AFP drops inquiry into Angus Taylor.

The Australian Federal Police has decided not to pursue it's investigation into energy minister Angus Taylor (pictured) over doctored documents that were used to attack Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore over her air travel. 

The AFP said in a statement it was their assessment that "there is no evidence to indicate the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction was involved in falsifying information."

The government says the Minister and his office are now exonerated, but it's unlikely to end the political rancour. 

Listen to the RN Breakfast interview by Hamish Macdonald - “AFP drops inquiry into Angus Taylor.”

Fact checking Angus Taylor: does Australia have a climate change record to be proud of?

Australians should be proud of the country’s achievements on climate change, energy minister Angus Taylor has argued in a newspaper column that claims “quiet Australians” don’t accept the “shrill cries” of the government’s climate critics.

Angus Taylor speaks at the COP25 climate summit in Madrid. The
 energy minister says Australia has an enviable record on climate
change – the Guardian fact checks his claims.

The column, published in The Australian, makes a series of claims about Australia’s emissions and how they compare to other countries, as well as highlighting exports such as LNG that are “dramatically reducing emissions” in other countries.

So is Australia really a paragon of climate virtue – cutting emissions at home while helping the world to cut emissions?

Read the story from The Guardian by Graham Readfearn - “Fact checking Angus Taylor: does Australia have a climate change record to be proud of?”

Taylor has failed on energy prices, let’s hope he does better on emissions

When Angus Taylor was first appointed energy minister after the dethroning of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull last August, he really only had one policy remit – to cut prices.

Angus Taylor failed in his efforts to reduce energy prices and so
it is unlikely he'll do any better in trying to contain emissions.

So much so that the man who gave him the post, the newly appointed PM Scott Morrison, dubbed him the minister for lowering electricity prices. Despite Taylor declaring a few days later in his first ministerial speech that wholesale prices had turned the corner, it hasn’t worked out that way.

Taylor has now been granted a double-barrel portfolio of responsibilities, newly re-minted as the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, bringing together the combined tasks of a clean energy transition with emissions reductions that were separated after the removal of Turnbull. 

Let’s hope he has better luck with the new portfolio than he did with the first.

Read the story from RenewEconomy by Giles Parkinson - “Taylor has failed on energy prices, let’s hope he does better on emissions.”

Angus Taylor again falsely claims Australia's greenhouse emissions are falling

The energy minister has again insisted Australia’s emissions are going down, when the government’s official figures show emissions continue to increase, as the government struggles to sell the latest incarnation of its energy policy.

Angus Taylor repeatedly stated emissions had decreased by
 1% in an interview on the ABC’s Insiders program. 

In an interview with the ABC program Insiders, Angus Taylor repeatedly stated emissions had decreased by 1% repeating the line first said by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, that Australia would meet it’s Paris commitments in “a canter”.

“Yes, they’re coming down and the department rightly believes they’re going to continue to go down and the result of this is we will reach, not just our Kyoto targets and still in the Kyoto period, we will reach our Paris targets,” he said.

The latest report released by the environment department, looking at emissions between September 2017 and September 2018, showed total emissions in Australia had increased by 0.9%, continuing a pattern of increases over the past five years.

Read the story from The Guardian by Amy Remeikis - “Angus Taylor again falsely claims Australia's greenhouse emissions are falling.”

Victoria’s frail energy grid exposed on day of record heat and demand

Victoria's energy grid is not fit for purpose in a climate increasingly prone to extreme heat, according to the state's energy minister, after more than 200,000 people had their power cut on a day when Melbourne's temperature hit 42 degrees.

EnergyAustralia operates the Yallourn brown coal-fired
 power station in Victoria, which had multiple failures in the heat.CREDIT:

Lily D'Ambrosio said a huge generation failure from aging coal and gas generators on Friday, which left parts of more than 50 suburbs and townships powerless in the searing afternoon heat, underlined the urgent need to shift to renewables.

Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor agreed Victoria's energy grid had let people down, but said the widespread blackouts emphasised the need for new, reliable sources of power generation.

The power plant failures and shutdown meant the state lost almost 20 per cent of its capacity to meet the demand on Friday.

Read the story from The Age by Adam Carey - “Victoria’s frail energy grid exposed on day of record heat and demand.”

