Up in smoke: what did taxpayers get for the $2bn emissions fund?
Before the latest auction figures, Adam Morton investigates the plan Turnbull once called ‘a recipe for fiscal recklessness’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/03/up-in-smoke-what-did-taxpayers-get-for-their-2bn-emissions-fund
Today’s Celebration
Martyr’s Day – Uganda
Mabo Day – http://www.aboriginalheritage.org/news/2013/mabo-day/
More about Jun 3 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_3
National
Salt, the white death destroying Australia’s farmland
Australia has a silent crisis on its hands and the threat is looming just beneath the surface of the country’s most fertile food bowls. Now farmers are looking at new ways to deal with the problem.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-06-02/salinity-crisis-for-australias-farmland-but-farmers-fight-back/9826834
Can the Coalition and Labor do a deal on energy policy? – Australian politics live podcast
With the Coalition party room in another spat about the national energy guarantee, does the policy have any chance of passing?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2018/jun/01/can-the-coalition-and-labor-do-a-deal-on-energy-policy-australian-politics-live-podcast
Up in smoke: what did taxpayers get for the $2bn emissions fund?
Before the latest auction figures, Adam Morton investigates the plan Turnbull once called ‘a recipe for fiscal recklessness’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/03/up-in-smoke-what-did-taxpayers-get-for-their-2bn-emissions-fund
Halogen bulbs gone by 2020 [$]
Make the most of their dazzling shine while you can — halogen lights will be banned by 2020, potentially saving families and small business hundreds of dollars a year.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/average-household-tipped-to-save-around-650-over-next-decade/news-story/7efc2f457f069f1adcda121db2c65e36
After a week of political theatrics, the energy wars remind us this drama costs
Katharine Murphy
Josh Frydenberg is besieged by unreconcilable demands – and it’s crunch time for his policy
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/02/after-a-week-of-political-theatrics-the-energy-wars-remind-us-this-drama-costs
Show some mercy, Sims
Peter Fitzsimons
What the hell is Rod Sims, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission doing? This week, at a Brissie lunch, Sims blew away the constant trope of endless columnists and broadcasters that the pursuit of bringing our energy networks into the 21st century by moving away from the likes of coal generators and towards renewable systems like solar and wind is to blame for rising power costs.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/campion-has-kept-her-dignity-20180601-p4zixl.html
Green religion’s car plan is a giant failure [$]
Peta Credlin
It was bad enough to have the government damage the power sector, but now it’s coming for Australia’s transport sector too.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/rendezview/green-religions-car-plan-is-one-giant-costsucking-failure/news-story/0042713acea80f132f0396d19422ce8a
Victoria
‘Running rampant’: Victoria to remove 1,200 feral horses from high country
Victoria plans to trap and rehome or euthanase 1,200 feral horses in the state’s high country to combat “severe damage” to fragile ecosystems in the Alpine National Park.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-02/victoria-to-remove-feral-horses-brumbies-alpine-national-park/9827936
Hazelwood Pondage closes amid flood fears
A popular waterway near the defunct power station has been closed amid fears its ageing dam walls could break.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/hazelwood-pondage-closed-due-to-concerns-its-walls-could-burst-20180602-p4zj32.html
Sunlight fight: City council asks minister to stop park overshadowing
A number of popular inner-Melbourne parks could be cast into shadow by high-rise development unless the state government changes laws guaranteeing access to sunlight for most of the day.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/sunlight-fight-city-council-asks-minister-to-stop-park-overshadowing-20180601-p4zixh.html
How op shops became our new dumping grounds
Every night, piles of waste are dumped on the doorsteps of Victoria’s 650-odd op shops. It costs millions to clean it up.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/op-shops-face-tide-of-waste-as-online-sales-see-value-of-donations-dip-20180601-p4zizw.html
Wildlife Victoria reveal crazy cases of critter confusion [$]
Wildlife rescuers are dealing with a case of critter confusion with callers to an animal emergency line mistaking kangaroos for bears and one thinking a goose was a koala.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/wildlife-victoria-reveal-crazy-cases-of-critter-confusion/news-story/9547bc22ee0e29afa258f7860b8dcf19
ACT
Work of wildlife carers worth $6 billion a year
New research has detailed the financial, physical and emotional impacts of being a wildlife carer.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/work-of-wildlife-carers-worth-6-billion-a-year-20180531-p4ziro.html
Queensland
Brisbane council purchases 90 hectares of land for preservation
Brisbane City Council has purchased a further 90 hectares of bush land from private owners as part of its bush land acquisition plan, including 16 hectares from an owner who did not want to sell their land.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-council-purchases-90-hectares-of-land-for-preservation-20180601-p4ziuw.html
