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The Generator news service publishes articles on sustainable development, agriculture and energy as well as observations on current affairs. The news service is used on the weekly radio show, The Generator, as well as by a number of monthly and quarterly magazines. A podcast of the Generator news is also available.
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  • Coalition draws level with Labor as Abbott bites

     

    Mr Abbott might be basking in the sunshine of the customary honeymoon period enjoyed by new opposition leaders but Labor strategists believe the figures just reflect the public response to a new leader with an aggressive media presence. The strategists are still banking on a Labor victory later this year.

    Mr Rudd acknowledged yesterday the insulation program would cost the government in the polls but promised to fix the problems.

    Labor still wants to get its emissions trading scheme up, but is prepared to go to an election with a broader message based on soon-to-be-revealed changes to the health system. It will also play its trump card – taking the plaudits for getting Australia through the global financial crisis.

    Today’s results show a majority of those polled (59 per cent) believe the government’s economic stimulus package was justified.

    The Coalition’s message about the size of the debt taken on to finance that stimulus is resonating only with its own supporters – 43 per cent of people think Australia is now in too much debt, while 47 per cent think it is manageable.

    The poll also shows both Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott are the most popular choices to lead their parties.

    Close to half – 49 per cent – of those polled said Mr Rudd was more appealing, compared to 36 per cent who preferred Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

    Only 15 per cent of people said they would be more likely to vote for Labor if Ms Gillard was leader, while 23 per cent said they would be less likely to vote Labor.

    Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey fared better, with 39 per cent of people saying they preferred him to lead the Coalition.

    But Mr Abbott is still ahead of the field, with 45 per cent of people saying he is the better leader for the Liberal Party.

  • Ministry debacle reflects on Rudd

     

    Instead of holding firm and trying to reassure the concerned public the government was doing everything it could to resolve the potentially fatal and dodgy insulation in 240,000 homes, Rudd switched back yesterday. He gutted Garrett but left him filling valuable space in the cabinet room.

    On Monday Rudd had distanced himself from Garrett, then on Tuesday he embraced him and his tar-baby problems and yesterday he dumped Garrett into the shell of a ministry as he tried to staunch the loss of political lifeblood and re-order climate politics.

    Rudd also admitted the program had been handled inappropriately and shifted Greg Combet — who has had to fix various disasters in climate change policies from negotiating with coalminers to renewable energy — into the role of fixing the roofing debacle under the guise of energy efficiency.

    Combet also has the role of protecting the declining reputation of the Prime Minister, who is now ultimately responsible for anything that goes wrong in the roofing scheme, which is apparently open to rorting even as electricians try to detect fatal faults.

    But for Rudd, who had hoped to clear the politically disastrous roofing scheme out of the way and move on to a positive policy agenda on health and the economy, there are just more questions being asked about his judgment and ability to handle pressure.

    There is also the clear impression being created that as the ETS fades into the future there is going to be more emphasis on energy efficiency, with the public servants in the Climate Change Department being co-opted to provide the necessary resources to fix the roofing insulation scheme.

    And that sounds like a government in retreat moving towards Tony Abbott’s “practical solutions”.

    Labor expects a further decline in the polls for Rudd’s personal standing, but is hoping that by acting spectacularly yesterday he was able to limit it.

  • Evidence of first step towards reductions

     

    It shows that NSW government-owned electricity utilities Macquarie Generation and Delta Electricity, both of which are currently applying to expand fossil fuel power plants in NSW, top the list in terms of greenhouse emissions.

    The pitt&sherry report examined current trends in energy use and found that the average ”carbon intensity” of units on the National Electricity Market had dropped.

    ”Electricity consumption increased but emissions from electricity generation fell,” the report said.

    ”This was because the share of electricity supplied by gas-fired and renewable generators increased significantly, while the share of black coal generators continued to decrease.”

    But it is difficult to say whether the change represents a permanent shift in energy use, because of fluctuating prices on the energy market and the ongoing impact of the global financial crisis, which appears to have slowed down some investment in energy-hungry industry.

    ”The question is whether this trend is going to be sustained or not,” said Hugh Saddler, an economics and sustainability adviser who helped prepare the report. ”We may be seeing the beginning of the impact of more gas and renewable energy entering the mix.”

