ACT declares climate change emergency – slams federal government failure to act

 ACT climate minister
Shane Rattenbury (right) with Tim Flannery from
the Climate Council.

The ACT has become the first Australian state or territory to make a formal declaration of a climate change emergency, passing a motion proposed by ACT climate minister Shane Rattenbury.

The passage of the motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly follows similar declarations made in the UK and Ireland.

The text of the motion cited the extreme temperatures that were observed in the ACT over the last summer, which experienced its warmest summer on record, and the impacts of bushfires and flooding in Queensland and Tasmania.

Read the story from RenewEconomy by Michael Mazengarb - “ACT declares climate change emergency – slams federal government failure to act.”

Australia’s biggest mining states, ACT raise issues about energy plan

The Turnbull government’s hopes of securing an early ‘‘green light’’ to its landmark energy plan have received fresh setbacks, with Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT each declaring serious concerns about its design.

The federal government is seeking state and territory
support this Friday for its national energy guarantee.

The states object to the federal government’s proposed carbon emissions cuts and renewables targets, but energy minister Josh Frydenberg is confident his plan will progress past this Friday’s key meeting with state counterparts.

In their first responses to detailed papers on the National Energy Guarantee – a plan that aims to lower power prices, improve the grid’s reliability, and cut greenhouse emissions from the electricity sector – Queensland and Western Australia said key issues remain.

Read the story by Peter Hannam and Nicole Hasham from The Age - “Australia’s biggest mining states, ACT raise issues about energy plan.”

Electric vehicles and smart meters combine to make a mobile powerplant

We know that electric cars can act as a mobile battery by discharging energy back into the grid.

One of the barriers for EVs in Australia is a lack of charging infrastructure.

When plugged in during peak demand times, it helps reduce high electricity prices and smooth out power spikes.

But what if real-time data and artificial intelligence allowed us to follow and predict price movements to see when the price may be high and act accordingly? That's what's now on the cards.

Read Cole Latimer’s story from The Age - “Electric vehicles and smart meters combine to make a mobile powerplant."

Queensland triples its land clearing - leaked figures

L

eaked figures obtained by the ABC show land clearing in Queensland last year was around 278,000 hectares — triple what it was in 2009.

The scale of the clearing is of a size larger than the ACT with one property alone permitted to clear 600 square kilometres.

Martin Taylor for conservation group WWF described the increase as "meteoric and extremely alarming".

Read the ABC story - “Land clearing soars in Queensland, leaked figures show”.