March 29, 2007
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National News - Climate - March 07 |
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29/03/07 Hydro's uphill battle, Josh Gordon and Rachel Kleinman, The Age
29/03/07 Howard's stern line on climate, Jewel Topsfield and Katharine Murphy, The Age
28/03/07 Climate zones to disappear , James Randerson, London, Guardianp; Andes, Indonesia ; Brazil; African Rift Mountains, Zambian and Angolan highlands, South African Cape region, south-east Australia, Himalayas and the Arctic.
15/03/07 Minister doubts global warming cause, AAP
Climate International
13/03/07 US waste specialist warns against nuclear energy ABC News On-line Australia US10/03/07 HRL to clean up on coal grant, Mathew Murphy, The Age, Business; Victoria;
09/03/07 Cyclone death toll set to rise, AAP, with Reko Rennie, The Age, Western Australia
08/03/07 United Group wins business worth $270m, AAP
01/03/07 Landcare unveils carbon trading market to help farmers, ABC News On-line
01/03/07 Campaign delivers practical tips on cutting emissions ABC News On-line
Josh Gordon and Rachel Kleinman, The Age
March 29, 2007
AUSTRALIA'S iconic Snowy hydro-electricity scheme has almost run out of water, prompting its operator to turn increasingly to gas and dirty coal-fired power to stay in business.
The operator, Snowy Hydro, in its determination to keep the hydro system running, has also been using non-green sources of power to pump water back uphill to one of its main storage dams.
While this process may seem perverse from an environmental perspective — using polluting energy sources to sustain an ostensibly clean source of power — it makes good business sense for Snowy Hydro.
The water is pumped uphill overnight using cheap off-peak power from the grid, and released during the day to generate high-priced, peak-period electricity from the Tumut 3 hydro power station at Talbingo, NSW.
Further eroding its green credentials, Snowy Hydro is turning more to non-hydro means to produce power, and has been generating much of its energy recently from an antiquated and polluting gas-fired plant in the Latrobe Valley.
The plant, which uses old aircraft jet engines to drive turbines, is subject to environmental limits on its output, and has already used more than 75 per cent of its allotment of hours for 2007.
After 10 years of drought and overuse, Snowy Hydro water levels have dropped to an average of 12 per cent. Its massive Tantangara reservoir is just 6.4 per cent full and the Eucumbene dam has fallen to 16.8 per cent.
The Age believes that Snowy Hydro has written to the Environment Protection Authority canvassing the possibility of less stringent operating restrictions for the Valley Power gas plant in the Latrobe Valley.
Other Victorian power generators are believed to be furious about the parlous state of the Snowy system. They claim the government-owned company "ran itself into the ground" last year, winning lucrative renewable energy certificates through excessive generation of hydro power, and is now asking for concessions.
"Last year they were running like there was no tomorrow with their water, trying to create renewable energy certificates," an industry source said. "We are now paying for those renewable certificates by a potential breach of their environmental limits down here."
Under licensing arrangements with the EPA, Snowy Hydro's Valley Power plant can operate for a maximum of 876 hours a year. The company has notched up at least 576 hours this year, suggesting the limit could be reached within weeks.
The company is jointly owned by the Commonwealth, Victorian and NSW governments. Plans for privatisation were aborted by Prime Minister John Howard last June.
The EPA, which licenses emission levels of industry, said it had not received an application from Snowy Hydro for its Laverton or Latrobe Valley power sites. "However, we are happy to provide advice to them regarding the process," a spokeswoman said.
Snowy Hydro spokesman Paul Johnston would neither confirm nor deny any plan to extend operating hours at gas-fired plants. "We have placed no application to the EPA for licence changes," he said. But he earlier told The Age: "We believe gas generation is the way to go. We have been looking and will keep looking at opportunities."
Snowy Hydro purchased the old Valley Power plant in 2005 and the new Laverton North plant was completed last year.
"We now have over 600 megawatts of gas-fired generation plant that can be substituted for hydro generation, thus conserving water for when it is needed most," Mr Johnston said.
