The twentieth century way of life has been made available, largely due to the miracle of cheap energy. The price of energy has been at record lows for the past century and a half.As oil becomes increasingly scarce, it is becoming obvious to everyone, that the rapid economic and industrial growth we have enjoyed for that time is not sustainable.Now, the hunt is on. For renewable sources of energy, for alternative sources of energy, for a way of life that is less dependent on cheap energy.Â
FARMERS have lost their fight for greater protection from coal seam gas (CSG) miners, with the state government refusing to fence off any land from exploration.
The miners were was given the OK yesterday to start drilling on farm land, albeit under the “strongest restrictions in the world”.
The government released its strategic regional land use policy, outlining the extra hurdles companies will have to jump to start work.
Mining companies will have to prove any extraction will not destroy water quality, or prime farming and grazing land.
And in a bid to appease farmers, the government has removed the clause that gave it power to override the restrictions in exceptional circumstances. All CSG companies will have to meet the strict guidelines.
Farmers Association president Fiona Simson said farmers were not protected by the policy.
“We got an incomplete package with watered down water protections and a virtual green light for exploration and mining right across most of the state,” Ms Simson said.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham accused the Premier of “declaring war” on farmers.
But Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said the increased regulation would make NSW less attractive for mining companies.
“The area of land classified strategic has increased threefold since the draft mapping was first released in March, so much more land will be covered by the new gateway assessment process,” he said.
“This new layer of project assessment comes at a time when commodity prices are falling and production and other input costs in Australia are rising.”
FARMERS, environmental groups and miners have joined forces to condemn the state government’s new regime for how coal seam gas drilling and coal mining may be carried out in NSW.
The new rules, contained in the final version of the Strategic Land Use Policy, released yesterday, do not quarantine any part of NSW from exploration or mining applications, despite the demands of farmers and conservationists. The policy significantly expands the amount of land classified as ”strategic agricultural land” and therefore subject to a ”gateway process” overseen by an independent scientific panel, upsetting mining groups.
An ”exceptional circumstances” provision, which would have given cabinet the power to override the process for projects of state significance, has been dumped.
However, concerns remain from some stakeholders that the protections for aquifers from coal seam gas drilling and mining are not strong enough.
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Announcing the policy, the Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, said the government was introducing ”the most broad-reaching protection of strategic agricultural lands in the state’s history”.
Mr Hazzard said the policy ”strikes a balance” between the protection of land used for farming, winemaking and thoroughbred breeding and access to minerals that produces revenue for hospitals, roads and schools.
Since the release of the draft plan in March, the areas mapped as strategic agricultural land have been expanded by 670,000 hectares, primarily in the upper Hunter Valley and New England north-west regions. As well, the test for whether a mining or exploration is likely to damage the aquifer has been extended beyond proposals within the mapped areas, to apply statewide.
A Greens MP, Jeremy Buckingham, said by not quarantining areas of the state from any mining activity, the government had ”completely ignored” the concerns of farmers.
”The community expected the O’Farrell government to rule out mining on productive agricultural lands and sensitive environmental areas,” he said.
The president of the NSW Farmers Association, Fiona Simson, said ”thousands” of city and country people wanted land and water protected.
Carmel Flint, of the anti-coal seam gas group Lock The Gate, said the policy meant ”thousands of gas wells, massive open-cut coalmines and the serious degradation of our way of life in NSW”. But the chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee, said the rules added a layer of assessment which could delay projects and cost jobs and investment.
The Nationals’ leader and Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, said contravention of the aquifer interference policy would not mean an automatic veto on mining activity. ”I’m confident if there is any chance that aquifers are going to be damaged in exploration or production activity, the process will not be approved by government,” he said.
Mr Hazzard said a land and water commissioner would advise on legal rights relating to land use negotiations but would not make decisions on access.
The Energy and Resources Minister, Chris Hartcher, confirmed the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for coal seam gas extraction would be lifted immediately as the policy ”sets in place a very strict regulatory framework”.
FARMERS, environmental groups and miners have joined forces to condemn the state government’s new regime for how coal seam gas drilling and coal mining may be carried out in NSW.
The new rules, contained in the final version of the Strategic Land Use Policy, released yesterday, do not quarantine any part of NSW from exploration or mining applications, despite the demands of farmers and conservationists. The policy significantly expands the amount of land classified as ”strategic agricultural land” and therefore subject to a ”gateway process” overseen by an independent scientific panel, upsetting mining groups.
