Date: 27 March 2020 at 9:09:29 am AEDT
Subject: Daily Links Mar 27
Post of the Day
Planning for the unknown: Lessons for energy sector from Covid-19
Mark Byrne
The current structure and governance of the electricity market in Australia is not fit for purpose to meet known and unknown challenges.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Earth Hour 8.30pm Tomorrow
Coronavirus Watch
Confirmed cases: 2810. Deaths: 13
Volunteer Management During COVID19
This video from Volunteering Victoria outlines seven steps to effectively managing your volunteers during this time.
How to survive working from home with young kids
Ruchi Sinha
As self isolation measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 ramp up, there are a few things that parents with young children can do to help pull off the juggling act.
Your coronavirus lockdown survival guide
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
With income from external sources dropping, or disappearing, around the country, there are some house-bound hustles that could give your finances a much-needed boost.
Climate Change
These cities will feel climate change’s effects the most
The whole planet will feel climate change’s impacts over coming decades. But some cities will see more dramatic changes in temperature or precipitation than others.
What the coronavirus curve teaches us about climate change
Howard Kunreuther, Paul Slovic
Humans don’t easily grasp the concept of exponential growth, but it’s exactly why coronavirus has gotten so hard to manage—and why climate change could too.
Breaking transmission: The fight against the coronavirus offers a strategy for cutting carbon
Bill McKibben
Fighting climate change requires that we keep opening up gaps in the chain that keeps the planet-wrecking industry thriving.
National
Gas shortage looms for Victoria, NSW by 2024 as production declines
The energy market operator says Victoria and New South Wales are heading for a natural gas shortfall in winter months within four years as production from ExxonMobil and BHP’s Bass Strait gas fields rapidly declines.
Planning for the unknown: Lessons for energy sector from Covid-19
Mark Byrne
The current structure and governance of the electricity market in Australia is not fit for purpose to meet known and unknown challenges.
Cry me a river: The tragedy of the Murray–Darling Basin [extract]
Margaret Simons
I’ve come to think of the Murray–Darling Basin as being like a tree, except the sap runs not from root to twigs but in the other direction.
Victoria
Victoria council works around Covid-19 restrictions to approve 200MW solar farm
A 200MW solar and battery project that faced delays due to Coronavirus restrictions has gained special passage through the local council approval process.
Neoen to take financial hit from delays to big wind and storage project
Leading renewable energy and battery storage developer Neoen says it is likely to take a financial hit from the lengthy delays to the big Bulgana wind and battery storage project in Victoria because the damages claims it can make for lost income are capped and will be exhausted soon.
Think of environment before you flush
Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) is urging Victorians to ‘think before they flush’, because of concerns that the use of products such as wet wipes, tissues or paper towels as alternatives for toilet paper could put pressure on the state’s sewers and domestic wastewater systems.
Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) says that courts are increasingly prepared to convict companies and directors who are first time environmental offenders after a decision was handed down in the Dandenong Magistrates Court on 23 March 2020.
Melbourne’s big water order to boost supply [$]
Melbourne water users will be hit with a charge of about $9 next financial year for the Wonthaggi desalination plant in order to keep it at near-maximum capacity for healthier storages.
New South Wales
Paving way to a more sustainable, cooler future
City of Parramatta Council is trialling two innovative sustainable road solutions aimed at reducing waste materials and combatting heat.
Infectious diseases are another unrecognised cost of high population
Eric Claus
Sydney is crowded and congested, but our political leaders have us headed in the direction of Wuhan. Imagine a city 17 times as crowded and congested as Sydney and you’ve got the starting place for a pandemic.
Queensland
Acciona to build huge 1GW wind farm in Queensland after landing CleanCo deal
Spanish renewable energy giant Acciona is to build a 1GW wind farm in Queensland – the largest in Australia – after signing a deal with the state government’s newly created state-owned clean energy generation company Cleanco.
Council U-turn exposes ratepayers to Caboolture River clean-up costs
Ratepayers north of Brisbane are exposed to costs of millions of dollars to remediate environmental damage from a proposed marina and canal estate on the Caboolture River.
Three reasons Brisbane’s population is booming [$]
Brisbane has recorded the second-highest population growth rate in Australia, and an expert says it’s all down to the three “green lights” of growth.
ACF media release
With help, the tourism industry can recover after COVID-19, but only if there is a healthy Great Barrier Reef to visit once this crisis is over.
Statement on Great Barrier Reef bleaching
Great Barrier Reef Foundation media release
Aerial surveys have confirmed scientists’ fears that mass bleaching is occurring on the Great Barrier Reef now, with widespread bleaching caused by heat stress following the hottest February on record since 1900.
Dismay and devastation as record temperatures lead to mass coral bleaching on our Great Barrier Reef
The announcement of the third mass coral bleaching event in five years on our Great Barrier Reef is devastating news, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has said.
Tasmania
Tasmania Zoo faces uncertainty for animal care during coronavirus
Like many longstanding businesses, Tasmania Zoo’s closure will be the first in its 17-year history not counting Christmas Day.
Tasmania tells tourists to go home as coronavirus toll lifts
Tasmania has ordered all visitors to leave the island state by midnight Sunday, as Australia’s coronavirus death toll rose to 11 with more than 2500 confirmed cases.
Sustainability
Coal mines emit more methane than oil-and-gas sector, study finds
Findings of new study are the latest in a string of papers to suggest methane emissions from the fossil-fuel industry have been “severely underestimated”.
Coal power remains in global decline, despite Chinese surge
Even as China trys to stimulate its economy with a surge in coal plant construction, coal power remains in global decline.
Your actions alone can’t save the planet—but these habits can help
Each of us can help lighten our ecological load—in our homes, our neighborhoods, and the wider world.
This brutal pesticide creates a ‘circle of death.’ So why is it making a comeback?
Carbofuran, a century-old chemical, is increasingly being weaponized against birds and other wildlife, devastating entire food webs.
In race for a sustainable alternative to plastic, Indonesia bets on seaweed
Edible cups made from seaweed. Food containers from sugarcane fiber. These are some of the bioplastic alternatives being tried out in Indonesia.
In coronavirus, industry sees chance to undo plastic bag bans
Backers of single-use plastic bags, battered by a series of bans nationwide, are using the health scare to argue their bags are cleaner and safer.
Running out of things to do in isolation? Get back in the garden with these ideas from 4 experts
Anthea Batsakis
A behavioural science expert, a botanist, an environment media expert and an entomologist suggest ways to connect with nature in your garden.
Coronovirus pandemic could cripple the nuclear industry
Noel Wauchope
Nuclear power facilities have this one problem that is unique to the nuclear industry, and that is, the need for exceptional security.
Oil’s 60 per cent crash is the tip of the iceberg
Alex Longley and Javier Blas
As oil crashes due to the impact of the coronavirus, it’s easy to overlook an even more dismal reality for producers: the real prices they’re getting for their barrels are worse still.
In a global health emergency, the bicycle shines
Laura Laker
As the coronavirus crisis forces changes in transportation, some cities are building bike lanes and protecting cycling shops. Here’s why that makes sense.
Nature Conservation
Rare birds have been seen on Lima beaches as COVID-19 forces people away
Ten days after a state of emergency was declared in Peru in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the usually crowded beaches of Lima have been taken over by Peruvian gulls and pelicans.
Agency drafts conservation plan to protect Hawaii seabirds
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized the first draft of a plan to protect threatened and endangered bird species on Kauai.
Maelor Himbury
6 Florence St Niddrie 3042
0393741902
0432406862
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