An industry source said Snowy Hydro had exploited a clean energy image while operating a dirty plant. "(They) are now running extremely inefficient gas plants, compromising their renewable energy reputation," he said. "They have made a poor judgement and are asking the community to trade off their environmental performance for their own commercial gain."
Jewel Topsfield and Katharine Murphy, The Age
March 29, 2007
PRIME Minister John Howard has clashed with Sir Nicholas Stern over climate change, saying the former World Bank chief economist's views should not be treated as "holy writ" and could do great damage to the Australian economy.
Sir Nicholas has called on Australia to be an international leader in the fight against climate change by slashing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 per cent by 2050, ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and being at the forefront of new technologies, such as clean coal.
But when asked by Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd if he would commit to the 2050 target, Mr Howard declared he would put the national interest first.
"When it comes to the decisions of the Government, uppermost in our mind will be the national interest, not the views of any one individual, however eminent he may be regarded by some," he said.
Mr Howard said he agreed with some of Sir Nicholas' views, but had reservations about others. "Some, I believe, if implemented, literally would do great damage to the Australian economy," he said.
The Prime Minister's decision to take on Sir Nicholas, who has recast the global debate on climate change by pointing to the economic hazards of not reducing carbon dioxide emissions, carries political risks for the Government ahead this year's federal election.
Labor has moved to claim the environment as a potential election winner, and has run a relentless campaign highlighting the Government's scepticism on the science of global warming.
A poll commissioned by the Climate Institute shows 66 per cent of people say they are more likely to vote for a party with a strong environment platform.
Underlining the importance being attached to the issue, the Government yesterday seized on a gaffe by Labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett in question time, when he appeared not to understand the details of a new $50 million solar rebate policy unveiled by Labor.
The slip prompted Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull to declare that Mr Garrett "does not know what his policy is".
The Government will also attempt to get back on the offensive with a $200 million initiative encouraging developing countries to stop deforestation.
Mr Howard will commit the money as a down-payment on what Canberra hopes will be a global fund to stop wholesale logging, increase tree planting and reward sustainable forest practices.
The Government will approach other interested countries and ask the World Bank to contribute on the basis that stopping land-clearing makes a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
But Sir Nicholas yesterday argued Australia's failure to ratify Kyoto had undermined international collaboration to solve the problem. "People who are sceptical about whether (nations) can ever collaborate will say, 'Look, you're going to have problems with countries peeling off. Australia didn't sign the Kyoto Protocol'," he said.
He said nations were critical of so-called "free-riding" countries, which left the "hard grind" of fighting climate change to other countries. "Other people take the decisions, make the investments and then there's free riding," he said.
Sir Nicholas, who has been dubbed the "international rock star of climate change" by British Environment Secretary David Miliband, also lambasted the view that Australia had no need to act because it accounted for just over 1 per cent of emissions.
"If we see it just see in terms of my 1 per cent, UK is just 2 per cent, nothing will happen," Sir Nicholas said.
"It's a global problem, the world has to move together. Unfortunately you often hear arguments … 'we're not going to do anything until other people do everything'. If everybody says that, that's a guarantee everybody will do nothing. We have to find a way of building collaboration here."
Sir Nicholas said Australia had great scientists and engineers, as well as a wealth of solar and wind power and was in a very strong position to be at the forefront of new technologies.
"Australia exports a lot of coal to China. If Australia also developed very good technology (for) carbon capture and storage, there would be a very good market there," he said.
Meanwhile, Labor used Sir Nicholas' visit to unveil a $50 million program to assist households to install solar power.
Mr Rudd and Mr Garrett said the commitment would allow 12,000 households to switch to solar and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 16,800 tonnes a year.
But an attempt by Mr Garrett to maintain political pressure on Mr Turnbull on the climate change issue misfired in yesterday's question time, when he asked the minister if he would support doubling the solar power rebate.
In reply, the Environment Minister pointed out that the Labor announcement did not double the rebate, but extend it. "The member for Kingsford Smith does not even know what his policy is," Mr Turnbull said.
