Category: Archive

China buys into Latrobe Valley’s CO2 dump

admin /22 February, 2006

CO2 dump developer HRL has brought in China’s Harbin Power Engineering
group as an equal partner in the development of a 400MW demonstration
plant it hopes to build near the Loy Yang power station, reported The Australian (22 February 2006, p.38).

AP6 credited: Harbin is 58 per cent owned by the giant Harbin
Power Equipment Group that built China’s Three Gorges Hydro-Power
Project, the world’s largest hydro-power plant. The alliance is the
first joint international project on developing cleaner coal
technologies following the inaugural meeting in Sydney of the so-called
AP6 countries that are promoting technology solutions for cutting
greenhouse gas as an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol. Members
comprise Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the US.

$120m already spent on technology development: Unlisted HRL,
which is 23 per cent owned by media magnate Kerry Stokes’s Australian
Capital Equity, has spent $120 million developing the technology and
has successfully operated a 10MW demonstration plant.

Looking for taxpayers’ funding, of course: If the project is a
commercial success, HRL has plans for an 800MW plant to be built at the
western end of the La Trobe Valley based on its brown coal reserves at
Drifield. The partners are hoping to secure funding under the
Government’s $500 million low-emissions fund.

High emissions intensity of cheap and plentiful brown coal is now a liability for Victoria

admin /21 February, 2006

Brown coal, which had been a cheap and plentiful resource for Victoria,
was now a liability, Ric Brazalle, executive director of the Australian
Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE) said in a covering
letter to Victoria’s Department of Infrastructure.

Need for some serious steps: In the covering letter accompanying
the BCSE submission on the Department’s issues paper on “Driving
investment in renewable energy in Victoria – Options for a Victorian
market-based measure”, Brazalle said Victoria must take some serious
steps to address the extraordinarily high emissions intensity of
electricity supply.

Renewable energy essential in cutting emissions: He said
renewable energy with its near zero greenhouse emissions would be
essential in addressing the ultimate task of deep cuts in greenhouse
emissions.

Initiative applauded: The BCSE applauded the Victorian
Government for taking leadership through putting in place its own
legislated mechanism to deliver on its election commitment to 10 per
cent renewables market share in the electricity sector.

Investment collapse with MRET largely filled: The renewable
energy industry faced an investment collapse now that the Federal
Government’s mandatory renewable energy target (MRET) was largely
filled and this Victorian scheme would be vital to its continuing
survival.

Action now to bring future benefits: Brazalle said that while it
might be tempting in the short-term to focus on immediate costs, but
instituting a renewables scheme now Victoria could position itself to
benefit in the future and reduce the carbon risk to which the state was
exposed.

Saga of the Snowy Hydro continues due to complex web of contracts

admin /21 February, 2006

Independent VIC MP Craig Ingram, who has led the fight for returning
water to the Snowy River, admits although he opposes privatisation and
its trickle down effects, Victoria really had no choice but to join the
float, reported The Australian (18/2/2006, p.27).

Snowy insists on more compensation: “I had some discussions with
Steve Bracks about it and said if you can get some reasonable
concessions that’s better than standing aside like a shag on a rock and
being left with no influence,” Ingram said. He says although Victoria
and NSW have stuck to the target of restoring 21 per cent of the flow
and have contributed $50 million to go beyond that, Snowy Hydro will
wants compensation.

Charlton says NSW Govt to pay: Snowy Hydro’s managing director,
Terry Charlton, agrees that if there is a move to increase the flow
into the Snowy River beyond 21 per cent to an agreed maximum of 28 per
cent, it will cost “hundreds of millions of dollars”. That cost, he
says, would be borne by the NSW Government, which has a compensation
agreement going back to when Snowy Hydro was corporatised in 2002.

Complex web of deeds: Charlton insists that a complex web of
deeds, legislation and contracts among governments and regulatory
authorities will enforce Snowy Hydro’s legal obligation to meet agreed
flows of water for irrigation and the environment across the Snowy,
Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers. He has been barnstorming rural areas to
spread the message, including in NSW National Party MP Adrian Piccoli’s
electorate of Murrumbidgee.

CSIRO board appointments suggest Federal Government is “captured” by fossil-fuel industry, say Green

admin /21 February, 2006

Controversy over two new CSIRO board appointments has followed the
organisation’s recent announcement of new research priorities that
include cuts to renewable-energy research and increased investment in
developing clean-coal technologies, reported The Canberra Times (21 February 2006, p.1).

