Author: admin

From ABC Online 

A charity that helps farmers in poor countries has strongly condemned the development of biofuels.

The charity, called Grain, says growing crops for fuel is causing ecosystems to be destroyed and farmers to lose their land.

Fuels from crops are being heavily promoted by the US and Europe as a welcome solution to climate change.

But the report from Grain amplifies recent warnings from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation that some biofuels produce hardly any carbon savings at all.

What is more, the group says, Governments and biofuels firms in developing countries are collaborating to push hundreds of thousands of indigenous people and peasant communities off their land.

The group says the media has been "spun" into using the cosy term biofuels and wants us to refer to them as agro-fuels instead.

– BBC

Germany leads the way: Germany, a country with far less sunlight than Australia, installed 960 megawatts of solar photovoltaic power in 2006 and would be installing over 2,800 megawatts by 2010. At the current growth rate of solar electric installations in Germany, in 2010 they would be installing the equivalent of over 1 million units on house rooftops per year. The German photovoltaic industry was worth approximately $A7 billion and employed more than 8,000 people. The industry in Germany was growing at about 30 per cent per year.

Excess power feeds back into grid: Germany’s feed-in tariff scheme allowed excess power to be fed back into the grid and the owner of the solar system was paid premium prices. This reduced the payback time of new solar systems to less than five years and encouraged new installations.

Photovoltaic push means clean energy by 2020: Evidence suggested that if Australia matched the annual international growth rate of photovoltaic installation, by 2020 every home in Australia could be powered by zero emission energy. The solar energy industry in Australia has released a blueprint showing that if we commence in 2010 with 685 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity, which was a quarter of what Germany would install, with a 20 per cent yearly growth, by 2020 Australia could install over 22,000 megawatts of solar panels. This would equate to a large three-kilowatt photovoltaic system on every residence in Australia. The industry pointed out that 22,000 megawatts of clean solar energy was equivalent to 11 large coal power stations running at full capacity.

Reference: Peter Ross Draper, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Member for Tamworth, Independent, Legislative Assembly, New South Wales Parliament, 5 June 2007

Erisk Net, 22/6/2007

Costa referred to "idiots like Tim Flannery saying it’ll never rain" as he launched into a tirade against the theory of greenhouse gases, reported The Sydney Morning Herald (29/6/07, p. 4).

Saving jobs at cost to household consumers: He said Flannery and others continually came up with "ridiculous propositions" and told Coalition MPs he would not have appointed Mr Flannery Australian of the Year. This week Costa told caucus it should adopt a proposal that would allow big power users such as aluminium smelters to avoid the costs of meeting the Government’s renewable energy targets to "save jobs in Newcastle and Wollongong". Caucus agreed to adopt the renewable energy bill that would enact the change, even though household consumers would pay an extra $15 a year on average to meet the targets.

Costa great climate change supporter?: He acknowledged climate change could bring more rain but overall it would lead to a drier climate. "It [climate change] is demonstrable and scientifically provable and we need to take it into account when we make decisions." On 27 June, when he made a clean coal announcement in question time, Iemma defended Costa’s stance on climate change to opposition interjections. "The Treasurer is great supporter of climate change [sic] and has created a $310 million climate change fund," lemma said.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 29/6/2007, p. 4

The Yes Men assume the complainant was Exxon. "Since parody is
protected under US law, Exxon must think that people seeing the site
will think Vivoleum's a real Exxon product, not just a parody," said
Yes Man Mike Bonanno. "Exxon's policies do already contribute to
150,000 climate-change related deaths each year," added Yes Man Andy
Bichlbaum. "So maybe it really is credible. What a resource!"

After receiving the complaint June 15, Broadview added a "filter"
that disabled the Vivoleum.com IP address (64.115.210.59), and
furthermore prevented email from being sent from the Yes Men's
primary IP address (64.115.210.58). Even after all Exxon logos were
removed from both sites and a disclaimer was placed on Vivoleum.com
on Tuesday, Broadview would still not remove the filter. (The
disclaimer read: "Although Vivoleum is not a real ExxonMobil program,
it might as well be.")

Broadview did restore both IPs on Wednesday, after the Vivoleum.com
website was completely disabled and all mention of Exxon was removed
from TheYesMen.org.

“Production of many important food stuffs will drop dramatically
causing suppliers to push up prices and increase reliance on expensive
imported foods. 
 
“The Greens are calling on the state government to conduct an urgent
investigation of likely impacts on food prices and issue a warning
outlining which foods are at risk and likely impacts on household
budgets.
 
“Retail prices of fruits, vegetables, nuts, dairy products and some
grains and snacks will soar. At particular risk are table grapes,
apples, pears, stone fruit, lemons, mandarins, grapefruits, tomatoes,
lettuce and salad vegetables.
 
“NSW Fair Trading Minister Burney has a responsibility to protect
consumers in NSW. Warning households of impending price rises will help
them budget for the lean times that might be ahead.
 
“We are concerned that nutrition standards, particularly for the young
and the vulnerable, will fall dramatically unless households make
financial provisions to tide them through possible shortages. 
 
“Global warming could bring more frequent and severe droughts. The
state government can help people learn how to adjust to fluctuations in
food prices.
 
“Few living Australians remember food shortages and rising prices. The
Minister has the opportunity to help the community prepare budgets and
make financial provisions for rising food prices,” Dr Kaye said.