James Randerson, London, Guardian
March 28, 2007
UP TO two-fifths of the Earth will have a hotter climate by the end of the century, according to a study that predicts the effects of global warming.
The changes — which will have a devastating effect on biodiversity in areas such as the Amazon and Indonesian rainforests — will wipe out numerous animals that are unable to move to stay within their preferred climate range. They will have to evolve rapidly or die out.
Lead author John Williams, of the University of Wisconsin, said: "How do you conserve the biological diversity of these entire systems if the physical environment is changing and potentially disappearing?"
Studies already suggest that animals are shifting towards the poles at six kilometres a decade.
Professor Williams' team used emissions scenarios set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to predict changes in temperature and precipitation.
The team predicts that as the planet warms, climate zones will move towards the poles. To work out the significance of these changes, it compared them with the natural climate variation. It attached greater weight to changes in relatively stable areas. This suggests that some of the worst impacts will be in tropical and sub-tropical regions as they shift to new climatic conditions.
"The tropics have very little variability from year to year in temperature, they are a very stable climatic zone. So species that live in those climates expect a limited degree of variability," Professor Williams said.
Other studies have suggested the Amazon basin will have an increased risk of forest fires because of its hotter, drier climate.
"One of the things that comes from our paper is that because the species that live in the tropics are adapted or have evolved for a reduced range of variability, it may be that a two to three-degree temperature change in the tropics may be more significant than say a five to eight-degree change in high latitudes," he said.
Up to now, much of the focus of the impact of global warming has been on polar regions because this is where the climate is changing fastest.
The climate model predicts climates will be lost mainly from tropical mountains and the edges of continents nearest the poles.
As the Earth warms, these climate regions have nowhere to go. Some of the losers are the tropical Andes, the African Rift Mountains, the Zambian and Angolan highlands, the South African Cape region, south-east Australia, parts of the Himalayas and the Arctic.
The team reports in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that by 2100, 12 to 39 per cent of the land surface of the Earth will have a new climate, while the combination of climatic conditions on 10 to 48 per cent of the planet will have disappeared altogether. This is using one of the climate change panel's business-as-usual global development scenarios. Using a different scenario that assumes more environmentally friendly development, the corresponding predictions are 4 to 20 per cent.
GUARDIAN
March 15, 2007 - 3:14AM, AAP
Finance Minister Nick Minchin has relied on non-scientific material and discredited sources to back his serious doubts about global warming being caused by humans.
Senator Minchin has questioned the link between fossil fuels and greenhouse gas pollution one month after a United Nations Scientific panel delivered a serious warning that humans were causing global warming, Fairfax reports.
Senator Minchin wrote to Clean Up Australia's founder Ian Kiernan on March 5 taking issue with Mr Kiernan's criticism of the minister's scepticism.
"Putting whatever my views might be to one side, I am nevertheless interested in your apparent opinion that anyone who remains to be convinced that anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are the cause of climate change is a scientific loony," Mr Minchin wrote.
He said he enclosed material which indicates that a number of eminent scientists remain in the "sceptical" camp.
Senator Minchin appears to have taken his advice in part from a collection of columns by Canadian newspaper columnist Lawrence Solomon, who has promoted the work of Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark.
Mr Svensmark's research has proved to contain numerous calculation and methodological errors, say some other scientists.
Mathew Murphy, The Age, Business
March 10, 2007
THE Federal Government is set to pledge $100 million towards a new clean coal power plant in the Latrobe Valley.
The Age believes the Commonwealth will announce on Monday the grant for Australian energy and technology company HRL to build the $750 million 400-megawatt facility.
This comes after the Victorian Government granted $50 million in November towards the pilot plant, which is a joint venture between HRL and Chinese power giant Harbin Power. Construction is scheduled to start in the coming months.
HRL claims the new clean coal technology, which involves an integrated drying and gasification combined cycle, will lower greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent.
Maria Brejcha, a spokeswoman for HRL, said HRL expected to send electricity from the plant into the national grid at current market prices when the plant began operating in 2009.
HRL expects the clean coal technology to be exported to global markets such as China, the US, India and Germany.
