Date: 24 February 2023 at 9:01:04 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Feb 24
Post of the Day
Gas industry still talking garbage about big batteries, knowing they will kill its dirty cartel
Giles Parkinson
The gas industry is sprouting utter nonsense about big batteries – a technology it knows will kill its dirty cartel in no time at all.
On This Day
Climate Change
Drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya now worse than during 2011 famine
Rainfall trends in a historic Horn of Africa drought are now worse than they were during the 2011 drought when at least a quarter of million people died, according to a climate centre.
Woolworths and Coles have offered to take thousands of tonnes of plastics off of failed recycling program REDcycle.
National
NSW, Victoria and South Australia have all taken a line of credit from the rivers they can’t repay. Here’s what that means for the federal government, farmers and the environment.
Start building now to fulfil Sydney-Melbourne high-speed rail ambition, Labor urged
Progressive upgrades of existing sections will pave the way for a proper link between major cities, says lobby group
Inability to cool homes in summer heat making almost 90% of Centrelink recipients ill, survey finds
A third of those polled said they had sought medical care for heat stress while others who had air conditioning avoided using it due to cost of electricity
The hidden road toll: Pollution may kill 10 times more than crashes
Rates of heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, diabetes and early death from road pollution have been vastly underestimated, growing evidence suggests.
The homes where residents save big on energy bills
Energy costs are soaring across the nation, but the number of unit buildings offering lower energy bills is also on the rise.
‘Environmentally conscious life’: Green loans boom for Bendigo
Two decades after Bendigo and Adelaide Bank issued its first personal green loans, the company has recorded a more than 600 per cent rise in demand for the product within a year, as banks compete to promote their green credentials.
Would you pay $1000 to get off gas? Consumer dismay over disconnection cost
More consumers want to electrify their homes. But getting their gas permanently disconnected can be a confusing and expensive process.
Electric planes could ‘revolutionise’ Australian travel [$]
An Australian start-up trying to take the fuel out of flying will show off its latest electric innovations at the Avalon Airshow.
Overhaul for hydrogen as rivals go all-out [$]
Australia’s energy ministers are expected to order a review of the nation’s hydrogen strategy, amid warnings the country is falling behind in accelerating investment in green hydrogen.
Methane from Australian coal and gas could be 60% higher than estimated
Data released by the International Energy Agency leads to renewed calls for more emission cuts and block on new projects
VNI West: New transmission route found to get around cost and community concerns
AEMO proposes new preferred route for VNI West transmission upgrade that costs less, fixes more grid problems, and might even have social licence.
How the endangered Booroolong frog is bouncing back from the brink
Shane Cooper owns a property in one of the last remaining habitat areas of Booroolong frogs. For the past decade he and his wife have been restoring creeks to give the endangered species a chance to recover.
How we’ve ruined suburbia: homes twice as big on blocks half the size
Tone Wheeler
In the new suburbia, Australians live cheek by jowl with little room for trees, cross-ventilation or sunlight.
The new major players in conservation? NGOs thrive while national parks struggle
Hugh Possingham
It might surprise you to know that not-for-profit conservation organisations own, manage or influence growing chunks of Australia.
Sarah Ann Wheeler
The federal government has announced a new round of strategic water buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin. The government intends to purchase water entitlements from voluntary sellers in parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
Feds should drive EV road user charges to fill fuel excise pothole [$]
Phillip Coorey
Apart from trying to nickel-and-dime superannuation to find a $1 billion here or there, Labor should focus on the gaping revenue hole that threatens to appear over the next decade.
Australia’s energy market operator is worried about grid reliability. Should it be?
Dylan McConnell
AEMO says there’s an “urgent need for investment” to meet grid reliability requirements. But is this reason to panic?
The trouble with the Greens – cartoon
Fiona Katauskas
Quick, the world is on fire, put it out! No, not with that
Victoria
Victoria’s Flowerdale blaze continues to burn as hot and windy weather challenges firefighters
Victoria’s Country Fire Authority is still battling to control a blaze at Flowerdale, north of Melbourne, which has burnt 900 hectares, while a second grassfire is threatening communities at Buangor in the state’s west.
Landholders offered $8000 sweetener for power line disruption
Hundreds of kilometres of new high-voltage, high-capacity, power lines will be needed to cope with the supply variations of wind and solar energy.
New South Wales
Slow buyback scheme pushes flood-affected residents to sell homes on the open market
A buyback scheme that was supposed to move NSW Northern Rivers residents out of extreme flood danger has barely begun a year after the floods, with the first offers made only in the past few days.
