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Hobart’s driest winter ended on 31 August, the day the state broke the record for its warmest winter day, noted The Mercury (1 September 2006 p1). The capital city had just 50.8mm of rain over winter, less than a third of its average l60mm for the winter months.

Island state warming up for spring: Hobart just missed out on the winter record double as its temperature rose to 23C on 31 August. But the old high of 24.5C was eclipsed by two other centres: Campania hit a balmy 25C and Scamander wasn’t far behind on 24.9C. Meteorologist Ian Barnes-Keoghan said the old winter temperature high was set in Hobart on August 26, 1977.

Poor winter rains statewide: "Campania is a relatively new site, and because it doesn’t get the sea breezes it could break a few more records as time goes by, " Mr Barnes-Keoghan said. "It is a record warm end to a record dry winter." The dry isn’t restricted to Hobart, with the bureau recording low rainfall in many parts of the state.

The Mercury, 1/9/2006, p.1

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders have agreed on a plan to cut greenhouse gases by 25 per cent by 2020, reported The Age (1/9/2006, p.13). First US state to cap emissions: The bill, which was expected to win final legislative approval on the night of 31 August, would make California the first US state to fight global warming by capping carbon dioxide and related emissions. Opposed by business groups: The agreement followed lobbying by environmentalists who supported tough standards and business groups who labelled the bill a top "job killer".

The deal was also seen as a rebuke to the Bush Administration, which favours voluntary efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. Limits effective from 2012: The latest bill authorises the California Air Resources Board to start measuring the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases coming from every major pollution source. Once a tally is taken, regulators would set limits, which would take effect from 2012.

The Age, 1/9/2006, p.13

Six offshore regasification projects: Kelliher told The Australian some spot cargoes of Australian LNG had been delivered to the US Gulf coast, and it was expected Australian LNG would be shipped in the future through a plant in Baja California. "There are five onshore (regasification) projects on the Pacific Coast of the US and there are six offshore projects and there’s a chance that some of these will be developed," Kelliher said.

Existing terminals take spot cargoes: The two existing US LNG receival terminals operated differently, ranging from being supplied under long-term contract to taking spot cargoes from any supplies when required.

But long-term arrangements needed: The lessons from the hurricanes were that it was good for the US to make long-term arrangements for gas supply and to not rely too heavily on spot shipments of LNG, and it was probably inevitable that the LNG market would become similar to the oil market with shipments being sold in transit.

BHP, Woodside proposals in place: Slutz said the US wanted both spot cargoes and long-term contracts to gain efficiencies. Both BHP Billiton and Woodside have proposals before Californian authorities for offshore LNG receival facilities but neither has LNG liquefaction facilities in place to supply those facilities.

The Australian, 1/9/2006, p.24

National Emissions Trading Scheme: generation emissions capped from 2010; and big users get

Two models aligned: In both the MMRF-Green and MMA models, Base Case oil prices were adjusted to conform to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2005 Reference Case, for oil prices reaching US (2004) $39 by 2030.

Phased coverage of sectors under the ETS: Electricity generation combustion-only emissions were capped from 2010 on, according to Scenario emissions trajectory required to hit the relevant Scenario target — generating the Scenario carbon price. Non-electricity Stationary Energy sector (that is, direct use of gas and coal) was included in ETS from 2015 on — these sectors then faced the same carbon penalty as the electricity generation sector. Other sectors (for example Fugitive, Agricultural etc) did not face the carbon penalty in the Domestic Action modelling.

Permits: Permits were allocated to electricity generators over the whole period 2010 to 2030. Emissions permits were allocated, by ‘technology class’ by state, sufficient to offset each ‘technology class’ net loss in profits. Generators were free to use permits to optimize profits (so still had incentives to improve efficiency of fuel use etc).

100 per cent compo for big users: Energy intensive trade exposed industries were compensated for 100 per cent of increased energy costs for the period 2010 to 2030. Compensation was applied to those sectors which have non-transport energy costs with a more than 3.5 per cent share of total operating expenses in 2003-04 in the MMRF-Green model.

Reference: The Economic Impacts of a National Emissions Trading Scheme, Final Report. June 2006. The Allen Consulting Group report to National Emissions Trading Taskforce. p.11. email: info@allenconsult.com.au website: http://www.allenconsult.com.au Document can be found at http://www.emissiontrading.com.au

Erisk Net, 22/8/2006

Limited assistance to farming community: Already the water authority GWM Water is preparing to do this for 2300 farms from 1 October. Each farm will receive 28,000 litres of water a month free for domestic purposes. If they want extra water for livestock, they will have to pay to truck it in themselves.

Dam top up planned via irrigation canals: But in the worst case, the Government will be faced with trucking water into Horsham – a herculean task. The city has a population of 18,000, with another 2,000 in the surrounds. Something is being done in the meantime. GWM Water’s corporate services manager, Andrew Rose, says his organisation is planning to run water through existing irrigation channels this month to fill the dams that supply 24 towns in the area.

Irrigation to lose out: However, there will be nothing for irrigation. A northern Mallee pipeline, the bulk of which is completed, has already revolutionised farm and town life in places such as Ouyen and Patchewollock, providing supply security to farms and towns while saving vastly more water for the environment of the rivers and lakes.

Urban use overshadowed by irrigation demand: It might surprise many that while Melbourne has about 80 per cent of the state’s population, it uses only 8 per cent of the state’s water. The bulk, 77 per cent, is used for irrigation. Suggestions that Victoria should be building more dams on the handful of rivers not already tapped have been rejected. It is not that there isn’t enough storage capacity: the problem is there is simply not enough rain to fill it.

The Age, 2/9/2006

Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul? “The problem is very solvable and there are at least three ways you can address it.” Water diverted from the Snowy Hydro Scheme and irrigators on the Murrumbidgee could supplement water being taken from the Shoalhaven catchment. “You could link the Shoalhaven to the Snowy and Murrumbidgee. That may be too expensive, but it is possible,” he said.

Desal still on the backburner: “The third option, which means all this is solvable, is desalination.” Mr Sims acknowledged desalination used a large amount of energy, but said even with a carbon tax on electricity it would produce water at prices Sydney people could pay.

High-tech desal using less energy: And United Utilities managing director Graham Dooley said the amount of energy required for desalination was dropping year by year thanks to technological advances.

Govt could use a hand: Mr Sims argued the private sector should be allowed to compete with Sydney Water. “Then you would have a lot of people trying to solve the problem, rather than the Government feeling it has to solve it all,” he said.

Recycling in southern industrial area: United Utilities has just won a tender to take effluent from Cronulla sewage treatment plant in the city’s south and process it for use at Caltex’s oil refinery at nearby Kurnell.

The Australian, 2/9/2006, p. 10