Banking on gas will leave us stranded: SMH

Covid-19 pandemic

"When I, and others, proposed gas as a transition fuel some 30 years ago, the price of solar was multiples of its current price, so gas was a quicker and more cost-effective means of achieving a reduction in emissions of some 40 to 60 per cent relative to coal.

However, as Chief Scientist Alan Finkel admitted in his recent address to the National Press Club, “the cost of producing electricity from wind and solar is now around $A50 per megawatt hour and [even with effective storage] the price … is lower than existing gas-fired electricity generation and similar to new-build, coal-fired electricity generation … and is set to drop even further”.

And with solar and wind technology proven, in the sense that financiers accept the risk without premium, why wouldn’t the government seek the development of grid-scale storage to achieve 100 per cent renewables? Clearly Morrison and his team have sold out to the likes of the Minerals Council and the fossil fuel lobby, whose influence is now conspicuous in the focus of the COVID recovery commission."

John Hewson

June 5

Read the complete SMH article 

Energy

Keep an open mind on fossil fuelled hydrogen, Chief Scientist says

The suggestion of a pipeline linking large the gas fields off

More jobs in renewable-led COVID-19 economic recovery, EY report finds:ABC

Cooked coral reefs

A renewables-led economic recovery will create almost three times as many jobs as a fossil-fuel-led recovery, according to a report by economic consultancy Ernst and Young (EY).

Key points:

• The EY report, commissioned by conservation group WWF, called for a mix of incentives, subsidies and regulations
• The Government has indicated a preference for gas production to lead the country's recovery
• Business groups say Australia needs to approach recovery as "an opportunity, not as a challenge"

The newly published report proposed six focus areas, which it said would simultaneously stimulate the economy and move Australia towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement.

While the Federal Government has spoken of a "gas-fired" COVID-19 recovery, the EY report, commissioned by conservation group WWF Australia, argues replacing fossil fuels with renewable electricity and hydrogen will be better for the economy. 

"We can rebuild our economy in a way that sets up Australia for prosperity in a world hungry for a low-carbon future," WWF Australia energy transition manager Nicky Ison said.

Read the complete article

The Australien Government has made an ad about its Economic Recovery Plan, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative.

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👉 CREDITS 🔹 Produced by Patrons of The Juice Media 🔹 Written and directed by Giordano for The Juice Media 🔹 Performed by Ellen Burbidge x Voice by Lucy 🔹 Gas and Volcano animations by Brent Cataldo: https://twitter.com/yahtzio 🔹 Script feedback and input: Dbot, Scott, Adso, Damian, Simon 🔹 Research Assistance by Rebecca Clarke 🔹 Research Assistance by Mara, Megan & Cam @ Friends of the Earth 🔹 Music by TwinsMusic: https://audiojungle.net/item/upbeat-i... 🔹 Outro music by Triple7Music: https://audiojungle.net/item/epic-adv...

Solar and wind’s stunning cost advantage sparks call for mass coal closure: RenewEconomy

climate emergency

A new global study has highlighted the growing advantage of wind and solar costs over new and even existing coal generators, so much so that a decision to replace 500GW (gigawatts) of old coal plant with new renewables would deliver annual savings of $23 billion ($A34 billion) and a timely $A1.4 trillion economic boost.

This is one of the headline findings of Renewable Power Generation Costs 2019, put together by the International Renewable Energy Agency, which notes that the cost of solar has fallen by 82 per cent over the past decade and onshore wind by 39 per cent.

This puts the cost of more than half the wind and solar farms installed across the globe in 2019 below the cheapest new coal plants, and below even many existing coal plants. Remember, this is a global average, so includes regions where the quality of the wind or solar resource may not be so good, and is for renewable generators completed in 2019.

Read the RenewEconomy story 

#jailclimatecriminals

Planet of the Humans : Let's just have a think...

A well researched rebuttal of the leading arguments in the film Planet of the Humans.



On the 50th Anniversary of the first ever Earth Day, Jeff Gibbs and Michael Moore released a documentary film free on You Tube. The film is called Planet of the Humans, and it proved quite popular. This week we review the movie and consider its implications for climate activism. Read Bill McKibben's full response to the original film in Rolling Stone here : https://www.rollingstone.com/politics...

See a full bibliography of rebuttal articles here: http://getenergysmartnow.com/2020/04/... JHAT on Population Growth https://youtu.be/kVLp4-27LQw JHAT on Renewables Recycling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLTJZ... JHAT on Palm Oil https://youtu.be/KTbPMODTey8 JHAT on BioMass https://youtu.be/6RP-jYDgiMg Help support and influence the growth of the Just Have a Think initiative here: http://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink Extra information received 11th May 2020 from Mike Bailey, one of the trustees of Solar Fest http://www.SolarFest.org "For accuracy, Roy Butler was slightly off in the date he suggested to you. Based on the music being performed, this was shot in 2006, not 2005. In 2006, and every year, power was banked to the grid for weeks prior to the festival, with the surplus contributed to the farm. For the ten years SolarFest was at Forget Me Not Farm, we ran a surplus covering all of our usage on a net meter basis. By 2008 the festival was run entirely on solar, including a permanent array with battery backup. Also we shifted to LEDs for the light show to reduce consumption and no longer relied on the grid." View research links from this video here: FILMS FOR ACTION STATEMENT https://www.filmsforaction.org/articl... KETAN JOSHI https://ketanjoshi.co/2020/04/29/this... https://ketanjoshi.co/2020/04/24/plan... ZEKE HAUSFATHER https://twitter.com/hausfath/status/1... CATHY COWAN BECKER https://medium.com/@cathycowanbecker/... LEAH STOKES https://www.vox.com/2020/4/28/2123859... https://twitter.com/leahstokes?ref_sr... GREG ALAVAREZ - American Wind Energy Council https://www.aweablog.org/fact-check-n... PFPI http://www.pfpi.net/the-eu-wants-to-k... SIERRA CLUB https://www.sierraclub.org/press-rele... https://addup.sierraclub.org IRENA https://www.irena.org/newsroom/pressr... https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/I... RICHARD YORK https://www.sciencedirect.com/science... UNITED NATIONS https://www.unenvironment.org/news-an... OUR WORLD IN DATA https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/sh... PROJECT DRAWDOWN https://www.drawdown.org/the-book TOM ATHANASIOU https://www.earthisland.org/journal/i... ELECTRIC VEHICLES https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyin... ADDENDUM: I said in the video "Forbes conceded ..." I have now learnt from another climate communicator, Adam Siegel, that this statement is a misleading representation of the motivation of the report's author. The cited/shown article was from one of Forbes online contributors called Silvio Marcacci. Silvio is a clean-energy communicator. His piece was spot on but it was not written in an attempt to 'represent' Forbes and I should not have used the phrase 'Forbes conceded'. Apologies to Silvio for this misrepresentation. https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-mpg https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/... #planetofthehumans  #michaelmoore #jeffgibbs

A First Dog on the Moon live action cartoon! Will the coronavirus save us from climate change?: Guardian Australia

Europe’s Recovery Plan Has Green Strings Attached: Bloomberg

By

Ewa Krukowska

and

Laura Millan Lombrana

Covid-19

May 28, 2020

• Green Deal to become motor for growth in EU recovery effort
• Access to EU funds will require alignment with green goals
   

Meeting the climate-neutrality goal is a key pillar of a 750 billion-euro ($824 billion) economic recovery plan unveiled by the European Commission, one of the Brussels-based executive’s top officials said.

Read more at Bloomberg