Federal government reveals plan for offshore wind farm near Newcastle
The federal government has announced a plan to develop an offshore wind farm zone off the New South Wales Hunter region that would have the capacity for hundreds of turbines.
‘Just a disgrace’: experts condemn NSW use of public land to offset huge housing expansion
The Perrottet government is being accused of ‘double dipping’ on offsets by using land that’s already been put aside for conservation
Waratah Super Battery: Australia’s biggest committed battery gets final approval
NSW gives final approval for Waratah Super Battery, before launching into campaign mode as the election battle heats up.
Newcastle Airport signs up to go 100% renewable, seven years early
Newcastle Airport is looking to land its 100% renewable energy target seven years ahead of schedule, with a solar carport and new energy purchase agreement.
ACT
Colony of Canberra earless dragons to boost endangered populations [$]
A Tidbinbilla breeding program has reached a significant milestone, with a colony of Canberra grassland earless dragons relocated into a predator-free enclosure ahead of their release into the wild.
Queensland
National ban call as second state puts pin in helium balloons
Queensland will soon become the second state to ban the release of helium balloons that sentence turtles and sea birds to long, cruel deaths.
Time is running out to save Queensland’s threatened species but the state government is still behind
More than four years after the Queensland’s Environment Department was found to have no plan to protect threatened species, the agency is still lagging behind, according to the state’s auditor-general.
South Australia
Popular Adelaide beach disappearing under review tide
Sand is rapidly disappearing from popular Henley Beach as a government review stalls replenishment action, with Henley Surf Life Saving Club forced to shovel sand to safely drive rescue vehicles across its access ramp.
SA on bushfire alert as heatwave continues
The Country Fire Service says heat and wind forecasts for Friday present a “significant risk”, with extreme bushfire conditions declared across much of South Australia as it swelters through the worst heatwave in more than three years.
Tasmania
Future of hydrogen secured with reliable water source [$]
A reliable water source for the Bell Bay Green Hydrogen Hub will now be secure under proposed legislative changes that will see the hub tapping into the state’s irrigation water supplies
Extinction rebellion members appear in court [$]
Gabrielle Claire Knox, Graham Frederick Bailey and Anthony Scott Bell fined for protests
Marine park plans ‘an attack on fishery’ [$]
Plans to dramatically expand the marine protected area around Macquarie Island have been met with joy from conservationists but fury from Australia’s fishing industry.
Northern Territory
Darwin’s air quality ranked as Australia’s worst [$]
The air quality in the Top End has been rated as among the worst in the country, with one dry season activity to blame.
In the town of Adelaide River a race track, cemetery, and several homes are at risk of being trampled by feral pigs, as the locals struggle to push back against the pests.
Western Australia
WA’s lands minister once wanted DAPs abolished. Now he’s making them more powerful
“We have seen a significant erosion of planning powers by shifting the power of elected representatives … to an unelected panel,” John Carey said in 2016.
Sustainability
Clean energy 101: Reducing climate pollution from the plastics industry
Decarbonizing plastic production and disposal is essential for a safer climate future.
Iraq: Environmentalists face retaliation
Iraq’s environmental activists are facing threats, harassment, and arbitrary detention by government officials and armed groups, Human Rights Watch said today.
On a visit to Africa’s biggest economy, RMI’s Jon Creyts finds rising demand for solar solutions
Steel giants are stoking double standards on decarbonisation
Simon Nicholas & Soroush Basirat
Steel majors will need to explain how they will meet their net zero emissions targets while continuing to build blast furnaces in high-growth economies like India.
Stunning new data on the economics of US coal vs. renewables – The Carbon Copy podcast
Only one coal plant in America is cheaper than new renewables. So why haven’t we ditched coal yet?
Nature Conservation
Urban ponds require attention to ensure biodiversity
New research suggests aquatic plants can be utilized as a tool to enhance the co-existence between aquatic invertebrates and their fish predators in urban ponds.
Scientists use satellite images to study the degradation of rangelands in Tanzania
East Africa’s iconic rangelands — under threat from climate change and human activity — have the potential to recover from repeated environmental shocks and degradation, a new study has concluded.
Machine learning makes long-term, expansive reef monitoring possible
Conservationists can now monitor climate impacts to expansive marine ecosystems over extended periods of time, a task that used to be impossible, using a tool developed by scientists in the U.S.
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