Coal, petroleum industry connections: The two new board members
are Dr Eileen Doyle, chair of Port Waratah Coal Services and the Hunter
Valley Research Foundation, and Peter Wilcox, former CEO of BHP
Petroleum, former chairman of AMP and a former director of James Hardie
Industries and Woodside Petroleum.

Strategic role of board: The CSIRO board is responsible to the
Federal Government for the overall strategy, governance and performance
of the national science organisation. Under the Science and Industry
Research Act 1949, the primary functions of the board are to ensure the
proper and efficient performance of the CSIRO, to determine the
organisation’s policy and to give directions to the chief executive.

How directors are appointed: Its members are nominated from a
list submitted to the Federal Science Minister for subsequent approval
by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and are formally appointed by the
Governor-General.

Bishop on the defensive: A spokesman for Federal Science
Minister Julie Bishop said CSIRO board appointments were based on
merit, with candidates possessing “a mix of high level skills
appropriate for a large organisation like CSIRO”.

Milne on the attack: But Greens Senator Christine Milne said the
appointment of Dr Doyle and Mr Wilcox indicated the Government had
“been captured” by the interests of the fossil-fuel industry.

“No confidence”: “It is outrageous. The Australian public should
be seriously concerned about the implication of these appointments for
the independence, integrity and direction of CSIRO’s research,” she
said. “Board members should have strong business skills but also a
strong vision for the organisation they lead. We can have no confidence
that people with a background in the fossil-fuel industry will commit
to a low-carbon economy.”

Greater public debate needed: Former CSIRO executive council
member and former atmospheric research chief, Professor Graeme Pearman,
has called for the board to take a more active, public role in
stimulating intellectual debate over CSIRO’s research directions.

Britain could resemble tropics by 3000

admin /20 February, 2006

Britain could resemble the tropics by 3000, with rising seas from
melting ice swamping the coasts, according to a report released by the
British Environmental Agency.

Critical decisions in next 25 years: Reuters environment
correspondent Alister Doyle said the British Environmental Agency
report said decisions in the next 25 years would be critical.

Use of fossil fuels must change dramatically: “We are running
out of road on decision making – unless we dramatically change the use
of fossil fuels we will be committing future generations to the most
severe impacts of climate change,” said Barbara Young, head of the
agency.

The cold facts: By 3000, the Agency said said historically
chilly Britain could resemble the tropics. It said seas could be 11.4
metres higher due to melting polar ice, swamping cities like London.

Comprehensive national policy approach to climate change will best serve community interests

admin /20 February, 2006

The long-term interests of the community were best served by a
comprehensive national policy approach towards climate change, the
Energy Retailers Association of Australia (ERAA) said in a submission
to the Victorian Department of Infrastructure.

Target of 1000MW of wind energy by 2006: The ERAA was commenting
on an issues paper released by the Department in December on proposals
to meet the Government’s policy of increasing Victoria’s electricity
consumption from renewable sources to 10 per cent by 2010 and to
facilitate the development of up to 1000 megawatts (MW) of wind energy
in appropriate locations by 2006.

Fragmented approach: The ERAA said the current fragmented
approach involving the Federal Government’s mandatory renewable energy
target (MRET), the NSW Government’s gas abatement scheme (NGAC) and the
Queensland Government’s 13% gas scheme (GEC) was a cost to all
consumers and not least cost in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2)
abated

Regulatory compliance requirements should be in harmony: The
ERAA’s view was that the overall equity and efficiency of current
emissions abatement schemes could be markedly improved by harmonising
the regulatory compliance requirements of the existing schemes.

Greater equity and efficiency in single national approach:
Moreover, their abolition and possible replacement with a single
national approach would provide even greater equity and efficiency
improvements. However, in designing a national approach, it should:

• focus on all sectors of the economy, including power generation, agriculture and transport;

• be market-based; and

• take into account developments and general policy uncertainty at the
international level, especially proposals for the post-2012 period.

Incentive for consumers to conserve: The ERAA said such an
approach could create a clear, long-term carbon signal across the
economy. By making the environmental cost of energy transparent, a
carbon signal could provide an incentive for consumers to conserve
energy and for producers to invest in cleaner energy technologies.

Achieving the appropriate balance: This incentive would help to
achieve an appropriate balance between the economic benefits of energy
and its environmental costs.