'Solar boom' can be heard around Goulburn Valley

The solar boom can really be heard around the Goulburn Valley with a story in today’s Country News in the Shepparton News telling readers more about plans for major solar farms in the district.

The story in today's Country News.

Rodney Woods tells his readers of two new solar farm proposals at Glenrowan and near Cohuna.

“They further enhance northern Victoria’s status as a sun-drenched region,” he reports.

“The Glenrowan proposal by ENSO Pacific, if successful, will cost over $170 million and see 245 ha of private land replaced by 360 000 solar panels that will generate 120 MW.

“The second proposal, by Leeson Group, is set for Horfield (8km south of Cohuna).

“It will cost $45.5 million, cover 82 ha pop a 128 ha property (with the best retained for farming)  and will generate enough from 104 00 panels to power 8000 homes,” Woods reported.

Warmer, drier conditions ahead - Shepparton News

Rhiannon Tuffield writes about “Warmer, drier conditions ahead” in today’s Shepparton News.

The Goulburn Valley is in for some fairly mild weather during the next month, with warmer and drier conditions forecast for much of the state.

Although heavy rain fell across much of Australia last month, bringing a downpour about Anzac Day, the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted a dry season ahead. Temperatures in April were above average across much of the country and will now continue into May, placing the country in the depths of an El Niño, signalling reduced rainfall through winter and into spring.

BoM senior climatologist Paul Gregory said the outlook for rainfall for June would be below average for Goulburn Valley, and days and nights would likely be warmer than average.

This time of the year has caused the tropical Indian Ocean to influence Australian rainfall and current model outlooks suggest cool conditions may persist in the central to east Indian Ocean, increasing the chance of dry conditions for south-east Australia.

“Around central and northern Victoria you’ll be looking at a 25 per cent chance of exceeding the average rainfall, so it looks fairly dry for this month,” Dr Gregory said.

“The likelihood of an El Niño has increased dramatically, and that means below average rainfall and less clouds around, which suggests some warmer nights ahead”.w

Predictions for El Niño in autumn

The Goulburn Valley may have said farewell to summer, but the heat is far from over, with temperatures forecast to stretch into the mid 30s this week.

Temperature and rainfall will be anything but autumnal, as the Bureau of Meteorology predicts the month of March to be marked by above-average temperatures and drier than average conditions.

As part of the weather bureau’s climate outlook for the next three months, the majority of Victoria, including the Goulburn Valley, will receive below average rainfall.

Days and nights are likely to be warmer than average over the majority of Australia, with further heatwaves possible and heatwave and bushfire risks likely to be raised across the state.

Read Rhiannon Tuffield story in the Shepparton News - “Predictions for El Niño in autumn.”

A year of Extremes

The Bureau of Meteorology says last year was one of extreme weather events and the Shepparton area was no exception.

The bureau’s recently-released annual climate statement showed Australia experienced its fourth-warmest year on record and overall it was wetter than average across the country.

Bureau climate information services assistant director Neil Plummer said there were significant climate drivers affecting the country’s weather.

Read Tara Whitsed’s story in today’s Shepparton News  – “A year of Extremes.”

“Climate concern” - Shepparton News letter

A letter from four women lamenting the Australian Government’s failure to respond positively to climate change appeared in today’s Shepparton News.

The letter, headed “Climate concern” said:

We, the undersigned, write to express our grave concerns that an Emissions Trading Scheme recommended by the chief scientist will not be considered by the prime minister and cabinet.

Global warming is the single most urgent problem facing our planet. However, the worst effects can be ameliorated if we act now. Failure to do so will leave our generation rightly condemned by our children and grandchildren as they struggle in an unlovely world faced with a lack of water, lack of food and intense and frequent “weather events”.

More wars will break out to gain/retain possession of what little fertile land remains available.

Opposition to acting on climate change is often as being uneconomic. Yet the recommendations that will not be considered by the government suggest that implementing them will keep electricity charges in check.

Therefore, it is irresponsible, not to consider them.

We call upon our local member Damian Drum to convey our request to the prime minister and cabinet to agree to consider an Emissions Trading Scheme.

Charlotte Brewer, Barbara Brown, Helen West, Sally Wright.