Sources told The Age HRL had submitted an application to the Federal Government's Low Emission Technology Development Fund seeking $148 million towards the project but would receive $100 million.
The Federal Government said it did not comment on funding announcements.
Greenpeace energy campaigner Mark Wakeham said the grant showed the Commonwealth was "hell bent on protecting the coal industry at the expense of developing new technologies within the renewable energy sector".
"Creating a new coal-fired power plant is not the way forward," he said. "The Federal Government is trying to buy time for the industry and convince people that enough is going on to make coal more efficient."
Satellite map of Tropical cyclone George off Western Australia's north-west coast.
March 9, 2007 - 2:18PM, AAP, with Reko Rennie, The Age
At least three people are believed to have died when category four Cyclone George slammed into Western Australia's north overnight, says Premier Alan Carpenter.
Mr Carpenter also said a number of people had been injured, some seriously, when the cyclone struck a mining construction camp about
100km south of Port Hedland.
"We have three unconfirmed fatalities at the moment," he told reporters.
"We also know there are a number of people who are injured, some of them severely injured."
It is believed many of the injuries occurred when portable buildings rolled over.
West Australian police say the death toll from cyclone George could rise as reports start to roll in after it ripped through the Pilbara region of the state.
South Hedland hit hard
Port Hedland Police Sergeant Charlie Moylan told theage.com.au that South Hedland appears to have taken the full force of the cyclone.
"More so in South Hedland than Port Hedland, there's a lot of trees stripped, broken fences ... and because it's all above-ground power, we've lost some power lines, which causes problems.
"It's been one windy, rainy, stormy night, it certainly looks like a cyclone's been through town."
The category four cyclone crossed the coast east of Port Hedland at about 10pm (WDT), with destructive winds of up to 275km/h according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
It affected Port Hedland, South Hedland, Wedgefield and some outlying towns.
SES Port Hedland manager, Derek Jones, told theage.com.au that the Pilbara mining region, known for its iron ore product, was hit hard during the night.
"We've had some injuries out on the mine sites, they've got people coming in by helicopter very shortly, some of the more seriously injured. Medivac units (are) going out to the mines itself, but yeah there's been a few injured people inland."
Mr Jones said the power and telephone lines were still out and the clean-up is continuing.
"We've got about 80 people outside starting to clean up. There's a lot of trees down and a substantial amount of roof damage, so we've got a lot of teams out and we're starting to do the clean-up at this stage and I'm sure it's going to take a few days."
Death at rail camp
A person died at a rail camp 100km south of Port Hedland, but their sex and age were not yet available, WA police said.
A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said they could not rule out the possibility of further fatalities at the Fortescue Metals Group camp, 100km south of Port Hedland.
"At this stage we're not sure if it's one or more,'' St John Ambulance acting manager Michele Murdoch said.
"Nobody's been able to get out to the camp site.''
Ms Murdoch said a number of people at the camp had suffered various injuries including head injuries and fractures.
Water, power cut
Tom Williams, who operates a four-wheel drive repair business in South Hedland, told theage.com.au he thought last night's cyclone was going to rip his house apart.
"It was quite loud and it certainly made the house shake, it was a big blowy night that's for sure.
"We have no electricity and no water. The trees are all stripped, but there doesn't look to be any structural damage around my street," Mr Williams said.
Mr Williams said no-one knew whether it was safe to come out.
Radio communication was the only source of information, he said.
"I'm about to get in my car to try and find out some information about whether we're off the red alert.
"Legally you're not supposed to drive around until you get the all clear but that's what I'm trying to find out, with no water, no electricity, I'm just trying to confirm whether it's ok to come out."
Roofing ripped from homes
SES Port Hedland manager Derek Jones said reports of damage were just starting to come in but its full extent would not be known until conditions calmed and it was safe for crews to properly assess the stricken areas.
Homes had been deroofed and fences and power lines had been brought down, he said.
"We'll have teams out and about as soon as we're mobile," he said.
"At this stage we ask residents to stay inside until it's all clear.