Brisbane City Council unveils technology to keep feral deer away from traffic
A high-pitched sonar signal is being emitted in Brisbane’s west as a way of keeping hundreds of feral deer away from traffic.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-city-council-unveils-technology-to-keep-feral-deer-away-from-traffic-20180529-p4zi61.html
LNP vows to bust up electricity giants [$]
Deb Frecklington will bust up Queensland’s State-owned power generating behemoths to reduce electricity bills.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-government/lnp-vows-to-bust-up-electricity-giants/news-story/a4c7e3c0c4b4e6cb2dbf390fb9b28082
South Australia
Reform could end butchering of trees in powerlines [$]
SA Power Networks has proposed the boldest overhaul of rules governing trees and powerlines in 30 years.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-power-networks-proposes-bold-overhaul-of-rules-for-trees-and-powerlines/news-story/4ef4f7c47f8a6e9653c7837e11bf4edd
Tasmania
Hi-tech fence to save wildlife [$]
Virtual fence technology that aims to protect Tasmania’s wildlife from becoming roadkill has been erected along a 5km stretch of the Huon Highway.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/virtual-fence-to-help-protect-tasmanian-wildlife-from-vehicles/news-story/5219c0dbf8a78d967cbd15ec52d72067
Study to smoke out health woes [$]
Tasmania is home to some of the cleanest air on the planet — except during the smoky depths of winter when woodheaters put a cloud over the state’s air quality.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/study-to-smoke-out-health-woes-linked-to-woodheaters/news-story/a2dc94c27c3d7f4b0e2c2a70cabc3782
Doubts over woodchip plan [$]
A Tasmanian wilderness group has raised concerns regarding a proposed woodchip port near Dover, saying the proponent would need to harvest thousands of tonnes of native forests to meet its annual 800,000 tonne export target.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/special-features/doubts-over-woodchip-plan-for-dover/news-story/fa9119eb5a11642cebd663cb4faf159c
Sustainability
Atomically thin nanowires convert heat to electricity more efficiently
Waste heat can be converted to electricity more efficiently using one-dimensional nanoscale materials as thin as an atom — ushering a new way of generating sustainable energy — thanks to new research by the University of Warwick.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/uow-atn060118.php
Research Reveals How the Same Foods Create Markedly Different Environmental Impacts
New research highlights the environmental impacts of thousands of food producers and their products, demonstrating the need for new technology to …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180531143008.htm
NASA Soil Moisture Data Advances Global Crop Forecasts
Data from the first NASA satellite mission dedicated to measuring the water content of soils is now being used operationally by the US Department of Agriculture to monitor global croplands and make …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180601134729.htm
In nearly zero energy buildings special attention must be paid to window design
For the last two years TTÜ Nearly Zero Energy Buildings Research Group led by Professor Hendrik Voll (currently holding the position of TTÜ Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs), with support from personal research funding (PUT, i.e. funding for high level research projects), has been seeking solutions for daylight and solar shading for nearly zero energy buildings in cold climates.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/erc-inz053018.php
Polymer Researchers Discover Path to Sustainable and Biodegradable Polyesters
Researchers have synthesized a biodegradable alternative to polyolefins using a new catalyst and the polyester polymer, and this breakthrough could …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180601160437.htm
New Machine Learning Approach Could Accelerate Bioengineering
Scientists have developed a way to use machine learning to dramatically accelerate the design of microbes that ..
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180601093820.htm
Unfortunately, the Electric Scooters Are Fantastic
Robinson Meyer
But can they succeed despite their essential dorkiness?
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/electric-scooters-are-the-cargo-shorts-of-transportation/561440/
Nature Conservation
Coral ‘sexpert’ wants to turn reef restoration into global business
A dedicated team of scientists believes it could hold the answer to keeping the world’s coral reefs safe from extinction, and sees a future in which private enterprise plays a part.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-02/coral-restoration-may-save-barrier-reef-from-extinction/9810840
How to Achieve a Peaceful Coexistence Between Wolves and Humans
The persecution of wolves in order to remove them from human settlements has culminated in their near-disappearance in numerous European countries, like Spain and Sweden.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180601134813.htm
Whale dies after swallowing 80 plastic bags
Warning, graphic content – The bags the whale swallowed weighed up to eight kilograms in total.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/whale-dies-swallowing-80-plastic-bags-114811952.html
Maelor Himbury