Shepparton News says weather is a 'Wake-up call'

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n Editorial in today’s Shepparton News headed – “Weather wake-up call” – points directly toward the implications and complications of climate change and while encouraging people to educate themselves, it doesn’t actually mention climate change.

Today’s Editorial said:

Victoria is already burning and it is only October: springtime.

Last month Earth experienced its hottest September since records began in 1890.

Australia’s written records began in 1910, and our country has been warming since 1950.

Daytime maximum temperatures have increased by 0.8^oC since 1910, overnight minimum temperatures have warmed by 1.1^oC and sea surface temperatures by 0.9^oC.

According to future climate projections, winter and spring rainfall is expected to decrease by up to 15 per cent.

These figures all point to a serious change in our climate, and if it continues we will suffer more droughts which will only bring financial strain and heartache to our farmers and general community.

While the temperatures may be creeping up gradually, the results could be severe for regional areas like ours, and experts have been warning that we need to look at some emission-friendly energy-saving solutions.

Obviously, this needs to be done on a global scale and some countries are embracing renewable energy with gusto.

Take China for example, which is leading the renewable energy infrastructure change, and Denmark cracking the world record for gaining almost 40 per cent of its energy from wind.

Where does Australia fit in to this?

The Climate Council believes s we are among the worst offenders for greenhouse gas emissions in the world with the highest coal consumption per capita of any country on earth.

We cannot control the entire country, but at least we can and should be looking locally.

Many local organisations are tackling the issue from various angles, and as citizens we need to choose an approach that is right for us.

Whether it is solar panels for renewable energy systems, educating ourselves on the cause and effects, or monitoring our own carbon footprint – there are measures we can take.

The recent dramatic change in weather patterns is the best wake-up call we can get, and in a fire-prone region we should be hyper aware of the unseasonably warm weather.

News this week of the fire-fighting helicopter deployed to Shepparton earlier than normal to provide quick response in emergencies is comforting, but should also be viewed as another sign that we all need to take action.

Beekeepers struggle to work with our disrupted climate

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 keeper of bees is becoming a hard thing to be, due to a drier than usual year.

North East Apiarist Association president, Elwyne Papworth, explained that a lack of rain this winter has put pressure on the Victorian beekeeping and honey industry.

She said local apiarists have this year been forced to go to greater lengths to keep their bees alive and reap a honey flow.

“It’s have a great effect on the productivity of the industry, producing andy (honey), but (also) keeping the bees alive,” she said.

This season marks the seventh consecutive year with a dearth of production.

Ms Papworth said the longer the period without sustained rain events, such as those experience this year, the more significant the flow-on effect to other areas of horticulture and agriculture.

“We’re very reliant on bees,” she said.

“It is very difficult.”

Seasons for apiarists have been getting progressively worse and worse, Ms Papworth said,

So serious has it become that the bigger beekeepers have begun to purchase packaged bees to make up the number.

Beekeepers are needing to travel longer distances to create ideal situations for their bees to be able to make honey to keep them alive.

“They’re trying to keep that insect alive, and keep people fed,” she said.

Ms Papworth, a beekeeper works from her property south of Echuca, where her operations are currently 60 per cent pollination and 40 per cent honey production.

“This season isn’t showing a great deal of potential,” she said.

In Victoria there are an estimated 80 full-time commercial beekeepers who are operating without assistance of another income, but this number is declining.

While beekeepers tend to be able to manage at least one honey flow, the apiarist has noticed more and more beekeepers resorting to artificial feeding.

In addition, apiarists are frequently forced to keep an amount of honey with the bees just to keep them alive through a poor season.

While typical journeys on the road with bees in search of ideals conditions are generally about five hours, they can last as long as nine hours through the night, Ms Papworth said, stopping along the way to let the bees fly.

The journeys have become longer in recent seasons, she said.

“Nature keeps changing (and so) we have to be as smart as nature,” she said.

(Today’s Shepparton News carries a story by reporter Thomas Moir about the pressure on beekeepers articulating another of the complications arising from climate change, but the idea that the trouble is directly related to Earth’s disrupted climate system is never mentioned. The beekeeper simply attributed the difficulties she and others in the industry were facing to the fact that “nature keeps changing”.)

'Outlook declines' for the GV, but no mention of climate change

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nder the heading of “Outlook declines”, Darren Linton writes in today’s Shepparton News about “Record heatwave points to dry October, a blow for farmers, orchardists”.