(Angus Taylor’s observation: “the widespread blackouts emphasised the need for new, reliable sources of power generation” is code for coal-power and is little more than dog-whistling to his base - Robert McLean)

Emissions targets could be a risk for agriculture

Energy Minister Angus Taylor wants Labor to think about the cattle.

Rising emissions could seriously impact on Australia's agricultural industry. 

As the opposition prepares to unveil its energy policy on Thursday, Mr Taylor says they must explain how their existing 45 per cent emissions reduction target and 50pc renewable energy target will affect manufacturing and agriculture.

"Which aluminium smelters and refineries are going to shut? Which cement factories are going to shut? How many head of cattle have got to go?" Mr Taylor told Sky News on Wednesday.

"It'll go into slashing sectors that are emissions intensive.

"Our biggest export sectors like agriculture, like resources, like our manufacturing sector, these are very, very serious issues for the Australian economy.”

Read the Farmonline story by Rebecca Gredley - “Emissions targets could be a risk for agriculture.”

Genevieve encouraged a discussion with Energy Minister, Angus Taylor

Genevieve Barlow encouraged me to talk with Australia’s Energy Minister, Angus Taylor.

I knew Genevieve decades ago when she worked at Echuca’s Riverine Herald and I at the Shepparton News, and was both surprised and delighted to find that she was an integral part of the group of people working to see Newstead become a town that switched to renewable energy.

Energy Minister, Angus Taylor.

Genevieve answered many of my questions and was happy to be subject of an interview for my podcast “Climate Conversations”. It was after that she suggested I target Mr Taylor for an interview on Climate Conversations.

A couple of days ago I contacted Mr Taylor, or tried to. It’s impossible for a private person to contact Mr Taylor directly and so you must first go though his minders, and if you are approved they will contact you.

This is what I wrote to the Minister’s minders. I have little hope that I will be given access to Mr Taylor or, beyond that, he would be available to meet with me.

I'm eager to talk with Energy Minister, Angus Taylor, for my podcast "Climate Conversations" - my listeners want to hear directly from Mr Taylor his position on energy, what form that energy will take and how does he account for the emissions from whatever energy source he prefers. This would not be a confrontational interview, rather an "informational" interview that would help my subscribers/followers better understand what it is the coalition has planned for ensuring Australia's energy securtity. Thirty minutes with Mr Taylor when he next visits Melbourne would be perfect, but it that was not possible, I could come to Canberra. A little background on me - I'm a former daily newspaper editor, but for the last 15 years I have been closely following the climate change conversation and, subsequently, I set up a small discussion group "Beneath the Wisteria" (so named for that is where we meet) and that spawned a more activist climate change group, "Slap Tomorrow" that works to keep the climate change conversation alive in what is a quite conservative part of Australia. I do hope Mr Taylor can afford me just 30 minutes of his time - thank you 

Tony Abbott fires warning shot at party leadership on energy

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has assured Coalition MPs that electricity customers were “through the worst” of the price spikes of recent years, as former prime minister Tony Abbott fired another warning shot over the government’s energy policy.

Former Australian Prime Minster, Tony Abbott.

Mr Frydenberg told Liberal and Nationals colleagues that he expected prices to fall in Queensland and stay relatively flat in NSW and South Australia according to forecasts for the next pricing period from July.

The assurance came as several MPs expressed their concern about energy and Mr Abbott sought an assurance that the government’s policy would go back to the Coalition party room for a decision by all members.

Read the story from today’s Age - “Tony Abbott fires warning shot at party leadership on energy.”

Josh Frydenberg lobbies AGL board to force Liddell power plant sale

The energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, has all but confirmed he had personally lobbied board members of AGL Energy in an effort to force a sale of the ageing Liddell power plant.

The Liddell coal-fired power plant in NSW. 

Sources have told Guardian Australia Frydenberg has been calling individual board members in an effort to crash through management opposition to offloading the coal-fired facility in New South Wales to a competitor, the Hong Kong-owned Alinta Energy, which is looking to expand its market share.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, contacted the chairman of the company last Tuesday.

Read Katherine Murphy’s story from The Guardian - “Josh Frydenberg lobbies AGL board to force Liddell power plant sale.”

