Solar PV and wind are on track to replace all coal, oil and gas within two decades
Andrew Blakers and Matthew Stocks, Australian National University
Solar photovoltaics and wind power are on track to supplant fossil-fuel-based electricity generation by the 2030s. The only thing holding back the renewable revolution is politics.
https://theconversation.com/solar-pv-and-wind-are-on-track-to-replace-all-coal-oil-and-gas-within-two-decades-94033
Today’s Celebration
Day of Beauty & Mother’s Armenia
National Mourning Day (Genocide Remembrance Day) Rwanda
Toussaint L’Ouverture Day Haiti
Women’s Day Mozambique
End of Passover Judaism
World Health Day http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2003/en/
Day of Rememberance of the Victims of the Rwanda Genocide http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/
No Housework Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/no-housework-day/
Tangible Karma Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/tangible-karma-day/
DIY Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/diy-day/
More about Apr 7
Climate Change
How to talk to kids about climate change
Michelle Nijhuis
As a reporter covering the environment, I’m all too aware of what the next 50 years could hold. As a 9-year-old, she’s not—and for now, she wants to stay that way.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/04/raising-kids-climate-change/554969/
The existential trap of solar geoengineering
Pete Myers
We need to be very wary before we declare any effort to create a man-made chemical sunshade to deflect a harmful rise in global temperatures.
http://www.ehn.org/developing-nations-to-study-ways-to-dim-sunshine-slow-warming-2556437215.html
National
How a fossil fuel geoscientist joined the fight against climate change
Could you walk away from a promising and well-paying career as a geoscientist in the fossil fuel industry to join the fight against climate change? Dimitri Lafleur did.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-04-07/fossil-fuel-geoscientist-joins-climate-change-fight/9494426
We’re becoming more ethically-minded, and businesses are taking note
A growing number of businesses in Australia are seeking to show consumers that they’re driven by more than profits. But some warn the big picture of global supply chains is hard to control.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-06/more-businesses-being-socially-responsible-to-attract-consumers/9622668
Investor group says selling Liddell an investment risk
A major institutional investor group has warned that any sale of AGL’s Liddell power plant could create investment risks.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/investor-group-says-selling-liddell-an-investment-risk-20180406-p4z87z.html
Giants guzzle $400m can refunds [$]
The nation’s beverage companies are making more than $30m a month from a scheme originally designed to reduce littering.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/companies-pocket-400m-a-year-from-unclaimed-refunds/news-story/9aaaaef93d76e02c3be9d3b4fc764bb3
Coal hypocrisy all round
Ben Oquist
It is hard to know what is worse – the hypocrisy of an energy company claiming to be green yet trying to prevent coal stations closing, or a Federal Government that preaches the need for reliability and business confidence as it drives investor uncertainty to new heights. But that’s energy policy in Australia today.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/coal-hypocrisy-all-round-20180406-p4z861.html
Trash talk: a view from the verges
Richard Glover
The verges of the Hume, in particular, were once a glinting necklace of smashed bottles and empty cans. You’d stop the car at some random spot, a young child wanting a wee, and find a spot between the abandoned nappies, the milk-shake containers, the crushed cigarette packets.
https://www.theage.com.au/opinion/richard-glover-is-it-time-to-hold-up-on-the-trash-talk-20180403-h0y9b7.html
Stop this energy masochism [$]
Chris Kenny
Malcolm Turnbull has a chance for a retreat in the name of common sense, economic sanity and political advantage.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/turnbull-could-ease-energy-crisis-with-retreat-on-paris-climate-action/news-story/56ae12166d4c42bb5549cc4d47491e9a
Coal-fired fools won’t oust PM [$]
Peter Van Onselen
If a charge of the light brigade is Abbott and Co’s endgame, I’ll be on hand to watch the massacre. But the Nats are the real story.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/monash-forum-coalfired-foolishness-not-enough-to-dislodge-malcolm-turnbull/news-story/6e9a809cbeb705e4047f155252190ff6
The Nationals should support carbon farming, not coal
Andrew Hopkins, ANU
National Party MP George Christensen has invited other Nationals to join the recently formed pro-coal “Monash Forum”. But is coal in the best interests of their rural constituents, particularly farmers?
