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  • NSW supports CO2 dumps

    Just dump it: The Government was using the best technology available in a bid to reduce emissions and research new ways to provide cleaner, greener energy. Clean coal research was identified as one of five key actions in the Government’s statement on innovation released in November last year. That was why the Government would contribute $22 million towards two pilot clean coal projects to reduce greenhouse emissions from power stations in New South Wales. This included a $20 million contribution to a geosequestration project and a freehold land grant valued at $1.9 million for the construction of an ultra clean coal demonstration plant at Cessnock.

    Coal pulling power continues: This commitment to clean coal research was part of the Government’s longer-term response to climate change. "We cannot have a climate change policy that does not take into account short-term reliance on fossil fuels," he said. "Coal is the world’s most abundant and widely distributed fossil fuel source. In New South Wales about 90 per cent of our electricity needs are met from coal-fired power stations. Burning coal without adding to global carbon dioxide levels is a major technological challenge that must be addressed".

    Tech options to store carbon: A number of technologies could be considered, including the strategy of advancing CO2 capture and storage, advanced pollution control devices, ultra clean coal as a turbine fuel, coal gasification and advanced coal-fired power stations including super critical generation, and oxy-firing technology.

    CO2 dump sites sought: The initial stage of the project would identify potential CO2 storage sites in New South Wales. The second stage would capture and permanently store CO2 inside the geological formations. The total cost of the geosequestration project would top the $60 million mark. The $20 million contribution from the State Government was to be matched by the coal industry’s Coal 21 Fund, a voluntary fund set up by the coal industry to address greenhouse gas emissions.

    Feds not cooperative enough: MacDonald said he had written to the Federal Minister for Resources, Ian McFarlane, asking for the Commonwealth to match the State Government and industry’s financial commitment to the project. But once again the Federal Government refused to provide a real financial commitment by offering only in-kind support to the project.

    "Ultra clean coal project": MacDonald said the NSW Government was also supporting the ultra clean coal project that would produce a high-purity, clean coal that can be burnt directly in gas turbines to generate electricity. Ultra clean coal-fired turbines potentially could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the generator by 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

    Reference: Eddie Obeid, Member of the Legislative Council, NSW; Ian MacDonald, Minister for Primary Industries, NSW 29 May 2007

    Erisk Net, 29/5/2007

  • Aust economists call for Kyoto action

    Climate call: 271 economists say major economic damage could be done to Australia.

    Climate call: 271 economists say major economic damage could be done to Australia. (Getty Images)

    Seventy-five professors of economics have called on the Federal Government to stop undermining international efforts to tackle climate change and ratify the Kyoto Protocol without delay.

    They are among 271 Australian university economists who have signed a statement drawing attention to the economic damage that could be done to Australia for failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

    Professor Peter Dixon says the Government’s efforts on climate change have been marginal.

    "We’ve been most concerned to protect our sales of coal," he said.

    "Of course, we will lose a considerable amount of sales of coal whether we sign or whether we don’t in the end because in fact, the main part of the solution to the greenhouse gas problem will be reductions in worldwide use of coal."

    Meanwhile, state and territory leaders have written a joint letter to Prime Minister John Howard saying they would like to be included in a national emissions trading scheme.

    The Federal Government is due to receive a report on climate change at the end of the month and will make a decision on a scheme.

    The letter re-states the premiers’ and chief ministers’ position that they have committed to starting a carbon trading scheme by 2010.

  • 3000 Sydney homes blacked out

    Almost 3000 homes across Sydney were plunged into darkness on the night of July 16, reported The Daily Telegraph (17/7/2007, p.12).

    Suburbs in the dark: The blackouts happened because of separate electrical incidents in Paddington, Woollahra, Hunters Hill, Galston, Gladesville, Fairlight, St Leonards, Cammeray, Eastwood, North Sydney, Rockdale and Epping, an EnergyAustralia spokesperson said. North Sydney fared worst with 1600 homes blacked out.

  • Wild weather ravages Europe

    Torrential rain has been sweeping parts of Wales and England, causing travel chaos and forcing the evacuation of homes and schools.

    Helicopters have been sent to rescue people from homes in Worcestershire, a hospital has been flooded in West Sussex and a man has died in his home in Cumbria.

    Roads have been badly affected in the Midlands and across southern England, with flights and trains cancelled or late.

    In complete contrast, parts of central and southern Europe have been hit by a heat wave which has claimed a number of lives.

    In Romania, the health ministry has reported two more deaths, bringing the total for the week to seven.

    Bushfires have broken out in neighbouring Bulgaria, while Macedonia has declared a two-week crisis.

  • Regions looking to retirees influx

    A new report has revealed country health and other services are expected to come under renewed pressure because regional areas are undergoing a population boom.

    The ANZ Bank’s Rural and Regional Report has found rural areas are growing at a faster rate than major cities for the first time in many years.

    But it also shows the growth is in those who are aged over 40, which is likely to put pressure on health and aged services in years to come.

    The bank’s senior economist, Mark Rodriguez, says people are leaving the rat race as they near retirement.

    "The affordability of housing would be a key driver of that trend. We also see that as people get older they are looking for a sea change or a tree change," he said.

  • Meat is murder on the environment

    The calculations, which are based on standard industrial methods of meat production in Japan, did not include the impact of managing farm infrastructure and transporting the meat, so the total environmental load is higher than the study suggests.

    Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are in the form of methane released from the animals’ digestive systems, while the acid and fertilising substances come primarily from their waste. Over two-thirds of the energy goes towards producing and transporting the animals’ feed.

    Possible interventions, the authors suggest, include better waste management and shortening the interval between calving by one month. This latter measure could reduce the total environmental load by nearly 6 per cent. A Swedish study in 2003 suggested that organic beef, raised on grass rather than concentrated feed, emits 40 per cent less greenhouse gases and consumes 85 per cent less energy.

    "Methane emissions from beef cattle are declining, thanks to innovations in feeding practices," says Karen Batra of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in Centennial, Colorado. "Everybody is trying to come up with different ways to reduce carbon footprints," says Su Taylor of the Vegetarian Society in the UK: "But one of the easiest things you can do is to stop eating meat."

    From issue 2613 of New Scientist magazine, 18 July 2007, page 15