EcoRadio

Category: Energy Matters

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. 

  • ‘Huge’ natural gas find off Venezuela

     

    The find was first announced by visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in an interview with the newspaper El Pais. He divulged its existence during a walkabout in Madrid, while visiting a bookstore. Repsol chairman Antonio Brufau was with him at the time.

    Chavez gave the figure on the gas volume and Elices confirmed it to the AP.

    For comparison, 7 to 8 trillion cubic feet is roughly five times the natural gas that Spain consumes in a year, said another Repsol spokesman, Kristian Rix.

    The gas was found in an exploration block called Rafael Urdaneta. Repsol began work there in 2006 along with the state-owned Venezuelan company PDVSA.

    Rix said it is not known when the company will start pumping the gas, but in cases like these, that normally takes two to four years.

    ‘At the rate the certified scientific discoveries are going, Venezuela’s gas reserves will place it among the top five in the world,’ the newspaper quoted Chavez as saying.

    Rix said this is Repsol’s biggest natural gas find ever.

  • White House action puts on hold dozens of mountaintop mining projects.

     

    The EPA said it had continuing concerns about toxic debris from the mine sites, and the loss of hundreds of miles of streams, which were choked off by the rubble.

    “The administration pledged earlier this year to improve review of mining projects that risked harming water quality. Release of this preliminary list is the first step in a process to assure that the environmental concerns raised by the 79 permit applications are addressed and that permits issued are protective of water quality and affected ecosystems,” the EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, said in a statement.

    The decision was welcomed by some environmental organisations as a key break by the Obama administration with the policies set by George Bush.

    Appalachian Voices, a local activist coalition, said in a statement:

    “By recommending these permits not be approved, the EPA and the Army Corps has demonstrated their intention to fulfill a promise to provide science-based oversight which will limit the devastating environmental impacts of mountaintop removal mining.”

    But environmental organisations are still pressing the Obama administration for an outright ban on mountaintop removal, which environmentalists say is the most destructive method of extracting coal.

    Bush-era regulations had made it far easier for mining companies to win approval for mountaintop removal and to avoid regulatory control. The EPA, in Bush’s eight-year term, did not oppose a single permit for mountaintop removal.

    Jackson, in a recent interview, admitted the agency had grown “toothless”.

    The Obama administration signalled last June that it would take a tougher approach to enforcement. Earlier this week, the agency said it would halt West Virginia’s biggest mining project, spread over 2,300 acres, because of concerns over dumping debris.

    The agency now has two weeks to issue its final decision on the pending permits. Projects that do meet EPA environmental standards will move ahead.

  • Australia’s methane gas could power the world: expert

     

    “These are large world scale projects, expect to see some consolidation,” he said.

    “But at the moment, we have got five projects, potentially 28 million tonnes within five years. That’s more than existing Australian northern production.”

    Mr Regan says that globally there are more reserves of coal methane than conventional natural gas reserves, and Australian reserves represent about 40 per cent of the world’s proposed new projects.

    “CBM [coal-bed methane] in Australia is very, very significant,” he said.

    “Australian energy development is hugely significant. Those projects there represent about 50 per cent of the total global proposed new capacity.”

     

  • Sun shines in China thanks to feed-in tariff

    Sun shines in China thanks to feed-in tariff

    Wednesday 9 September 2009

    The world’s largest solar power station – a massive 2 gigawatts – will
    be built in China thanks to the Chinese adoption of a renewable energy
    feed-in tariff, it was announced overnight.

    The Rudd Government has repeatedly refused to embrace the feed-in tariff
    Private Member’s Bill introduced by Australian Greens Deputy Leader,
    Senator Christine Milne. The Government claims its policies are
    sufficient, even though all the evidence points to a stagnating
    renewable energy sector in Australia.

    “Australia is the sunny country and the clever country, but Mr Rudd and
    Senator Wong want us to remain coal country,” Senator Milne said.

    “The gross feed-in tariff, which guarantees a fair market for renewable
    energy, is delivering gigawatts of zero emissions power and hundreds of
    thousands of jobs around the world, but in Australia the Government
    prefers photo ops to real policy.”

    The massive 2 gigawatt solar power station announced overnight in China
    will be built by US company, First Solar. First Solar’s CEO, Mike Ahearn
    said:

    “The Chinese feed-in tariff will be critical to this project.

    “This type of forward-looking government policy is necessary to create a
    strong solar market and facilitate the construction of a project of this
    size, which in turn continues to drive the cost of solar electricity
    closer to `grid parity` – where it is competitive with traditional
    energy sources.”

    Senator Milne said “I couldn’t have put it better myself.