The rainfall for the Goulburn Valley has deteriorated dramatically forcing the Bureau of Meteorology to issue a special update for October to December.

After a record heatwave to start October the bureau reissued its outlook and it makes disturbing reading especially for farmers and orchardist,

The outlook released in late September put the chance of receiving the average October-December rainfall of 107 mm at 50-50, but that has now been slashed to 35 per cent around Shepparton and as low as 25 per cent to the north and across the border.

October will now be particularly dry. The long-term average of 34 mm is now deemed “very unlikely” with only a 15 per cent change of 25 mm and only a 50/50 chance of 10 mm.

November is still a 50/50 chance for average rainfall of 37 mm, but overall is for hotter and drier conditions.

The release of the climate outlook special update was due to a significant shift upwards towards a drier October nation-wide related to the emerging positive Indian Ocean Dipole reinforcing the strong El Niño.

September rainfall was the third driest on record for Australia and very low rainfall has been received for the past 12 months in most of Victoria.

Across most of south-east Australia there is a greater than 80 per cent chance of a drier October and high chances of warmer days and nights south of the tropics.

The rainfall outlook has shifted up to 40 percentage points in some area towards a drier October.

“I think people are not surprised to see it go to that level, but more with the sudden change in 10 days,” Goulburn-Murray Water northern Victoria systems resources manager Mark Bailey said.

Dr Bailey said the conservative approach to setting expectations had held customers in good stead so far this season, with general improvement in water determinations despite declining inflows.

Inflows in the Goulburn system storages from July-September were 30 per cent of the long-term average, a figure Dr Bailey said would be exceeded in 95 years out of 100.

“That is saying it is pretty dry,” he said, which is now likely to continue through October.

“We would have expected a bit during October, it is usually one of our productive months,” Dr Bailey said.

(Not a word that the current situation is linked in any way to climate change,reflecting a recent observation by “Climate Code Red” co-author David Spratt who pointed out that several reports in the national media about record temperatures in Victoria, a measurable lack of rain and devastating bushfires also never once mentioned climate change.)

John enjoys 'Clade' in the new genre of 'cli-fi' writing

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Cli-Fi” is the new genre in writing.

John Lewis - he found "Clade"
 moving and ultimately uplifting.

And it was Shepparton News reporter and Beneath the Wisteria supporter, John Lewis, who recently read one of these books and said:

“Just thought I’d tell you – I’ve just finished reading a fascinating Australian novel about the near future called Clade, by James Bradley.

“It deals with the generation effect of climate change, not in an overly dramatic or dystopian way, but in close human relations and the effect on families.

“It talks about the shrinking of the ice caps, loss of species, and plagues – from a poignant personal perspective involving several characters in a time scale of 2015 to 2057.

“It’s a novel, and not heavy on the science, but I found it a moving and ultimately uplifting account of the human experience of climate change,” John wrote.

The book is reviewed in a report in the Sydney Morning Herald - “James Bradley's Clade finds glimmer of hope in extreme future”.

Shepparton News asks readers to acknowledge climate change

Today’s Shepparton News editorialized about the difficulties in Vanuatu caused by Cyclone Pam and encouraged its readers to at least acknowledge the effects of climate change.

Below is what was said in the editorial.

 

Once again nature has unleashed its devastating force on a neighbour, and once again it is the poorest of the poor who are hit the hardest.

Since the category five Cyclone Pam slammed into Vanuatu with brutal force on Friday last week, 24 people have so far been counted among the dead; thousands of homes are destroyed and at least 70 000 children have been left homeless. Australians have a long and deep connection to the island nation.

Each year we donate millions of dollars in aid to help education, health, business and infrastructure.

Vanuatu depends on Australian tourism and expertise for its economy.

Now its people will depend on us to help rebuild their island home.

Already Australians are responding to the call with HMAS Townsville and a Royal Australian Navy Taipan helicopter adding to search and rescue and medical teams on the ground.

Ordinary Australians such as former Shepparton resident Zoe O’Brien are contributing their expertise and their funds.

This is as it should be.

We are in a position to help, and so we do.

We share the beauty and terror of this part of the world equally with our neighbours.

