Post of the Day
‘Problem in waiting’: why natural gas will wipe out Australia’s emissions gains
LNG is often touted as a good alternative to coal but the increase in production means increased emissions that will cancel out any recent savings
Today’s Celebration
Harvest Festival – US Virgin Islands
Climate Change
How does climate change make wildfires worse?
As deadly wildfires threaten thousands in northern and southern California, scientists have identified 10 ways climate change can make wildfires worse.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/how-does-climate-change-make-wildfires-worse
Indigenous poets read urgent climate message on a melting glacier
As Greenland’s glaciers melt and flow into the sea, Pacific island nations are on the receiving end of some of that water.
https://grist.org/article/indigenous-poets-read-urgent-climate-message-on-a-melting-glacier/
5 election winners to watch on climate as environment crusaders head to Congress
They’ve taken on polluters and built climate solutions. Now they’re bringing activism to Congress in one of the most diverse freshmen classes in U.S. House history.
National
Energy companies push back on Coalition threat to break them up
Firms question if government has the right to use so-called ‘big stick’ powers of divestiture as it races to try to lower prices before an election
‘Problem in waiting’: why natural gas will wipe out Australia’s emissions gains
LNG is often touted as a good alternative to coal but the increase in production means increased emissions that will cancel out any recent savings
Wholesale power prices fell in most states
Wholesale electricity prices slightly increased over the last quarter in Queensland and NSW while dropping in Victoria, SA and Tasmania, the latest data shows.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/wholesale-power-prices-fell-in-most-states
Power giants’ Castle defence [$]
Scott Morrison’s plan to divest the assets of electricity companies could face a High Court challenge.
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes sees big dollars in solar [$]
Computer software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has investments in solar farms in Queensland and Victoria that are aiming to profit from government subsidies and the squeeze in electricity prices due to the switch from coal to renewables.
People who recycle are happier, but many Australians are still confused
Almost two thirds of Australians are confused about what can and can’t be recycled.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/people-who-recycle-are-happier-but-many-australians-are-still-confused
‘We are under assault’: Major universities go to war with Morrison government over research cuts
The country’s biggest universities have launched an extraordinary attack on the Coalition over cuts to academic research.
Experienced greens warn on forest greenwash
Environmentalists and former Greens leaders Christine Milne and Bob Brown warn that labelling timber products from logging Australia’s dwindling native forests as ‘environmentally friendly’ is greenwash and will not fool the modern Australian buyer, especially now when the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated emphatically that protecting and restoring the world’s forests is essential to constraining global warming.
https://tasmaniantimes.com/2018/11/experienced-greens-warn-on-forest-greenwash/
The Australian’s continued support of climate change denialism
Steve Bishop
A recent article in The Australian on climate change has many errors and misrepresentations.
Victoria
Victoria Coalition’s bizarre plan to support coal and “24/7” power does not add up
Victoria Coalition proposes support for brown coal generators and a tender for new “24/7” power source. But the numbers don’t make sense.
Renewables likely to match Liberals’ power plan [$]
Energy users and the renewables industry said a Victorian Liberal Party plan to underwrite construction of 500 megawatts of “firm” power would likely lead to wind or solar energy backed by storage rather than coal or gas plant.
Energy generators cool on Coalition vow to build new power plant
Victoria’s biggest power providers have warned against a Coalition promise to underwrite a large new power station, arguing government intervention in the energy market could stifle private investment, with long-term consequences for customers.
‘Library book system’ for coffee cups launches
Marty Rowell says he really tried to use a reusable coffee cup. “I just found it really inconvenient,” he says. “I often couldn’t find one when I went to get a coffee. In the end I had three of them, but I never had it when I needed it.” Out of this personal frustration, the Cup eXchange, a sustainable, technology-enabled coffee cup subscription service was born.
New South Wales
Environmentalist Geoff Cousins buys Byron hinterland retreat
Adman turned environmental warrior Geoff Cousins has joined the Byron Bay hinterland eco-scene, emerging as the buyer of a multimillion-dollar Federation retreat.
Free public transport for schoolkids, NSW Labor pledges
School-aged children using Opal cards will receive free access to public transport under a future Labor government, the new Opposition leader Michael Daley announces as his first major policy.
‘Significant impacts’: Federal government issues Warragamba wall alert
The government’s controversial plan to raise the height of the Warragamba dam is likely to have “significant impacts” on threatened species, the federal environment department document shows.
Snowy Hydro says multibillion-dollar energy project doesn’t need cost-benefit test
The economic viability of a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project supporting the Snowy 2.0 expansion should not be publicly tested because the project is nationally significant and the analysis might cause delays, Snowy Hydro says.
Newcastle City Council, UTS join the stampede into solar energy
Two new solar farms add to the growing surge in the renewable energy source in NSW – and abroad.
Residents support bill to change national park status, reintroduce red gum logging
Residents in a small town in southern New South Wales welcome a move to change the status of a national park and let loggers back in, with a bill being prepared by a Nationals MP.
NSW plan would make grid more risky [$]
Matthew Stevens
A new report is a timely cautionary tale for the NSW government, which is committing $2.5 billion to shore up its grid to accommodate a wave of renewable energy.
https://www.afr.com/business/nsw-creates-fair-dinkum-power-insecurity-20181112-h17t7d
Nuclear is our future [$]
Jim Molan
Coal may be on the nose, but renewables fall short — an alternative is in our faces.