    “The Rudd Government recently cut the hugely successful Remote Regional
    Power Generation Program because it ran out of its allocated funding.
    Communities in remote parts of Australian keen to clean their air and
    water by getting off dirty diesel now can’t do so.

    “The Rudd Government’s Solar Flagships program is increasingly being
    seen by industry as a classic ‘Hollow Men’ idea without any policy
    backing. It has been delayed for 18 months and is attracting criticism
    for being unworkable from the very companies it is supposed to support.

    “Embracing the gross feed-in tariff for all renewable energy in
    Australia would go a long way to making sure we see massive solar
    developments coming to the sunny country instead of solar innovators
    going bust or going offshore.

    “Why won’t Mr Rudd and Senator Wong embrace the feed-in tariff?”

    Several States in Australia have introduced Claytons feed-in tariffs
    which support only net generation from small-scale rooftop solar power.
    It is critical that a feed-in tariff is national and supports all energy
    produced from all renewable energy technologies of all sizes.

    Tim Hollo
    Media Adviser
    Senator Christine Milne | Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Climate
    Change Spokesperson
    Suite SG-112 Parliament House, Canberra ACT | P: 02 6277 3588 | M: 0437
    587 562
    http://www.christinemilne.org.au/| www.GreensMPs.org.au
    <http://www.greensmps.org.au/>

    PROTECTING THE CLIMATE IS A JOB FOR EVERYONE

    Sign-up to GreensMPs <http://greensmps.org.au/stay-informed>
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    Please consider the environment before printing this email.

    —
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  • Greens, Libs fight wilderness mining

     

    “Constructing a uranium mine would be completely and utterly incompatible with Arkaroola and all that is precious about Arkaroola,” he said.

    Marathon’s exploration licence expires next month and the SA Government says it will consider renewing the licence after sanctions in the Mining Act have been tightened.

    Tags: mining, environment, mining, land-pollution, recycling-and-waste-management, federal-state-issues, liberal-party, greens, states-and-territories, mining, uranium-mining, sa, adelaide-5000, hawker-5434, port-augusta-5700, port-pirie-5540, whyalla-5600

  • PM’s Gorgon claims not backed by figures:Greens

    PM’s Gorgon claims not backed by figures: Greens

    Claims by Kevin Rudd that the Gorgon gas project must go ahead on an
    A-class reserve at Barrow Island so that the project’s emissions can be
    sequestered in reservoirs beneath the island are undermined by the
    proponents’ own figures, Greens Senator for WA Rachel Siewert says.

    “Out of the nearly nine million tonnes-a-year of CO2 emissions that the
    Gorgon project will create, the proponents quite clearly state that they
    planning to geo-sequester less than half,” Senator Siewert said.

    “It is therefore a furphy that keeping greenhouse gas emissions low is
    the main reason for the proponents to build on Barrow. The real reason
    is simply cost, because Barrow presents a cheaper option for the
    proponents than building an LNG plant on the mainland.

    “Given the very poor track record of carbon geo-sequestration projects
    around the world to date, I also fear that given the weak conditions
    imposed on the development, the proponents will eventually allow all
    8.81 million tonnes-a-year of Gorgon’s carbon dioxide emissions to vent
    into the atmosphere.

    “That could mean we’re looking at this project emitting the equivalent
    emissions of eight new coal-fired power stations.

    “Even with carbon geo-sequestration, Gorgon represents as many annual
    emissions as five new 200MW coal-fired power stations.

    “Putting the LNG plant on the mainland would not only avoid unnecessary
    irreparable damage to a fragile offshore environment and species living
    on Barrow, it would also allow for the co-location of other industries
    boosting skilled jobs and the local economy.

    “This comes at a time when renewable energy technologies in Western
    Australia are ripe for commercial roll-out, including solar thermal and
    wind, with wave and geothermal close behind.

    “It’s clear that Western Australia has massive potential for job
    creation and zero-carbon base and peak-load electricity generation using
    renewable energies.

    “What a difference it would make if the Rudd and Barnett governments put
    the same amount of energy into encouraging renewable energy developments
    as they have into Gorgon.

    “A multi-billion dollar investment in solar thermal and wave power would
    see a huge boost to WA’s economy and a tremendous reduction in our
    greenhouse emissions, and it would set us up to be an export hub for
    renewable energy instead of more polluting fossil fuels.”

    For more information or media inquiries, please call Eloise Dortch on
    0415 507 763

    Note to editors:
    Gorgon proponents plan to inject 3.36 million tonnes of carbon dioxide
    each year into reservoirs beneath the island and vent another 5.45
    million tonnes annually into the atmosphere – refer to WA Environmental
    Protection Authority report No 1323 (April 2009), page 30 (p.39 on
    computer screen) at
    http://www.epa.wa.gov.au/docs/2937_Rep1323GorgonRevPer30409.pdf