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. 

  • Adani to visit Queensland

    Adani to visit Queensland

    gautam-adaniIndian billionaire Gautam Adani will visit Queensland this week to inspect the world’s largest coal mine and the rail and port facilities gifted to him last week by Prime Minister Turnbull.

    The Australian taxpayer will support the Indian energy tycoon with one billion dollars in cash and 12billion litres of free water, every year.

    Adani will be hosted by Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and opposed by activists from Townsville to Brisbane who are preparing to mount a Standing Rock style campaign in support of the Wangan and Jaguligu people whose land will literally vanish as a 60 square kilometer hole is dug in the Galilee basin. The coal from the basin will double Australia’s annual carbon emissions.

    Financial Review

    GET UP on Adani

    The Juice Media – CCRAP

    https://www.communityrun.org/petitions/don-t-let-adani-build-their-huge-coal-mine-on-our-traditional-land

     

  • Marrakech ends up-beat despite lack of leaders

    Marrakech ends up-beat despite lack of leaders

    COP22 in Marrakech
    COP22 in Marrakech tries to enact Paris in a hostile climate

    The Climate Change Conference in Marrakech ended on Sunday with 111 countries confirming their commitment to the agreement hammered out in Paris one year ago. “Paris was the deal, Marrakech is the detail,” said Salaheddine Mezouar noting that the conference had accelerated the implementation timetable agreed at COP21 in Paris.

    Among the highlights, delegates from Australia and the UK presented a finance roadmap showing an annual expenditure of 100billion US dollars to fund climate action and local government officials committed to one gigaton of Carbon Dioxide reductions annually in addition to those commitments already made by national governments.

    Cop 23 will be held in Bonn, Germany with Fiji as the presiding nation.

    http://www.expressnews.com/business/national/article/Momentum-on-climate-change-poses-hurdle-for-Trump-10626038.php

    http://cop22.ma/en/#actualites/salaheddine-mezouar-and-cop22-steering-committee-take-stock-on-climate-action-in-marrakech

    https://www.euractiv.com/section/climate-environment/opinion/what-local-and-regional-government-leaders-at-cop22-can-teach-the-world/

    http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/11/cop22-liveblog/

  • Canada quits coal-fired electricity

    Canada quits coal-fired electricity

    C

    Canadian coal-town Alberta Canada
    Hannah is one of the coal towns affected by the decision

    anada announced yesterday that it will phase out all coal fired electricity generation by 2030.

    Coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels producing over three tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of coal burned.

    Canada has also announced a carbon price commencing in two years with an eighty percent reduction target by 2050. Two Canadian states will be worst affected as they currently produce 40 percent of their electricity from coal fired power stations. Nationally, Canada produces the majority of its electricity from hydro-electricity.

    http://canada.trendolizer.com/2016/09/hanna-fearful-of-ghost-town-future-as-alberta-quits-coal.html

    http://www.mining.com/this-country-just-ended-its-coal-power-production/

    Canada quits coal, government sets 2030 deadline

     

  • Police use water cannon on freezing Standing Rock protestors

    Police use water cannon on freezing Standing Rock protestors

    Standing Rock
    A First Nation resident watches the official militia move in

    Police from 20 different forces across the USA who have converged on Standing Rock today used water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a group of protestors on a bridge. 17 protestors were taken to hospital, some with hypothermia as a result of being soaked in sub-freezing temperatures.

    The protestors were trying to clear the bridge which has been blocked by police since October preventing emergency services from reaching the Sioux community in Standing Rock.

    The company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, recommended to its shareholders today that they sell their shares in the company to Sunoco Logistics for 21billion.

    Vietnam Veteran organisations have announced they will deploy to Standing Rock on December 3rd in honour of their vow to go and fight where-ever evil resides.

    https://soundcloud.com/geoff-ebbs/standing-rock-writ-large

    https://theintercept.com/2016/11/21/medics-describe-how-police-sprayed-standing-rock-demonstrators-with-tear-gas-and-water-cannons/

    http://www.vox.com/2016/9/9/12862958/dakota-access-pipeline-fight

    https://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/16/indigenous_activist_zip_tied_locked_in

    http://www.businessinsider.com/veterans-deployment-standing-rock-protest-2016-11?IR=T

     

  • Protestors leaflet BHP AGM this morning

    Protestors leaflet BHP AGM this morning

    Police say Move On
    Police and security try to move on the Yellowcake stall at the Entertainment Centre

    Robin Taubenfeld and other protestors handed out cake and leaflets at the annual general meeting of BHP in Brisbane this morning.

    Police and security guards tried to move protestors on but Ms Taubenfeld successfully argued that the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre is public space and there is nothing illegal about offering cake, tea and information to visitors and passers by.

    Yellowcake at BHP AGM
    Robin Taubenfeld prepares the YellowCake for shareholders

    The yellow cake represented the Uranium ore which BHP digs out of the Australian soil and exports around the world.

  • Salt solution batteries solve solar storage conundrum

    Salt solution batteries solve solar storage conundrum

    Aquion salt battery
    Aquion battery packs will power a nano-grid at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

    A new salt based battery from US based Aquion will allow mass storage of solar generated power more cheaply than lithium iron or lead acid batteries.

    The approach uses a bath of salts to store the charge without the chemical deterioration and inefficiencies found in most existing batteries. Batteries using highly reactive chemicals gradually wear out as the chemicals become polluted with constant re-use.

    Similar technology was developed at the University of New South Wales thirty years ago using Vanadium salts, but was not successfully commercialized.

    Solar and salt water battery storage used to create “nanogrid” of future

    The unique solar and storage system designed for IIT will use alternating and direct current loads while charging batteries at the same time, allowing the nanogrid to run independent of the rest of the campus, as an islanded off-grid system.

    https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/solar-salt-water-battery-storage-used-create-nanogrid-future/

    http://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/aquion-saltwater-batteries-q-and-a

    http://www.ceic.unsw.edu.au/centers/vrb/about-us/history-of-vanadium-redox-battery.html

    http://www.vfuel.com.au/company.htm