Key backbencher warns Frydenberg to tread carefully on energy policy

One of key backbench rebels pushing for more coal-friendly policies through the so-called Monash Forum has warned the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, to tread carefully on the design of the national energy guarantee.

Liberal party MP Craig Kelly in the press gallery at federal parliament.

Craig Kelly, who is the chair of the Turnbull government’s backbench environment and energy committee, told Guardian Australia that Frydenberg only had party-room sign-off for the broad concepts of the national energy guarantee – not any of the specifics.

Kelly revealed on Tuesday that he was one of 20 Coalition backbench MPs who had joined the Monash Forum, which is ostensibly aimed at encouraging the government to construct new coal-fired power stations – but the Liberal says the new ginger group is also about exerting internal influence over the final design of the national energy guarantee.

Read Katherine Murphy’s story from The Guardian - “Key backbencher warns Frydenberg to tread carefully on energy policy.”

Frydenberg says government will further reduce emissions to meet Paris target

The energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, says he expects the states to sign on to the national energy guarantee, despite the current pushback, and that the government will pursue further emissions reductions in other parts of the economy as part of meeting the Paris target.

Josh Frydenberg says government is acting on advice of
chief scientist Alan Finkel on emissions reduction. 

In an interview with Guardian Australia’s Australian Politics Live podcast, Frydenberg said he expected state governments would act in the national interest when they meet in November and consider the national energy guarantee proposal on its merits.

“We are not expecting them to say no,” he said.

Read Katharine Murphy’s story on The Guardian - “Frydenberg says government will further reduce emissions to meet Paris target.”

(When the states gather in November to consider the National Energy Guarantee they should say “no”, adding that they want something better, yes, much better; something that see fossil fuels remain in the ground and a nation-backed effort the sees Australia embrace renewable energy, and put the land-down-under back among the countries that are going to have zero carbon emissions within a decade.

What’s being proposed by Josh Frydenberg is blackmail aimed at having the states endorse a policy that is simply wrong - Robert McLean)

Frydenberg 'absolutely confident' energy prices will fall but gives no guarantee

The energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, has stopped short of guaranteeing prices will come down under the Turnbull government’s new energy policy, but says he’s “absolutely confident” power prices will fall.

Josh Frydenberg and Malcolm Turnbull speak to a
 worker at the Ixom plant in Melbourne, on Friday. 

Frydenberg also indicated the major parties might be able to come to terms on the mechanism, which imposes reliability and emissions reduction obligations on electricity retailers.

He said it was possible Labor might agree on the mechanism but propose a more ambitious level of emissions reductions, with that a point of difference between Labor and the Coalition at the next federal election.

Read Katharine Murphy’s story on The Guardian - “Frydenberg 'absolutely confident' energy prices will fall but gives no guarantee.”

Federal Government could finance coal-fired power stations with clean energy funding

New coal-fired power stations using 'clean coal' technology could be funded by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), under plans announced by the Federal Government.

 Mr Frydenberg said carbon capture and
 storage can help reduce Australia's
 emissions - it won't.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has announced plans to amend the CEFC Act to allow investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The technology involves capturing carbon dioxide from a power plant and burying it underground in a bid to reduce emissions.

Read the ABC News story - “Federal Government could finance coal-fired power stations with clean energy funding.”

(I weep, metaphorically, at this latest decision taken by the Turnbull Government - most everything Josh Frydenberg has said about carbon capture and storage (CCS) is questionable, if not blatantly wrong. CCS has only been trialled at an insignificantly small scale and as yet no one understands the technical complications of upscaling such projects to the massive degree needed to make the process work in a way that would slow the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. 

Beyond that, most people are unaware of the scientific realities of climate change and so have no comprehension of what CCS is, or how it works, the difficulties of actually employing the process and the madness of betting the health of our atmosphere on a process of which we do not yet have any real grasp or understanding of how it should work and how we should employ it, and they will believe what Mr Turnbull and his cohort promise - “clean coal” simply doesn’t exist and our government is doing a distinct disservice to the Australian public in changing the rules to allow Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) money to be used on what is unquestionable the dirtiest form of energy presently being used in world - Robert McLean.)

India to make every single car electric by 2030 in bid to tackle pollution that kills millions

Every car sold in India will be powered by electricity by the year 2030, according to plans unveiled by the country’s energy minister. 

