Category: Archive

The Age’s Alan Moran attacks Vic gov. actions on windmills, but poses some pretty wobbly points

admin /5 February, 2006

In the Victorian Government’s pre-Christmas issues paper, “Driving
investment in renewable energy in Victoria”, Ministers John Thwaites
and Theo Theophanous said “the Victorian Government has already
committed to” two new renewable energy polices, according to Alan
Moran, a director of the Institute of Public Affairs and a former
Victorian Government deputy energy secretary, in The Age (3/2/2006, p.B10).

Govt’s new policies: These were that:

• Renewable energy is to comprise 10 per cent of Victoria’s electricity consumption by 2010.

• The Government will facilitate the development of up to 1000 megawatts of wind energy by 2006.

Subsidies upon subsidies: These initiatives come on top of a
galaxy of subsidies, supports and concessions already in place. These
measures – established at both state and federal levels – are designed
to assist exotic forms of renewable energy, especially wind power, that
cannot compete in the market. Several political entrepreneurs,
including at least one union super fund, seem to have persuaded the
Bracks Government to force consumers and taxpayers to provide subsidies
for windmills. It surely has been said before but, if wind is really so
efficient, why do we not use sail for commercial shipping? Why did we
abandon the 19th-century clippers in the first place? And why is nobody
contemplating their resurrection?

Costly policies promoting inefficient industry: “Quixotic” is an
appropriate term for Victoria’s energy policy. Ostensibly targeted at
greenhouse gas emissions, it is also, confusingly, designed to promote
an inefficient windmill industry. The outcome can be nothing but
trivial in terms of emission reductions but serious in terms of cost to
Victoria.

Nukes, Iran, the UN, and the slide towards war

admin /2 February, 2006

Nukes, Iran, the UN, and the slide towards war

Vienna, Austria
— Somewhere out there, the only winners in the current conflict over
Iran’s nuclear programme are rubbing their hands with glee. They love
hearing about the “inalienable right” to build nuclear power plants.
They love watching nuclear superpowers try to bully non-nuclear states
into agreeing not to develop nukes, yet fail to explain why they
themselves haven’t gotten rid of theirs. They love seeing nuclear
weapons being presented as the measure of a country’s greatness. That’s
because the only winners in this conflict sell the stuff that makes all
this war drumming possible. They sell nuclear power plants. They build
nuclear weapons.

Go
to
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/iran-nuclear-security-council-020106
for full article on Greenpeace’s stance on Iran, the Middle East and
nuclear programmes.

 

Senate Committee to look into future oil supply

admin /2 February, 2006

The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References
Committee is inquiring into Australia’s future oil supply with
particular reference to transport fuel demand, according to a notice in
The Australian (1/2/2006, p.2).

Focus on pricing, alternative fuels: The terms of reference
focus on the availability and pricing of transport fuels in Australia
and on the potential of new sources of oil and alternative fuels to
meet a share of Australia’s fuel demands.

Economic, social impact: The committee will also examine flow-on
economic and social impacts of rises in the price of transport fuel and
options for reducing Australia’s transport demands.

Submissions invited: The committee is to report by 15 June. Submissions may be forwarded to the committee at Parliament Home or emailed to rrat.sen@aph.gov.au. For terms of reference and further information call (02) 6277 3511 or visit http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/rrat_ctte/index.htm

Halliburton to separate from KBR due to controversy

admin /2 February, 2006

Halliburton, the world’s largest diversified energy services,
engineering and construction company, says it is ready to spin off and
list its KBR unit, reported The Australian (31/1/2006, p.30).

Best ever figures prompt Halliburton to list 20 per cent of KBR:
Halliburton, the US’s biggest private contractor in Iraq, may also
consider selling some pieces of KBR outright. The decision to list 20
per cent of KBR was expected and comes as Halliburton reported the best
annual figures in its 86-year history. It earned $US2.4 billion ($A3.2
billion), or $US4.54 per share, in 2005, compared with a full-year net
loss of $US1 billion, or $US2.22 per share, in 2004.

Despite gains, KBR is more trouble than its worth: Halliburton’s
gains were driven not only by KBR but also its Energy Services Group,
which has benefited from an industry scramble for oil and gas resources
in the high-priced environment. Halliburton wants to separate itself
from KBR which, despite bringing in billions of dollars from US
military contracts in Iraq, has plagued the parent company with
controversy since the war began.

The ultimate irony: global warming opens up oil reserves under the Arctic Ocean

admin /2 February, 2006

The Arctic Ocean is being transformed by global warming from a
no-man’s-land into the front line of a scramble for resources wealth,
reports The Australian (30 January 2006, p.12).

Gold rush mentality: The melting of ice pack is opening up vast
reserves of offshore oil and gas, new shipping routes and fishing
grounds, say experts at the World Economic Forum. But the scramble for
Arctic wealth is complicated by arguments over which countries have
legal claim to the territory, plus border disputes.

The claimants: The US, Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Finland and Iceland have claims to the Arctic, while resource-hungry
China is showing interest.

Ice sheet shrinking: George Newton, chairman of the US Arctic
Research Commission, told delegates at the conference of business
leaders in Davos, Switzerland, that temperatures in the Arctic were
expected to rise by 5.5C in the next 100 years, and that last year the
Arctic ice sheet was smaller than ever.

“We’re talking about opportunity”: “When we’ve been talking
about climate change it’s with concern, but we’re talking about
opportunity,” he said. Helge Lund, president of Statoil, Norway’s state
oil company, said a quarter of the world’s undiscovered oil reserves,
estimated at 375 billion barrels, enough to fuel the world for 12
years, lies under the Arctic Ocean.

Grants of up to $250,000 available under NSW Climate Action Grants Program

admin /1 February, 2006

Funding is available over four years for grants under the NSW Climate
Action Grants Program. Climate Action Grants are part of the NSW
Government’s Greenhouse Plan that seeks to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and encourage awareness of and adaption to the impacts of
climate change in NSW.

Projects of 1-3 years duration sought: The Climate Action Grants
Program has been developed by the NSW Greenhouse Office and is
administered by the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation.
According to an advertisement in The Land (26 January 2006,
p.22) grants for 2006 are available for up to $250,000 for projects of
1 to 3 years duration. Two types of grants are being offered:

Who is eligible: Grants are open to private and NSW public
sector organisations, including industry associations, businesses,
community groups, non-profit organisations, local governments and
individuals.

Energy projects excluded: These grants do not support projects involving energy generation or use.