An ”exceptional circumstances” provision, which would have given cabinet the power to override the process for projects of state significance, has been dumped.
However, concerns remain from some stakeholders that the protections for aquifers from coal seam gas drilling and mining are not strong enough.
Advertisement
Announcing the policy, the Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, said the government was introducing ”the most broad-reaching protection of strategic agricultural lands in the state’s history”.
Mr Hazzard said the policy ”strikes a balance” between the protection of land used for farming, winemaking and thoroughbred breeding and access to minerals that produces revenue for hospitals, roads and schools.
Since the release of the draft plan in March, the areas mapped as strategic agricultural land have been expanded by 670,000 hectares, primarily in the upper Hunter Valley and New England north-west regions. As well, the test for whether a mining or exploration is likely to damage the aquifer has been extended beyond proposals within the mapped areas, to apply statewide.
A Greens MP, Jeremy Buckingham, said by not quarantining areas of the state from any mining activity, the government had ”completely ignored” the concerns of farmers.
”The community expected the O’Farrell government to rule out mining on productive agricultural lands and sensitive environmental areas,” he said.
The president of the NSW Farmers Association, Fiona Simson, said ”thousands” of city and country people wanted land and water protected.
Carmel Flint, of the anti-coal seam gas group Lock The Gate, said the policy meant ”thousands of gas wells, massive open-cut coalmines and the serious degradation of our way of life in NSW”. But the chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee, said the rules added a layer of assessment which could delay projects and cost jobs and investment.
The Nationals’ leader and Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, said contravention of the aquifer interference policy would not mean an automatic veto on mining activity. ”I’m confident if there is any chance that aquifers are going to be damaged in exploration or production activity, the process will not be approved by government,” he said.
Mr Hazzard said a land and water commissioner would advise on legal rights relating to land use negotiations but would not make decisions on access.
The Energy and Resources Minister, Chris Hartcher, confirmed the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for coal seam gas extraction would be lifted immediately as the policy ”sets in place a very strict regulatory framework”.
Though there is enough power in the earth’s winds to be a primary source of near-zero emission electric power for the world, large-scale high altitude wind power generation is unlikely to substantially affect climate, according to new research.
— Have you seen the coal seam gas (CSG) industry’s latest advertising campaign? The CSIRO’s slammed it for misusing their research to claim CSG is safe for Australia’s precious water and aquifers. Send the CSG spin doctors a message now demanding they publicly commit to ending their campaign of lies: http://www.getup.org.au/stop-csg-lies —
Dear NEVILLE,
We’ve been waiting for this moment – the CSG industry’s just been caught blatantly lying about the safety of coal seam gas mining by Australia’s peak scientific body, the CSIRO.
Part of a new multi-million dollar advertising campaign, the offending ad says: ‘CSIRO and government studies have shown that groundwater is safe with coal seam gas’. But that’s a lie and the CSIRO flatly rejects it. They issued this sharp rebuke to APPEA, the CSG lobby group running the ad:
“At no time has CSIRO made such a statement, and nor do the results of CSIRO research support such a statement. CSIRO has stated on the public record that coal seam gas extraction is likely to pose a ‘low risk’ to groundwater quality through contamination. CSIRO has also indicated that groundwater levels will fall as a consequence of coal seam gas extraction. In some places this could see aquifer levels subside by tens of metres for tens of years; in others it is likely to reduce aquifer levels by several metres for several hundred years.” [1]
APPEA has dismissively stated they have “taken CSIRO’s comments on board”[2] as they develop a plan to reach as many Australians as possible with the new campaign. The recklessness of saying CSG is safe when Australian lives, land and water are at risk is outrageous. Let’s start a public outcry demanding APPEA do more than take it on board – tell APPEA to never air the ad again and to issue an apology for their lies:
Australia is the driest continent on earth – water that has been stored in aquifers, in some cases for millions of years, sustains our cities, food production and natural environment. That’s why coal seam gas mining, which involves injecting toxic chemicals deep underground at high pressure and removing huge volumes of water, is just too risky.
The CSG industry works tirelessly to prove their untested technologies are safe. Their sophisticated PR machine doesn’t make many missteps, but they went too far this time, as the CSIRO’s strong response shows.
