Daily Links Sep 19

‘Fingerprinting’ the ocean to predict devastating sea level rise.
Scientists are using satellites to identify where increasing sea levels could result in the most destructive storm surge as hurricanes grow more powerful due to climate change.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-4057999804430503941

Urgent Emission Reductions Needed to Achieve 1.5°C Warming Limit
Significant emission reductions are required if we are to achieve one of the key goals of the Paris Agreement, and limit the increase in global average temperatures to 1.5°C; a new Oxford University partnership warns.
http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/52552

Scientific models saved lives from Harvey and Irma. They can from climate change too.
Dana Nuccitelli The Guardian
Climate models have an even better track record than the weather models that saved lives in Texas and Florida.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-4057999804430503940

Coal not even popular in coal-dominated electorates
A survey of voter attitudes in the Labor-held blue-collar strongholds has found 28 per cent of voters tag the federal …
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4932645/coal-not-even-popular-in-coal-dominated-electorates/?cs=7

Saudi solar tycoon’s $300m handout
Australians will pay subsidies to a solar farm owned by a billionaire, despite it producing 0.08 per cent of the nation’s power.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/saudi-solar-tycoons-300m-handout/news-story/e963968ea2e23b284036debd3ee8b0d7

Alan Finkel urges Turnbull to adopt clean energy target before states act
Chief scientist says conflicting targets at different levels of government could strangle investment and worsen power supply problems
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/18/alan-finkel-urges-turnbull-to-adopt-clean-energy-target-before-states-act

Australia joins international nuclear power research group
http://www.theage.com.au/business/energy/australia-joins-international-nuclear-power-research-group-20170917-gyjdrp.html

Coal support offer knocked back
EnergyAustralia’s boss told a government MP a key coal station wouldn’t expand due to its ­renewables commitment.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coal-support-offer-knocked-back-over-renewables/news-story/3cc10b9bd1d7dce751bdbca445297b1a

Unchecked population growth is costly for the economy and environment
Paul Williams
IF ONLY Labor and the Coalition parties would address what ordinary voters in congested suburbs already know.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-unchecked-population-growth-is-costly-for-the-economy-and-environment/news-story/7c844553de142141edd3ce30a6c1b521

Coal story cooks up pulp fiction
Peter Boyer
The Prime Minister has presided over a changing narrative on coal and climate change action
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-coal-story-cooks-up-pulp-fiction/news-story/e30ff4ebea4cf2028e7d50906cd99f6f

Make the renewables mafia squeal
Nick Cater
Taxpayers shouldn’t have to carry the cost of subsidising unstable energy generation.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/nick-cater/well-have-it-right-when-renewables-mafia-squeals/news-story/c1a26c0d5bee0afa5ba79e45692e0d13

The dark side of a Green mess
Ron Boswell
More than any other policy action before or since, the Renewable Energy Target is responsible for today’s energy mess.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/ret-cet-subsidise-wind-solar-at-the-cost-of-coal-and-oil/news-story/c624462e104e6b6f855df25c0ee7761d

How better data would improve the electricity market
Mardi Dungey, University of Tasmania and Ali Ghahremanlou, University of Tasmania
We don’t know whether electricity generators are bidding in “good faith” because they are providing data in a form that defies analysis.
http://theconversation.com/how-better-data-would-improve-the-electricity-market-84124

‘Clean coal’ is a lie straight out of the Orwellian playbook
Andrew Glikson
Despite the dire warning of climate scientists, underpinned by the current spate of extreme weather events around the world, the government appears to be bent on promoting coal-fired power generation
https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/09/18/turnbull-government-backs-clean-coal-even-though-its-useless-rubbish/

More than just drains: recreating living streams through the suburbs
Zoe Myers, University of Western Australia
Drains take up precious but inaccessible open space in our cities. Converting these to living streams running through the suburbs could make for healthier places in multiple ways.
http://theconversation.com/more-than-just-drains-recreating-living-streams-through-the-suburbs-83345

Death of the CET
Graeme McLeay
Coalition talk of dumping Finkel’s Clean Energy Target leaves Australia’s climate policy in tatters.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19298

There’s nothing to lose by experimenting with renewable energy
Marc Hudson
A while ago I asked what types of people will lead our great energy transition. Well, some of them seem to be living in the north of Melbourne. Last month I watched as Victoria’s Climate Change Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, announced $1 million for a hydrogen refuelling station to power zero-emission local government vehicles. The money, from the New Energy Jobs Fund, will sit alongside $1.5 million that Moreland Council is investing over three years.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/theres-nothing-to-lose-by-experimenting-with-renewable-energy-20170825-gy44p0.html

Delta knocks Liddell power plant purchase on the head
Delta Electricity, the only company to declare an interest in buying AGL’s ailing Liddell power station, has all …
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4932329/delta-knocks-liddell-power-plant-purchase-on-the-head/?cs=7

