Energy

Providing zero or low-cost energy during the solar peak is a way of dealing with stability problems in the Alice Springs electricity grid, says  Anthony Seipolt  of Cadency Consulting, an international expert on renewable power. The Alice Springs News asked him to comment on the two-year $12.5m Future Grid research project...

Most Aussie farmers say climate change is the single greatest threat to their business, according to Farmers for Climate Action’s online survey on the Net Zero Sector Plan for Agriculture and Land. Farmers for Climate Action created the survey to make sure farmers … could easily have their say as part of the Federal Government’s Sector Plan consultations.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is concerned not enough is being done to protect the rights of landholders when it comes to the development and operation of transmission lines across farmland … newly released Land Access Code of Practice falls short of offering farmers the protections they need.

Energy leader, RWE Renewables Australia, has announced details of a generous local Community Benefit Fund for the Campbells Bridge Wind Farm, if the project proceeds to operations ... Funding will be calculated at $3,200 per megawatt of project capacity.  

Those attending put the presenters through a rigorous interrogation about how the project would work and what benefits it would bring. Maldonians are no pushover - even when it comes to issues that most are in favour of – and demanded details while showing an awareness of the finer technical points of battery operations.

The Southern Wimmera Renewables Research Association (SWRRA) formed in response to the announcement of plans for a wind facility at Campbells Bridge ... The association, made up by farmers and residents from the Southern Mallee, aims to accumulate and communicate information relating to the government’s plans for Renewable Energy (RE) within the region and the potential impacts, so that affected communities are adequately informed.

In this article Robert Onfray details the lack of environmental scrutiny of the wind factories and pumped hydro projects built or planned in Queensland as the state sanctions the wholesale clearing of remnant native forest on the coastal ranges straddling the Great Dividing Range ... 10,178 hectares of koala and 6,744 hectares of greater glider habitats are set to disappear if all the renewable proposals in Queensland are approved ... "blunt force trauma" is to be used to euthanise injured animals or those that cannot be relocated, particularly koalas.

The Allan Labor Government is working with regional bus operators to shape its nation-leading transition to a cleaner bus fleet, kicking off a series of industry roundtables ... All new public transport buses purchased from 2025 onwards will be zero emissions as part of the state’s wider goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.

As a part of the ongoing “Charging the Regions” project, Donald has seen the completion of its very own electric car charging station, located at 68A Woods Street.

Meeting in London, Global Sugar Alliance members celebrated the sugarcane industry’s positive contribution to sustainable global food and energy security, acknowledged the role of ethanol, derived from sugarcane, as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels  and renewed their call for all countries to fix the World Trade Organization (WTO).

A renewables future is one step closer for the Tiwi Islands, with construction underway at the Wurrumiyanga Solar Infill and Energy Storage Pilot Project. Wurrumiyanga is home to over 2000 people, and soon it will be powered by 50 per cent renewable energy.

We all know that the federal Labor government has set itself the impossible task of reducing carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, plus setting itself a target of achieving 82 per cent renewables across the power grid ... Hence the recent announcement by federal anti-agriculture Minister, Murray Watt, offering up the livestock sector as one industry which could be made into an unwilling sacrificial lamb to the climate change gods by imposing rather than hoping for emissions cuts.

Longridge Board of Governance … have become increasingly concerned about the forecast of intermittent power outages … Given that Longridge does not have a generator ... Bill Vine, recently contacted Tony Pasin … asking the question “why should Longridge need to go to the market to fund a generator?”

Recent changes to the proposed corridor for the 500kv Victorian New South Wales interconnector have placed additional stress on some of the region’s families as they now find themselves in the firing line ... The Bennett’s property sits between the majestic floodplain jewels, the Edward River and Billabong Creek, but now, the altered VNI West puts their generations of tranquillity in jeopardy.

The council has taken the step of publicly declaring it has received no proposals for an energy from waste facility, called an EfW or incinerator, in Casino. The statement from Richmond Valley Council comes in response to what it calls “widespread misinformation”.

Imagine filling up the farm fuel tanks for harvest if the price hit, say, $3 or $4 a litre, or worse, you were rationed to half the fuel you brought last November/December as a result of a supply shock. It’s a real risk, something I wrote about three years ago when I suggested the solution was to increase the level of domestic reserve storage of refined diesel and petrol by encouraging farmers and miners to keep 12 months of storage on their properties.

The lack of a TAFE, children with special needs, the health bureaucracy, E-tag regulations, arts, rare earth mining, radiation therapy and plastics were among 16 questions asked at last week’s Country Cabinet forum in Naracoorte. During a two-day whirlwind visit SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, his ministers and all department chiefs collectively met with hundreds of people as they travelled to various special spots within our region.

The landmark federal-state CarbonNet project, which aims to take carbon dioxide emissions from the Latrobe Valley and sequester them under Bass Strait, has got the go ahead for a vital part of the project – the plan to build a pipeline that will carry liquefied CO2 to the coast. The 100 kilometre-pipeline – 80km buried onshore and a further 20km offshore – will take liquefied CO2 to a carbon capture and storage hub at Golden Beach, creating a connection for multiple carbon capture projects.

The  Palaszczuk Government has announced a $1.3 billion package to progress work on CopperString 2032, demonstrating Queensland’s commitment to delivering Australia’s largest transmission project. The funding will get the project ready for construction to commence mid-2024, a significant milestone towards unlocking the North West Minerals Province, and the renewable energy potential of North Queensland.