So far, APPEA has ignored calls to take down its misleading ads. While we may not have the multi-million dollar budgets to counter the CSG industry’s spin, we do have the power of our movement.
Tell APPEA to stop playing with lives for a quick buck. Sign the petition calling on them to shelve the ad and retract their claims:
[1] ‘CSIRO rejects claims made by APPEA regarding groundwater and coal seam gas’. CSIRO Press Release, 4 September, 2012. [2] Rick Wilkinson, Twitter.com, 4 September, 2012. [3] ‘Halt ordered for Fullerton Cove gas drilling’, ABC News. 5 September, 2012.
GetUp Action for Australia is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you’d like to contribute to help fund GetUp Action for Australia’s work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp Action for Australia, please click here. Authorised by Sam Mclean on behalf of GetUp Action for Australia, Level 2, 104 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.
The NSW government has promised to triple the amount of energy generated by wind turbines and solar panels in NSW over the next eight years, at no extra cost to the public.
Its draft “renewable energy action” plan, released this morning, confirms its existing commitment to a 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020, up from about 8 per cent today, but claims this can be done mainly with money from private investors.
At a press conference this morning, the Energy Minister, Chris Hartcher, ducked four questions asking how many new wind turbines were required.
Wind power generates about 652 gigawatt hours of energy in NSW, but that would be lifted to something closer to 8000 gigawatt hours under the government’s plan – which means thousands more turbines dotting rural landscapes.
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“Building a strong renewable energy industry is vital to supporting employment and helping grow the NSW economy,” Mr Hartcher said.
“We have heard loud and clear that people are fed up with soaring electricity prices, which is why consumers have been front of mind in developing this plan.”
The plan lists 28 “actions” that it said would contribute to achieving the 20 per cent renewable energy target – some of which are repackaged, existing announcements, such as state government support for a large solar farm near Nyngan in the state’s west.
The action points include ways of better energy network connections so that large-scale solar power projects can be connected to the grid, and the appointment of a dedicated “renewable energy advocate” to streamline negotiations over new renewable investment and facilitate connections to the power grid.
The government is also reviewing wind farm planning guidelines, to make more “strategic” wind farm approvals, and will release a new energy efficiency strategy, that will involve reappraising all existing energy efficiency programs.
It will ask the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal to come up with a “fair” tariff price for solar panel rebates to replace the solar bonus scheme.
Up to 6000 jobs could be created in the renewable energy sector by 2020, particularly in regional NSW, Mr Hartcher said.
The state government still wants to abolish the federal government’s carbon price or, failing that, scrap the federal mandatory 20 per cent renewable energy target, which has bipartisan support in Canberra.
But the Clean Energy Council’s policy director, Russell Marsh, says when winds topped 90 kilometres per hour earlier this week, that figure was much higher.
“What we’ve seen is over the last couple of days the amount of energy generated from wind power in South Australia has gone through between 55 and 85 per cent since Monday as a result of the very strong winds we’re having at the moment,” he said.
And for a few brief moments in the early hours of Wednesday morning, wind was generating so much power some of it was being exported to Victoria.
Mr Marsh says emissions from South Australia’s power sector have fallen every year since 2005, and have dropped 27 per cent over the past five years.
He says there is no reason other states could not emulate the success.
“South Australia has a great, great wind resource, it’s probably one of the best places in Australia to build wind,” he said.
“And we expect to see … many more wind farms built, not just in South Australia but in other states along the south-east coast of Australia.”
But he says the figures do not suggest coal-fired power generation’s days are numbered.
“We’re really only starting down the path of developing both wind energy specifically and renewable energy generally in Australia,” Mr Marsh said.
“I think we’re going to see coal and other fossil fuel generation around for a number of years to come. But, certainly we reckon that wind and other renewables can certainly play their part in generating more energy in the future.”
One of the criticisms of wind power has long been that times of light wind conditions result in a reduction in the amount of energy generated.
But Mr Marsh denies this week’s event reinforces that argument.
“No it doesn’t, because what the market operator’s also showing is that across the year, about 25 per cent of the state’s power comes from wind,” he said.
“And that has resulted in two things in South Australia. Firstly, you’re seeing less generation from coal and gas as a result of the amount of wind. And also you’re seeing greenhouse gas emissions in South Australia dropping.
“So… what we’re seeing in South Australia is evidence that deploying wind, in this case wind, in Australia actually does lead to using less fossil fuels and reduces emission.”
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