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Date: 19 April 2023 at 8:40:48 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Apr 19
Post of the Day
Electric vehicle strategy released with major focus on increasing affordability and supply of EVs
The federal government has released its first electric vehicle strategy and outlined how it plans to remove barriers to buying and increase the uptake of EVs.
On This Day
Climate Change
Extinction Rebellion will ‘step up’ action if government ignores two climate demands
Extinction Rebellion and other campaign groups have vowed to “step up” action unless the government responds to two demands on climate change.
Banks committed to net zero fund “Australia’s dirtiest” offshore gas project, report finds
Betting on a sinking ship: Nine banks provide key backing for massive and controversial offshore gas reservoir in Timor Sea – despite most pledging net zero targets.
Record 5GW of new solar and wind underway – and big batteries are getting bigger
New report reveals 2022 as highest year for new renewable construction commitments on record. And while there a fewer of them, big batteries are upsizing.
A landmark report modelling Australia’s pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050 finds the country’s biggest power grid will need to triple in size within eight years.
A few simple changes could save many Australian households thousands in energy costs
As the cold weather sets in, the Climate Council has calculated households can save $2,000 on energy bills through insulating ceilings, plugging gaps, and other efficiency measures.
Getting personal: This man’s corporate fight shows how battle between green and black will be waged
The news this week that superannuation funds were now in the frame for financing coal and gas projects is obviously a prelude to another round of green versus black brawling over the future of the industry.
Innovative start-ups boost confidence in the energy transition
Ben Potter
As the breadth of climate tech around the world boosts confidence we can meet the climate challenge, Australian aspirants could use the support of more stable policy.
Has Elon Musk pricked Lynas’ rare earths bubble?
Colin Kruger
When Elon Musk’s Tesla said last month that it will not need rare earth ores for its next-generation electric vehicles it marked the latest string of bad news for $6 billion Australian miner Lynas.
Recycling greasy pizza boxes just one slice of Domino’s sustainability pie
Tim Boreham
‘Unrecyclable’ discarded pizza boxes are a manifestation of the sustainability challenges facing the fast-food sector, but Domino’s challenges run deeper.
We need a National Energy Transition Authority to help fossil fuel workers adjust
Fergus Green
Australia’s coal-fired power stations are exiting the grid. This transition is already well underway, as cheaper renewables displace coal and older generators close. Australia’s oldest coal plant, Liddell, is about to close. Eleven coal-fired power plants closed between 2013 and 2020, and at least seven others are slated to close between now and 2030.
This is not Utopia: how will the inland rail project stand up to real-life scrutiny?
Gabrielle Chan
The 1,700km railway is being touted as a nation-building project, so we need to get the planning right
Net zero is a once in a generation opportunity to boost workforce diversity
Natasha Stott Despoja, Katherine Wannan
Net zero should boost female leadership in the workforce. Here’s why.
Victoria
AEMO bails on transmission line meeting as farmers protest ‘lemon’ project
The Australian Energy Market Operator has refused to attend an energy infrastructure consultation meeting in western Victoria after hundreds of people arrived to voice their opposition.
State government weighs new powers to jam in 1 million more homes
Under mounting pressure over housing availability and the cost of Melbourne’s urban sprawl, the Andrews government is working on major planning reforms.
Victoria’s broken road network goes from bad to worse [$]
Victoria’s regional and rural road network is “dangerous and dodgy” as “unsustainably low” funding is delaying essential maintenance.
‘Unacceptable’: Regional Victorians slugged $1000 to cut gas [$]
Victorians in regional households are being told to cough up $750 more than those in Melbourne to switch from gas to all-electric homes under the government’s energy plan.
Melbourne gobbled up its surrounds to surpass Sydney. What if it continued forever?
Anna Spargo-Ryan
One day we will knock on Sydney’s door, having devoured Canberra without even noticing
New South Wales
AGL juggles closure times as NSW waves goodbye to Australia’s oldest coal plant
NSW says it is focused on more renewables and storage as it waves goodbye to Liddell, and AGL juggles the closure dates of the next units.