Cyclones are part of life here in Australia and across the southern Pacific.

However, we do have to ask – and the question has already been raised – can we expect more frequent and ferocious cyclones?

Vanuatu’s president Baldwin Lonsdale has already said climate change was a key factor in the scale of devastation Pam caused.

The head of the United Nations’ Development Program in Fiji, Osnat Lubrani, who has responsibility for the four countries Cyclone Pam has affected, says the latest disaster to hit the pacific must result in a binding deal on greenhouse gas emissions.

Whether or not climate change is the cause of this most recent disaster may seem irrelevant in the race to meet the desperate needs of the people of Vanuatu.

Arguments about the science will not put roofs over children’s head or feed thousands of hungry mouths.

But if we are to plan for the future, to avoid the repeated scenes of trauma and the continuing scramble for aid, surely we must at least acknowledge the effects of climate change and act to prevent further loss of life and property.

Whether this means moving whole populations or strengthening infrastructure, or at least increasing aid – something will have to be done.

Already another cyclone is building – Cyclone Nathan is bearing down of far north Queensland and communities from Cape Melville down to Innisfail have been warned to brace for a severe tropical cyclone by the end of the week.

The Pacific region is a weather barometer, and it will bear the brunt of any changing climate.

And while climate change may be slow and incremental, it is not invisible.

•This article can be found on the SheppartonNews website, although it is behind a paywall.

Inspired by Yackandandah and Tatura, hopeful for Greater Shepparton

Inspired by what is happening at Yackandandah, several other small Australian towns and what is unfolding at Tatura with its Energy Transition Plan about embracing renewable energy, it seems only right that the City of Greater Shepparton should also pursue such an ideal.

What follows is a newspaper column written for the Shepparton News, (as yet unpublished for the editor has discouraged from me further opinion about climate change) which I am hopeful of seeing it in print soon – Robert McLean.

 

Shepparton was once known as the “Solar City” – it’s time to reclaim that title and consolidate our community around it.

The Goulburn Valley has for decades built its prosperity around water and sunshine to create orchards laden with fruit, become a prolific producer of milk and a dynamic dry-land farming area to become known as the food-bowl of Australia.

Conditions are, however, changing and although many of the ingredients may become increasingly difficult to source, sunshine will continue to be as plentiful.

Considering that, the City of Greater Shepparton should again embrace the title of “Solar City”, pursue it with enthusiasm and encourage broad community conversation about the idea.

Energy, where we get it from and how we use, is unquestionably going to be the prime challenge facing all individuals and communities as the remainder of this decade and the next unfold.

The opportunities for Shepparton are boundless for it is laden with a free natural resource, sunshine, and so is wonderfully positioned to become Victoria’s 21^st Century La Trobe Valley.

The City of Melbourne aims to be carbon neutral by 2020 and that will mean sourcing renewable energy; energy that can be provided by our “Solar City” from its purpose built solar farms.

Such a plan, naturally, would mean cheaper energy for all city ratepayers who, after-all would be the foundational stock-holders who would see their cheap energy rates as a return on their investment in the solar farms.

Initially this would mean a significant change in direction for the city with the reshaping of priorities to allow investment in the proposed solar farm network.

Electricity is presently drawn from the La Trobe Valley, via Melbourne, and so existing infrastructure could be employed, in reverse, to take Goulburn Valley energy to the metropolitan area.

Existing power stations in the La Trobe Valley are among the world’s dirtiest and the Goulburn Valley’s solar farms would be among the world’s cleanest power.

Beyond being a profitably and clean investment for city residents, the solar farms would provide the district with a degree of energy independence and so allow it to grow into the future with confidence that its energy needs, at least in the form of electricity, were not further damaging the environment.

With the city playing a leading role in the development of a major part of a state-wide energy chain, Shepparton would be in a powerful position to attract businesses to became ratepayers, employers and so power consumers that would benefit directly from its intimate association with an energy creator and supplier.

It is suggested that to get something you have never had before, you must do something you have never done before - we have never had energy independence before, let’s do something different and achieve that freedom.

John Lewis explains how somethings are 'Just meant to be'

(This article was published in The Shepparton News on Friday, November 14)

by John Lewis.

Some things are just meant to be.

John Lewis - reporter at the
Shepparton News.