    The report backs findings by The Climate Group, which analysed electricity use across 2009 to locate a similar trend.

    The Department of Climate Change predicts that energy from power generation would continue to grow, but do so more slowly over the next decade.

    “From 2013 to 2020 emissions from the stationary energy sector are projected to grow at an average annual rate 0.5 per cent per annum, compared to the historical growth rate of 2.3 per cent per annum,” a spokeswoman said. ”This is predominantly due to the projected slowdown in growth in electricity emissions mainly due to the increase in renewable generation associated with the expanded Renewable Energy Target.”

    Renewable energy is yet to make much of an impact on the overall electricity market, however, with only about 6.4 per cent of power coming from non-fossil fuel sources last year, and most of that from hydro power generation rather than wind or solar.

  • UN to commission independent scientifc inquiry into IPCC

     

    Nick Nuttall, of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) told Reuters: “It will be [made up of] senior scientific figures. I can’t name who they are right now. It should do a review of the IPCC, produce a report by, say, August and there is a plenary of the IPCC in South Korea in October. The report will go there for adoption.”

    He added: “There’s no review panel at the moment. Yesterday, it was clear from the member states roughly how they would like this panel to be – fully independent and not appointed by the IPCC, but appointed by an independent group of scientists themselves.”

    The terms of references for the panel would be announced next week, he said. “I think we are bringing some level of closure to this issue.”

    The IPCC reviews climate change science on behalf of the world’s governments. Its most recent report, in 2007, concluded that there was a 90% certainty that human activities are causing global warming.

    Nuttall said the broader review of the IPCC would examine its use of reports from outside conventional academic journals, so-called ‘grey literature’. A report from campaign group WWF is blamed for introducing the false statement that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035 into the IPCC’s 2007 report.

    Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP, said he did not support a ban on the use of grey literature and that the media had exaggerated the IPCC’s mistakes.

    In a separate move, Ed Miliband, climate secretary, has written to the head of the IPCC to express UK concern over the mistake.

    In a letter to IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri, Miliband says: “Mistakes such as the IPCC statements on Himalayan glaciers are inevitably damaging. This is a matter of concern because the reliability and good name of the IPCC is vital to ensuring all countries recognise the dangers of climate change.”

    Miliband said the IPCC needed to thoroughly review its procedures and the way it responded to media criticism. It should also find a way to correct errors and to minimise future problems, particularly with reports drawn from grey literature.

    “Clearly this is only the outline of a strategy,” the letter says. “There is a great deal of work to do in turning it into a detailed plan for change. The British government is happy to assist you in that process.”

  • Solar-powered boat prepares to conquer the world

  • UK sending ships to deadly xcrapyards in Bangladesh


    UK ships

    UK-based Andrew Weir Shipping Limited is one of a number of companies whose vessels have ended up on the beaches of Bangladesh in the past year.

    The company has sold four ships through a cash intermediary in China and at least one of them ended up in the notorious ‘Lucky Shipyard’ where children as young as 12 dismantle ships without safety equipment.

    Two other UK companies, Zodiac Maritime Agencies and FGM Shipping Management Ltd are both alleged by the French NGO Robin des Bois to have sold ships for scrapping in Bangladesh in the last year.

    Loopholes

    Under the Basel Convention, any ship containing hazardous substances cannot be sent for disposal in a developing country without extensive pre-cleaning.

    However, these rules can be bypassed in two ways. Firstly owners can wait till the ships are in international waters before declaring their intention to scrap the vessel, where the Convention does not apply.

    Secondly, the ships can fly the flags of countries that are not party to the convention such as Antigua and Barbuda.

    ‘Flags of convenience’

    According to the NGO Platform on Ship Breaking, two-thirds of the world’s vessels are sailing under so-called ‘flags of convenience’ belonging to small states that compete by promising to keep taxes, fees and regulations light for ship-owners.

    There is no implication that workers have been killed or injured dismantling ships owned by UK companies. But when contacted Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd refused to confirm whether its ships had been cleaned of hazardous substances before arriving in Bangladesh.

    Zodiac Maritime Agencies confirmed it had sent a ship to Bangladesh but could not provide proof that it had been cleaned of hazadous waste. FGM Shipping Management Ltd did not comment on the allegations.

    Useful links
    Platform on Ship Breaking