Queensland
Adani has made a big change to its Queensland rail plan, to save money
Adani has ditched plans to build a new standard gauge rail line to get coal out of Queensland’s Galilee Basin, opting for a cut-price solution using existing lines.
‘Champion’ needed to break slow SEQ water quality decline: ecologists
Despite some improvements in some rivers Brisbane residents remain apathetic about being able to make improvements to the Brisbane River.
Teething problems for Queensland’s new container scheme
Queensland’s new container recycling scheme has been operating for less than two weeks, but residents are already facing problems.
$20m to help Great Barrier Reef quality [$]
The Great Barrier Reef will benefit from a $20 million grant program to reduce land-based run-off on to the living wonder. https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/grant-program-offers-20m-to-boost-great-barrier-reef-water-quality/news-story/d0417fb723ca057b3e3d1a1c88a86ddc
South Australia
Popular beach closed after contaminated water scare
An overflow of sludge from a water treatment plant into a southern Adelaide creek has forced the closure of a section of beach along the city’s south coast.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/popular-beach-closed-contaminated-water-scare-091059974.html
Ocean rock stars on the rise as cuttlefish comeback continues
The revival of the Giant Australian Cuttlefish in South Australian waters is continuing with the number of the bizarre creatures counted during this year’s breeding season increasing by 20 per cent.
SA research puts the bite on a devilish disease [$]
Curing cancer Adelaide stem-cell research promising to cure the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease is raising money using a crowd-funding campaign launched today.
New KI Mayor backs Bight drilling [$]
Incoming Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly has given his support to drilling in the Great Australian Bight, accusing environment lobbyists of a fear campaign.
Tasmania
Will Hodgman and Luke Martin say no to Greens’ visitor charge
The Greens’ push for a visitor levy has been condemned by the government and tourism industry.
Northern Territory
Northern Territory unveils first grid-scale battery in “solar capital” Alice Springs
Territory Generation unveils 5MW battery in “solar capital” of Alice Springs that is likely to deliver pay-back within four years.
‘Local extinction’: NT turtles having all-female clutches due to rising temperatures
Turtles nesting near Darwin are not producing many males due to high sand temperatures in their nests, a turtle scientist says, and if it gets hotter there could be a local extinction.
Increased fire risk fear as African gamba grass invades northern Australia
The grass is already fuelling regular and intense fires in the Northern Territory
Western Australia
World’s humpback whale population booming thanks to the Kimberley
The Kimberley region’s ideal calving grounds and Antarctic feeding route has seen their numbers recover strongly after whaling ceased.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-13/worlds-largest-humpback-whale-population-booming/10470862
Sustainability
Lazard hails “inflection point” as wind, solar costs beat new and old fossils
Wind and solar technologies have extended their lead over fossil fuel generation on costs of new plant, and are now as cheap, or even cheaper, than existing coal, gas and nuclear power plants – even compared to existing and fully-depreciated fossil fuel generators. These conclusions are made in the 12th edition of the annual Lazard Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, which has become one of the major global industry benchmarks.
Pollution in New Delhi more than 50 times higher than allowed limit
Pollution levels in New Delhi, India, are over 50 times more than the allowed limits, raising people’s concerns over health especially for children.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/pollution-in-new-delhi-more-than-50-times-higher-than-allowed-limit
Big Oil spent 1 percent on green energy in 2018
Top oil and gas companies jointly spent around 1 percent of their 2018 budgets on clean energy, but investments by Europe’s giants vastly outpaced their U.S. and Asian rivals, a study showed.
Wind turbines ‘generating 98% of electricity demand’
Wind turbines generated the equivalent of 98 per cent of all Scotland’s electricity demand in October, according to new analysis.
Iran honouring 2015 nuclear deal: Watchdog
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has been abiding with key limitations set in a 2015 deal with major powers to stop it building atomic weapons.
Nature Conservation
Hawksbill turtle poaching to be fought with DNA technology
Project will trace tortoiseshell products in shops back to where they were poached
China delays lifting ban on tiger parts
The Chinese government says it has postponed the lifting of a ban on trade in tiger parts and rhino horn for medicine and other uses.
Shorebird egg theft is becoming a big problem in the Arctic. And climate change is behind it.
The daily rate of eggs stolen from shorebirds’ nests in the Arctic is three times higher than it was 70 years ago. The trouble, which coincides with warming temperatures, could impact vulnerable populations of stunning birds.
New Research: Streamside forests store tons of carbon
In a new effort from Point Blue Conservation Science and Santa Clara University, researchers led by Dr. Kristen Dybala compiled carbon storage data from 117 publications, reports, and other data sets on streamside forests around the world. Researchers found that the average amount of carbon stored in mature streamside forest rivals the highest estimates for any other forest type around the world, such as tropical or boreal forests.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/pbcs-nrs111218.php
Japanese whalers leave for Antarctic
Despite international criticism a Japanese whaling fleet has left for the Antarctic to hunt hundreds of minke whales.
Ryan Zinke and the environment: a tragedy in three acts
Joel Clement
At first I kept an open mind about Trump’s interior secretary. But it soon became clear he put the oil, gas and mining industry above our agency’s mission
Now for something completely different …
IT Measures to Accommodate the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme
IT strategy expert Ian Patterson outlines a number of IT measures not for profits can take to prevent sensitive data breaches from occurring, and offers his tips for organisations to accurately detect and respond to data breaches.
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2018/11/measures-accommodate-notifiable-data-breach-scheme/