https://theconversation.com/the-nationals-should-support-carbon-farming-not-coal-94112
Monash Forum’s puzzling energy agenda [$]
Karen Middleton
Critics of the forum also note that when he was leader Abbott was vehemently opposed to government subsidising industry. He refused to countenance a much smaller subsidy to rescue Australian fruit canner Ardmona but now wants the government to fund a power station.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2018/04/07/monash-forums-puzzling-energy-agenda/15230232006047
Pro-coal right comes after Turnbull [$]
Paul Bongiorno
This trashing of the Liberal Party’s defining philosophy has some on the back bench shaking their heads. It is one thing for the Nationals, often dubbed agrarian socialists, to call for a renationalisation of energy supply. It’s quite another for the champions of market forces and free enterprise who are supposed to inhabit the Liberal Party room to do so.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/contributor/paul-bongiorno
Investing in new coal generation is a mug’s game [$]
Paul Syvret
There’s a role for coal in the energy mix for some years, but it will diminish as we transition from old, dirty, power to new. We need to face the reality of a low carbon future.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/investing-in-new-coal-generation-is-a-mugs-game/news-story/3ea079e8da4ef11a1050660912c2db95
Why a new coal-fired power station doesn’t stack up [$]
David Speers
As the Newspoll benchmark by which Tony Abbott was ousted looms for Malcolm Turnbull, skittish MPs are opening up old scars with a coal-fired power station push that doesn’t stack up.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/david-speers-why-a-new-coalfired-power-station-doesnt-stack-up/news-story/882cf386b305ee8840cfbdf40bb92ba6
Leaked: true facts about coal (according to the Monash Forum)
Ben Pobjie
There’s a lot of bad news out there about coal. Let’s re-examine the facts. [Satire]
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/04/06/leaked-the-facts-about-coal-according-to-the-monash-forum/
Victoria
Push for Victoria to get on with container deposit scheme
A 3-metre coke bottle is being towed across Victoria as pressure mounts on the State Government to adopt a container deposit scheme, with advocates saying it is the most effective thing the Government can do to help oceans.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-06/coke-bottle-tours-victoria-for-container-deposit-scheme/9623562
New South Wales
AGL chief determined to turn Liddell into renewables hub
Andy Vesey says plant remains an extremely valuable piece of AGL’s portfolio until its closure
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/06/agl-chief-determined-to-turn-liddell-into-renewables-hub
AGL ‘profiteering on Liddell’ [$]
The Turnbull government has accused AGL of profiteering by forcing the closure of the Liddell coal-fired power station.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/agls-liddell-shutdown-smacks-of-gouging/news-story/59bad63b16c5ed95dc1bfbff748375de
Battery boom ‘only just beginning’ [$]
Simon Hackett sees similarities in where the fledgling energy storage market is and where the internet was in the early 1990s.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/battery-boom-only-just-beginning-says-tech-tycoon/news-story/9d787d50c8a8ea17c54c46b08cdac21b
Queensland
Demand response worth half Liddell’s output [$]
“This sort of technology has enabled us to make sure that the lights have stayed on in Queensland over the last two summers,” Energy Queensland’s Peter Price says.
http://www.afr.com/news/demand-response-worth-half-a-liddell-to-energy-queensland-20180404-h0ybij
Charles ‘a true wildlife warrior’: Bindi
Prince Charles says decisions made in the next decade will determine the fate of the Great Barrier Reef, ahead of roundtable discussion on Lady Elliot Island.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/charles-issues-fresh-plea-for-barrier-reef/news-story/c8cceeb7967441ba562aaeaac930b4d8
South Australia
Oil spill in the Great Australian Bight would be a ‘welcomed boost’
An oil spill in the Great Australian Bight would provide a “welcomed boost” to local economies, according to comments from BP in a 2016 report, but a spokesman for the company says it does “not reflect BP’s views”.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-06/oil-spill-in-great-australian-bight-would-be-welcome-bp-said/9628338
Get ready for a rough river ride
South Australia should prepare for the worst when it comes to the River Murray, top water expert David Paton says.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/crisis-in-the-murray-river-as-minister-says-there-is-no-plan-b-after-murraydarling-basin-plan/news-story/0e2238bb4bdd26d057651723622cfaea
Tasmania
High tension in cable car drama [$]
Opponents of a kunanyi/Mt Wellington cable car are gearing up for a fierce fight as the State Government paves the way for development and a re-energised company changes tack in a bid to sell the controversial project to the Tasmanian public.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/tasweekend-high-tension-in-cable-car-drama/news-story/15bf4116464778f150576409080646a6
C-cell waits for first load of waste [$]
Construction of the Copping C-cell waste facility is finished and its first customers are expected to deliver their first loads within weeks.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/copping-ccell-completed-and-awaiting-first-load-of-waste/news-story/0bdeec99201a1da4d08045631a462a3a
On the trail of the London thylacines
Penny Edmonds and Hannah Stark, University of Tasmania
More than 160 thylacine specimens lie in museum collections in the UK. The sight of their bodies is a shocking reminder of loss.