Locals brush anti-Adani protests
Protesters chose Bowen as the site of a week-long protest against the Adani coal mine, and the locals aren’t happy.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/bowen-gets-its-back-up-as-adani-mine-protesters-hit-town/news-story/84d363fb254349d83d77495ca8885af4

Giant snail’s Reef trail on tight leash
RELEASING giant triton sea snails on the Great Barrier Reef would not lead to a cane toad-like population explosion, a top researcher says.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/giant-triton-sea-snail-release-on-great-barrier-reef-tightly-controlled-to-avoid-repeat-of-cane-toadlike-plague/news-story/b424c7142e49a64fdf0ea59e500f6622

The big drips wasting our water
ONE southeast Queensland area is topping the water-usage rate for the region, despite having the lowest dam levels.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast-residents-top-the-waterusage-rate-in-southeast-queensland/news-story/774b4a12985b027687d11410bc5915f7

How Cross River Rail just got real
THE Queensland Government just gave its clearest indication yet that the controversial $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project is going ahead.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-government/cross-river-rail-first-job-advertisements-posted-online/news-story/f34c690eb3c54b27ff1a90aa121cd79e

Crocodile education more effective than killing
TERRI Irwin has questioned the sense in authorities using sharpshooters to kill a crocodile likely to attack small designer dogs at Lake Placid and not much else.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/terri-irwin-questions-authorities-decision-to-kill-crocodile-at-lake-placid/news-story/c71343004289abb4d253f43f8f4086ac

Projects get legs with $15m funding
A FOUR-STAGE plan to transform the Cattana Wetlands into an eco-tourism drawcard is getting a running start as part of a $15?million funding win for Cairns Regional Council.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/funding-will-create-or-supprt-1200-jobs-across-far-north-queensland/news-story/c7bc04c34e7658ec13865e5fedbe0d49

Targeting an increase in mining ventures
Guy Barnett
Mining contributes $1.95 billion to state’s exports
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/4929689/targeting-an-increase-in-mining-ventures/?cs=97

Big Oil becomes greener with cuts to greenhouse gas pollution.
Sixty-two of the world’s 100 largest companies consistently cut their emissions on an annual basis between 2010 and 2015, with an overall 12 percent decline during that period, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance released ahead of its conference in London on Monday.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-6766923627212621878

Developing Roads That Can Generate Power From Passing Traffic
Researchers are looking at advanced materials for roads and pavements that could generate electricity from passing traffic.
http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/52555

Copper catalyst yields high efficiency CO2-to-fuels conversion
Berkeley Lab scientists discover critical role of nanoparticle transformation
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/dbnl-ccy091817.php

An Effective Way to Eliminate Atrazine and Its by-Products in Surface Water
Atrazine, widely used as a weedkiller, is known to have harmful effects on aquatic wildlife and presents a risk to human health by altering the action of certain hormones.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170918123600.htm

Fuel from Waste and Electricity?
Researchers have shown that the combination of microbial and electrochemical conversion of biomass can yield valuable products. For the example of corn beer and corn silage they have gained …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170918093343.htm

5,000 Deaths Annually from Diesel-Gate in Europe
Excess emissions from diesel cars cause about 5,000 premature deaths annually across Europe, a new study shows. Higher exposure to secondary particles and ozone can be traced …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170918093337.htm

A Solar Cell You Can Put in the Wash
 Scientists have developed a new type of ultra-thin photovoltaic device, coated on both sides with stretchable and waterproof films, which can continue to provide electricity from sunlight even after …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170918111843.htm

New approach boosts performance in thermoelectric materials
Work expands potential to use magnesium-antimony materials in thermoelectric devices
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/uoh-nab091817.php

Renewables rise but coal crucial
Coal will continue to be the backbone of world energy production for decades to come, a US report states.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/world-reliance-on-coal-will-last-for-decades-report-finds/news-story/69fb2c47f16a91c1fac2936a54764532

Nuclear must be part of the low-carbon mix
Agneta Rising of the World Nuclear Association and Dr Alexander Bannara reply to criticisms of the industry
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/18/nuclear-must-be-part-of-the-low-carbon-mix

Ministers launch group to help boost green business investment
Green Finance Taskforce to assist UK’s shift to low-carbon economy and be led by investors and leading figures from City
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/18/green-finance-taskforce-business-investment-clean-energy-infrastructure

Enough tiptoeing around. Let’s make this clear: Coal kills people.
Tim Hollo The Guardian
Burning more coal, knowing what we know, is a deliberate act of arson. We must urgently come to grips with this fact and reconnect with nature and our communities
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-6766923627212622547

Report Suggests Love of the Seas Could be the Key for Plastic Pollution Solution
Tapping into the public’s passion for the ocean environment could be the key to reducing the threats posed to it by plastic pollution, a new report suggests.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/52554

Small-scale fisheries have big impact on oceans
A new UBC study has found that small-scale fisheries may have a much larger impact on ocean ecosystems than previously thought, due to a lack of data on their development over time.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/52547