On the day that a product of human ingenuity lands on a faraway comet to find out why the earth has so much water, we finally decide to stop polluting the stuff and shirtfront this climate change mess.

Just as the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission robot touched down on a speeding filthy snowball 510 million kilometres away, China and the United States agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This is good news for solar panel producers and not so good news for the makers of smog masks.

There are winners and losers everywhere.

At the moment, the Australian Government is losing the battle to convince us we don’t need to do anything about climate change. The Abbott Government and other conservatives argue any decision by Australia to tackle climate change would be pointless while the big polluters continue to filthy up the place.

Consequently, there’s plenty of Australian dollars for fossil fuel producers and not so many for wind farm builders.

That argument yesterday lost a big cornerstone.

The Chinese pledged to cap China’s growing carbon emissions by 2030, or earlier if possible.

The Americans said they would aim for a reduction of 25 per cent or more by 2025.

What a turnaround.

All we need now is India and Russia to get on board and maybe, just maybe, Australian conservatives will be dragged back to the carbon tax table.

As former Prime Minister Paul Keating bluntly said yesterday: ‘‘When you stop pricing pollution, you start gifting money to polluters, you know, you’re on the wrong tram.’’

Makes sense to me — but there again I’m just a little lawnmower with not much shirtfront.

Vladimir Putin is a man with a big shirtfront in the shape of  two very big warships which he is apparently sending our way.

Perhaps he really is a closet One-World Gaia prophet and wants to convince Australia to get on board the world’s climate change cruiser which is now leaving harbour.

But somehow I don’t think so. Mr Putin’s gesture is just another macho stand-off between hairy-chested men.

Unfortunately, hairy-chested men in charge of armies tend to start wars.

So Mr Putin’s gesture does have to be taken seriously.

It also makes the point that when it comes to making threats — think ahead, and make sure you can actually carry them out.

However, governments are not that good at thinking beyond the next economic cycle, which makes the United States and China’s climate change agreement all the more remarkable.

Perhaps European Space Agency scientists need to be consulted on how to tackle climate change — they took 20 years to plan and execute the Rosetta project to help solve a mystery of the universe.

The bigger mystery is why men with big shirts can’t agree to shake hands and save the planet.

That’s thinking ahead.

(John Lewis is a general news and features writer at The Shepparton News.)

From 'Abnormal Autumn' to 'Weird Winter'

Having just emerged from what the Climate Council has branded an “Abnormal Autumn”, parts of Australia have stepped into a “Weird Winter”.

Shepparton News reporter, Jarrod Whittaker reported today that the average monthly rainfall for June was 35.8mm and that was nearly equalled on June 1 this year, the first day of winter, with falls on that day amounting to 32.2mm.

Jarrod also reported that Shepparton had produced figures in May that confirm the Climate Council’s “Abnormal Autumn”.

Shepparton experienced a maximum average in May 18.2C, which easily bettered the long-term average of 17.6C.

In what was a confirmation of scientific predictions, while the temperatures went up in May, they rain also came down in record levels.

Higher rainfalls and higher average temperatures are the fingerprint of climate change.

Understanding a little about food security and climate change

Food security has been discussed by those who gather Beneath the Wisteria and how it would be impacted by climate change.

It was agreed, generally, that few of have any real comprehension of what food security really means when our supermarkets are bulging with foodstuffs from every corner of Australia, and the world.

It is indisputable that as climate change settles upon us, food and its reliable availability will become foremost in our thinking.

A story in the Huffington Post headed: “Climate change threatens your dinner (but not if you live in Canada)”, help us understand a little about the complications associated with our changing climate.

Coincidently, I have written a column for the Shepparton News (to be published on Monday, October 28) also discussing food security, but from the point of view of the additional complication of oil scarcity - http://www.mateology.blogspot.com.au/.

Interestingly, just today I have engaged the editor, Geoffrey Adams, of the largest circulating weekly newspapers in the Goulburn Valley, Country News, in a conversation about being somewhat more disciplined about publishing letters to the editor from climate change deniers.

Geoffrey argued that was not a path he wished go down indicating that he was most interested in balance rather than disallowing the publication of certain letters.

He was alerted to the fact that the realities and urgencies of climate change far exceeded the now aging and inappropriate good journalism rules to which newspapers have long adhered.