https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-on-the-trail-of-the-london-thylacines-91473
Northern Territory
‘You’re going to scare investors away’: MP warned about criticising space project in Arnhem Land
Negative commentary about plans for Australia’s first commercial space centre could dissuade other prospective investors to the East Arnhem land region, a local Indigenous group warns.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-06/nhulunbuy-space-project-naysayers-will-deter-investors-launch/9624120
Western Australia
Western Australian hunters accused of releasing feral pigs for sport
Research backs farmers’ claims that the animals have returned to areas where they had been eradicated
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/06/western-australian-hunters-accused-of-releasing-feral-pigs-for-sport
Sustainability
Serbia faces up to huge hazardous waste problem to meet EU environment standards
The situation arising from decades of neglect, corruption and economic decay is “dramatic,” Serbian Environmental Protection Minister Goran Trivan said.
http://www.euronews.com/2018/04/05/serbia-faces-up-to-huge-hazardous-waste-problem-to-meet-eu-environment-standards
Canada moves to exempt most new oilsands projects from federal assessments
After more than a year of public hearings, the federal government unveiled its new and improved environmental assessment legislation in February 2018 with much ado.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/04/05/news/canada-moves-exempt-most-new-oilsands-projects-federal-assessments
Ecological footprint: How ‘gray energy’ is totally underestimated
Although we can’t see it, gray energy is key to measuring our ecological footprint. Researchers in Europe are arguing that we need to better tally gray energy in order to present a more complete picture of energy use.
http://www.dw.com/en/ecological-footprint-how-gray-energy-is-totally-underestimated/a-43261811
This toilet vaporizes poop to solve sanitation problems
This startup has developed a waterless toilet that can basically vaporize your poop.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40550779/this-toilet-vaporizes-poop-to-solve-sanitation-problems
Solar PV and wind are on track to replace all coal, oil and gas within two decades
Andrew Blakers and Matthew Stocks, Australian National University
Solar photovoltaics and wind power are on track to supplant fossil-fuel-based electricity generation by the 2030s. The only thing holding back the renewable revolution is politics.
https://theconversation.com/solar-pv-and-wind-are-on-track-to-replace-all-coal-oil-and-gas-within-two-decades-94033
Nature Conservation
Environmental groups and victim’s family call for justice in Borneo oil spill
Environmental groups have called for the head of Indonesia’s state owned oil company to be fired, while family members speak out over the loss of loved ones killed in the ocean blaze.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-07/call-for-accountability-over-borneo-oil-spill/9628476
‘We know we may be killed’: the rangers risking their lives for Virunga’s gorillas
The huge national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most dangerous conservation projects in the world. But thanks to the efforts of a committed force of rangers, populations of endangered species are recovering and locals say the park offers hope for the whole region
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/06/we-know-we-may-be-killed-the-rangers-risking-their-lives-for-virungas-gorillas
Plan to fix nuclear cooling canals could wind up polluting Biscayne Bay
Environmentalists worry that so far the deal doesn’t insure water is clean enough to enter Biscayne Bay, which has been plagued by algae blooms and seagrass die-offs, and contradicts an earlier decision by the county to retire the canals.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article208090509.html
Should I care about all creatures great and small?
Kyle Beach
A rhino species is close to extinction … and what that has to do with me and you
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/should-i-care-about-all-creatures-great-and-small/
The northern white rhino should not be brought back to life
Jason Gilchrist, Edinburgh Napier University
Rhino resurrection is tempting, but if humans cannot save a species in nature, what future for animals that we manufacture?
https://theconversation.com/the-northern-white-rhino-should-not-be-brought-back-to-life-94153
Maelor Himbury