 3% expect to cut workers. "You don't have to have a degree in solar engineering to work in this field. It's similar to how you can be a great salesperson in retail or insurance or medical equipment; with the right training you can use your skills to sell anything".
He says that their research finds manufacturing, wholesale trade and installation are the primary sectors poised for growth. "Within each group, there are a variety of jobs, including solar installers or technicians, plumbers with specific skills in solar installations, production workers, marketing and legal staff, finance staff, supervisors, production managers and operating workers", he says.
Another company within the solar industry is Zen Home Energy Systems, which has increased its staff numbers by more than 50% since the beginning of the year. Zen Home Energy chief executive Richard Turner says his company has taken on 27 new employees since January, taking the total number to 75. "Many of Zen Home Energy's latest recruits are new to the solar industry and bring with them a wide range of knowledge and skill sets", he says. "The solar industry is proving to be an attractive career choice for people of all ages, demographics and at all stages of their working lives.
Some of the newly created positions are in sales, management, reception, marketing, human resources, accounts, ICT, administration and IT". One of Zen Home Energy's new recruits, water systems manager Tim Ielasi, says his career has been a natural progression. "The first manufacturing company I was with about 10 years ago was into plumbing and gas. They made a natural progression into the solar industry and so did I", Mr Ielasi says.
"I oversee the product development and testing and approval procedures of all of our water product, including solar hot water and rainwater, and we are looking at getting into pool and underfloor heating. "It is still a relatively new industry. "There are up to 750,000 hot water systems sold in Australia yearly and only 8% of the market is solar hot water, and that figure will only go up. "As we push towards renewable energy, there is a lot more focus on the homeowner to push into being sustainable in their own home.,.. however small the industry may seem at the moment, it is ever growing and will continue to mature".
Origin opts for smart meter trial
Summaries - Australian Financial Review
23 May 2011, Page: 17
Origin Energy has said it will trial energy efficiency technology, including software from US company Tendril, in 5000 homes this year. The technology will give customers information on changing electricity use to lower bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Tendril, based in Colorado, is backed by a number of venture capital investors and GE. Victoria is the leader in introducing such technology, with all homes to be fitted with smart meters by 2013.
23 May 2011, Page: 17
Origin Energy has said it will trial energy efficiency technology, including software from US company Tendril, in 5000 homes this year. The technology will give customers information on changing electricity use to lower bills and greenhouse gas emissions. Tendril, based in Colorado, is backed by a number of venture capital investors and GE. Victoria is the leader in introducing such technology, with all homes to be fitted with smart meters by 2013.
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