EPA’s water testing after Menindee fish kill was flawed and insufficient, expert says
NSW environment agency took almost a month to release full results of six water samples taken from Darling-Baaka River five days after event
Minns urged to make call on coal ‘back up’ as green projects stall [$]
Pressure is mounting on Premier Chris Minns to decide if the government will intervene in the slated closure of the Eraring power station as two major green energy projects are hit by delays.
ACT
ACT to fork out for product advice to drive electric appliance take up
Canberrans will be granted access to data from leading consumer advocacy group to help them pick electric appliances for their homes as part of the government’s efforts to shift households from gas by 2045.
Queensland
Australia’s tallest wind turbines send first power to the grid
The 180MW Dulacca wind farm, featuring some of the tallest wind turbines ever installed in Australia, has officially sent its first power to the grid.
Couran Cove stoush set to continue as state government unable to intervene
Residents at a South Stradbroke Island resort will spend another night without power and water as the state government says it is unable to end a long-running dispute.
A group of scientists and traditional owners is carrying out a complete audit of one of Australia’s most vulnerable rivers.
Gold Coast health alert: Flying fox found with deadly lyssavirus
A public health alert has been issued for the fatal Australian bat disease lyssavirus after a flying fox was found with the disease on the Gold Coast.
South Australia
When did the Nullarbor Plain turn into a desert? Its parched sands may hold a clue
Minerals extracted from the dry sands of the Nullarbor Plain reveal when it shifted from a lush forest to the arid landscape we see today, suggests a new study.
Flood funding release ‘drop in the ocean’ for struggling river regions
Only about $2 million of the promised $55.2 million in flood grants for businesses has trickled out to River Murray regions and the State Opposition claims the approval rate is slowing recovery.
Tasmania
Activists claim forestry self-regulation akin to lawyers deciding own cases
A lawyer for an environmental group has said that permitting employees of Sustainable Timber Tasmania to simultaneously work as forest practices officers for the regulator was akin to letting lawyers “move from the bar table up to the bench” to rule on the cases they were arguing.
Northern Territory
‘No new risks’: NT government finalises key Beetaloo Basin study ahead of final fracking decision
The Northern Territory government has publicly released the findings of a critical, three-year study into fracking in the Beetaloo sub-basin, finding no new risks associated with the development of an onshore gas industry.
Western Australia
Want to add $50k to your property’s value? Don’t cut down that tree
The financial benefit of retaining trees is one of many arguments being made for a statewide initiative to regulate the removal of trees taller than 8 metres.
Sustainability
Pennsylvania’s steel industry has the potential to lead a national transition to reduce or even eliminate carbon emissions if it switched to making so-called green steel, according to a report issued Monday by the Ohio River Valley Institute, a nonprofit research group.
Campaigners urge action over carbon footprint of disposable nappies
Reusables have 25% less global heating potential, finds UK government report, but overall picture is mixed
A radical seed-breeding project could help southern farmers adapt to climate change
The Utopian Seed Project is growing dozens of types of okra in one North Carolina field, creating genetic collisions that build new, resilient varieties. The group is working to adapt more food crops to the changing climate.
Is Jimmy Carter where environmentalism went wrong?
Carter’s austerity was part of a bigger project. It didn’t really have much to do with environmentalism.
Disarming the persistent myths of a glowing nuclear renaissance [$]
Darrin Durant
The trend is clear: nuclear energy is being replaced as a source of electricity. But advocates still rage against the dying of the light.
Adrian Esterman
“Every once in a while a book lands on your desk that changes the way you perceive the world you live in, a book that fundamentally challenges your understanding of human history.” So began the blurb that came with this book. Aha! I thought. The usual advertising hyperbole, a gross exaggeration.
Nature Conservation
World’s at-risk kelp forests provide billions of dollars in benefits, study shows
Report highlights environmental and economic impacts of algae threatened by climate crisis, overfishing and pollution
The Guardian view on England’s east wetlands: wild, beautiful and vital
Guardian editorial
The granting of Unesco world heritage site status would give these habitats the recognition they deserve
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