The cyclone is now moving over inland parts of the Pilbara, south of Port Hedland towards Yandeyarra and West Angeles and the weather bureau is warning destructive winds are possible today.
Towns on red alert
A red alert has been issued with people in or near coastal areas of Port Hedland, Whim Creek, Pardoo, Marble Bar and Nullagine urged to move to shelter.
The weather bureau has warned wind gusts of up to 150km/h are possible for Port Hedland during the day.
BOM meteorologist Rabi Rivett said the warning would likely be downgraded during today as winds eased this afternoon.
Hundreds of people were evacuated yesterday from low-lying areas of the Pilbara as West Australian communities braced for the onslaught of the powerful cyclone.
George is the first cyclone of the WA season, which has an average of five cyclones between November and April.
AAP, with Reko Rennie
March 8, 2007 - 10:31AM, AAP
Engineering and services company United Group has won business worth $270 million in power and water projects, the company says.
The company will work on TransGrid's two NSW substations at Bayswater and Mount Piper, which are the first 500kV substations to be built in NSW for over 20 years.
It is also involved in two substations and one switching station for Powerlink Queensland at various locations throughout the state, the Weddell Power Station in Northern Territory for Power and Water Corporation, and with the Gibson Island Alliance, which is building the Gibson Island Advance Water Treatment Plant as part of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project in Queensland.
United Group's managing director and chief executive Richard Leupen said the projects reflected the company's focus on essential infrastructure markets.
"Government spending on infrastructure is continuing and United Group is well placed to secure more projects of a similar size and scope," he said.
United Group said it was pleased to have secured power and water projects in three major states, namely Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, and also the Northern Territory.
Mr Leupen said the Northern Territory project was with GE was also a highlight.
"United Group has been strengthening its partnership with GE in areas outside of the rail sector. This project in the power sector is a sign that our partnership is expanding."
The company said that with water availability high on the national agenda, the number of future opportunities on offer for United Group in Australia and Asia was promising.
"Recycling water treatment and storm water harvesting are all areas where we are actively involved," the company said.
"We are actively bidding on a number of key projects in the power and water sectors with GE both in Australia and some Asian markets."
ABC News On-line
Last Update:
Thursday, March 1, 2007. 7:01am (AEDT)A climate change campaign being launched across Australia today aims to provide Australians with practical tips on combating global warming.
It is the biggest climate change campaign to be launched in Australia and has been organised without any government funding.
The group is hoping to reach 13 million Australians by distributing a brochure showing how households can save energy to help cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Organiser John Dee says the project has been made possible by funding from a coalition of businesses.
"All the research polls show people are really concerned about climate change, but we've got to this stage now where people really want to know what it is they can do," he said.
"The good news that this leaflet puts out there to five million households is [that] with very little expenditure, you - each family around Australia - can save hundreds of dollars in their energy bills."
The Federal Opposition's climate change spokesman, Peter Garrett, has agreed to hand out the leaflet to every member of the House of Representatives and Senate during Parliament today.
ABC News On-line
Last Update:
Thursday, March 1, 2007. 7:17am (AEDT)Farmers are getting the jump on the Federal Government in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions by introducing their own carbon trading market.
Landcare is today unveiling a program connecting businesses that want to offset their emissions with farmers who are willing to plant extra trees.
A prime ministerial task force is currently examining a nationwide carbon trading scheme.
Landcare chief executive Brian Scarsbrick says the farmers' scheme will have a dual effect.
"We believe in the long-term though that carbon offsets will really drive revegetation across the landscape," he said.
"Corporate dollars going into revegetation across the Australian landscape to really make it happen."
Farmers will be encouraged to plant extra trees and then sell carbon credits to companies.
Landcare says 10 hectares of trees could yield about $20,000 over 30 years.
Garth Strong, a farmer from the Riverina in New South Wales, says the scheme is a good way of supplementing his income.
"I think it's something to look at, especially if you're doing revegetation, making tree lines wide enough to qualify for carbon trading," he said.
"The single lines of trees aren't much good - they really need fairly substantial plantings - but there's definitely a win-win situation I think."