Delhi is India's most polluted city, according to Greenpeace,
 with concentrations of particulate matter 13 times the
limit set by the World Health Organisation 

The move is intended to lower the cost of importing fuel and lower costs for running vehicles.

“We are going to introduce electric vehicles in a very big way," coal and mines minister Piyush Goyal said at the Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Session 2017 in New Delhi.

Comparing the drive to a 2015 initiative in the country to reduce energy bills by promoting LED lightbulbs, he told reporters: "We are going to make electric vehicles self-sufficient... The idea is that by 2030, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country.”

Read Harriet Agerholm’s story in the Independent - “India to make every single car electric by 2030 in bid to tackle pollution that kills millions.”

Forget what you've heard about coal. Electricity prices are going up regardless

I'll give it to you cold. Electricity prices are going up. They've been too low for too long. Malcolm Turnbull, Treasurer Scott Morrison and their Energy Minister, Josh Frydenberg, are happy to make political capital out of the inevitable return to normality (by blaming Labor and fondling pieces of coal in Parliament) but they are careful not to say they can stop it. Frydenberg talks about "reducing pressure" on prices rather than keeping them down.

Illustration: Matt Davidson 

Prices have been unnaturally low because we've had more generators able to make the stuff than we have had people wanting to use it. Usage per person started falling in 2010 and has only recently begun to recover. To sell power, generators have had to cut prices. Worse still, three of the biggest were bought by their present owners for next to nothing. That means they can afford to unload electricity for little more than the cost of making it, pushing down the prices that can be charged by the others who need to also cover the costs of set-up.

Read Peter Martin’s comment in today’s Melbourne Age - “Forget what you've heard about coal. Electricity prices are going up regardless.”

India announces plan to step away from coal, casting doubt on approved Queensland Adani mine

One expert says the plan has left the
 Adani proposal "totally stranded".

India has released a new power plan promoting a dramatic increase in renewable energy and raising doubts about the Indian-owned Adani Group's massive coal mine in Queensland.

The new national electricity plan says India will not need any additional coal-fired energy capacity in the next decade.

India's Energy Minister Piyush Goyal alluded to a renewables pivot when he spoke to Four Corners last year.

"I hope in the years to come we can see an explosion of renewable energy on the back of cheaper storage," Mr Goyal said.

Tim Buckley from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analytics told AM the development was bad news for the Australian coal industry. (But good news for the health of the world – Beneath the Wisteria).

Read the ABC story - “India announces plan to step away from coal, casting doubt on approved Queensland Adani mine.”

State backs Stanhope bio-digester, turning waste into heat and power

John Bourke will build a bio-digester which will turn potentially damaging greenhouse gases from waste into heat and power for a new horticultural business growing lettuce and herbs.

Picture from today's Shepparton News.

Yesterday Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced Mr Bourke’s company, Waranga Green Energy, would be getting $1 million from the government’s new energy jobs fund grants.

Waste left over from the bio-energy plant will be dried and sold as fertiliser.

Ms D’Ambrosio said the project represented a significant investment for the region, with more than 30 local jobs expected to be generated.

‘‘It’s one of 24 grants which will be announced in coming months, with Waranga Green Energy obtaining funding under the technology category,’’ she said.

Ms D’Ambrosio said the project would minimise greenhouse gases, maximise energy efficiency and remove waste disposal constraints which are currently preventing expansion of the piggery.

Mr Bourke’s 250-sow piggery in Middle Rd, Stanhope, turns off about 200 pigs weekly for the domestic market.

The German-built bio-digester can process up to 200 tonnes of agricultural waste a day and will be assembled on a former dairy farm in Hill Rd, adjacent to Mr Bourke’s property.

Stanhope and District Development Committee secretary Bob Holschier was in favour of the new project.

‘‘Once it’s completed, it will employ almost as many people as Fonterra does,’’ he said. ‘‘Stanhope badly needs it. We are very reliant on the dairy industry and with the industry the way it is, being so depressed, small towns like Stanhope and others are in a pretty bad way. We need an injection of some enthusiasm more than anything and this project, once it’s up and running, will give us that enthusiasm.’’

The Goulburn Valley Waste Resource Recovery Group chair Wendy Buck said the project was a ground breaker and smell shouldn’t be a problem.

Similar story by Warwick Long on ABC Rural.