State’s troubled recycling system receives $37 million rescue package

Victoria’s beleaguered recycling system has been given a $37 million lifeline aimed at cutting the amount of recyclable material that ends up in landfill and turning more of the state's waste into commercial products.

A fire-prone recycling stockpile in Lara was the subject of a recent VCAT ruling.

It is hoped the plan, to be announced by the Andrews government on Tuesday, will reinvigorate the local recycling industry, which fell into decline after Australia began to ship more of its recyclable waste to China.

Read Adam Carey’s story from The Age - “State’s troubled recycling system receives $37 million rescue package.”

Coal-fired power stations caused surge in airborne mercury pollution, study finds

Airborne mercury pollution from coal-fired power stations in Victoria’s Latrobe valley increased 37% in just 12 months, according to an annual national survey of toxic emissions.

The mercury output from Loy Yang B coal-fired power station alone
 more than doubled to 831kg in 2016-2017, the national survey of
toxic emissions found.

The mercury output from Loy Yang B power station alone more than doubled to 831kg in 2016-2017, an increase of 123% over five years.

The brown coal burning power station produced more than 640 times the airborne mercury pollution of Eraring power station near Newcastle, New South Wales.

Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station, produces three times the energy of Loy Yang B power station but reported just 1.3kg of airborne mercury pollution in 2016-17, a reduction of 97% over the past five years.

Read Calla Wahlquist’s story from The Guardian - “Coal-fired power stations caused surge in airborne mercury pollution, study finds.”

Environment watchdog could slap tougher emissions caps on power plants

Victoria’s environmental watchdog is reviewing the licences of the state’s three remaining coal-fired power plants, amid claims toxic emissions have contributed to an unusually high number of low-birthweight babies in the Latrobe Valley and even poisoned native dolphins.

Burrunan dolphins in the Gippsland Lakes have 

recorded some of the highest mercury levels in the world.

The Environment Protection Authority is considering imposing tighter emissions caps on the three power stations, Yallourn, Loy Yang A and Loy Yang B, which together supply about 80 per cent of the state’s electricity.

At the end of the review, revised licence conditions will set legal emissions levels for potentially harmful substances including nitrogen, carbon monoxide, sulphur, mercury and particulate matter.

But the EPA has given no indication it will impose new limits on carbon dioxide emissions, despite calls from Victorian environmental groups to do so as a way to tackle global warming.

Combined, the plants emit about one-third of Victoria’s greenhouse gases.

Read Adam Carey’s story in The Age - “Environment watchdog could slap tougher emissions caps on power plants.”

No record of some threatened species in area government says it's protecting them

Experts have cast doubt on government claims the Coalition is funding a conservation project in Victoria’s Endeavour Fern Gully to benefit threatened species – because the listed species are unlikely to occur in the area.

Growling grass frog unlikely to be found at Endeavour
Fern Gully, despite Josh Frydenberg saying so

Endeavour Fern Gully is a 27-hectare (65 acre) rainforest property on the Mornington Peninsula. The environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, says the government had funded a broad Green Army project that “improves habitat through weed control and promotes greater conservation awareness of native vegetation in remnant bushland at Endeavour Fern Gully”.

“This is where a number of threatened species are known or likely to be, including the grey-headed flying-fox, the southern brown bandicoot (eastern), the growling grass frog and the clover glycine.”

Read The Guardian story by Lisa Cox - “No record of some threatened species in area government says it's protecting them.”

Heat off solar farms

Victoria’s Planning Minister has called in a number of solar farm applications proving problematic for Greater Shepparton City councillors to decide on, days before they were set to go to a council meeting.

Peter Harriott.

Council chief executive Peter Harriott said the council was yesterday informed by the state planning department that pending applications would be ‘‘called in’’ and will now be considered by Planning Minister Richard Wynne.

The agenda to Tuesday’s council meeting, published yesterday, had recommended that councillors vote to grant planning permits to four solar farm applications for sites in Tatura East, Tallygaroopna, Congupna and Lemnos, subject to a raft of conditions.

But the minister’s intervention will mean the council will no longer need to determine these, the News understands.

Mr Harriott suggested an alternate motion will be put at the meeting.

He said it would be highlighted that correspondence had been received, that the minister would now call in the four applications and that the council cannot therefore determine them.

Mr Harriott said the outcome was sensible.

‘‘It’s what the council requested via a previous resolution.’’

‘‘It’s a sensible move, it provides consistency and the opportunity for the state to use this process to develop state guidelines for large-scale solar farms,’’ Mr Harriott said.

The applications constitute hundreds of millions of dollars in development costs and are estimated to produce hundreds of megawatts of power.

Estimations have the proposals creating an estimated 150 to 200 jobs during construction, and 15 ongoing jobs once complete, if approved.

The council had in November voted for its chief executive to request the minister to decide on the solar farm planning applications in Greater Shepparton and establish a process providing an opportunity for affected stakeholders to be heard.

The council’s main concern with the applications is ‘‘whether the loss of productive agricultural land . . . for a solar farm produces acceptable planning outcomes.’’

The News understands the planning minister can approve, reject or green light the permits with conditions that factor in community concerns.

The minister will convene an independent planning panel to consider the merits of the proposals, and then provide advice for him to consider, the News understands.

The panel will also be providing advice to the energy minister about how future solar farm applications will be assessed in Victoria, the News understands.

Mr Wynne said renewable energy projects created jobs, drive down power prices and boost regional communities, ‘‘but that doesn’t mean they deserve a rubber stamp’’.

‘‘We’ll ensure all objectors have their say and their concerns are addressed where appropriate.’’

Thomas Moir’s story from today’s Shepparton News - “Heat off solar farms.”

The village that fought and lost a war against the new water merchants

The tiny gold-mining village of Stanley sits quietly - most of the time - on its plateau in the foothills of Victoria’s north-east high country, its vineyards and groves of walnut and orchards of apple, stone fruits and berries quenched by pure water from beneath the ground. 

David McIntyre , Stanley nut grower, is concerned about water mining in the district.

There’s a little Athenaeum - the old fancy name for a community library - at the crossroads at the centre of town.

Its fine collection of books date to a time when gold miners and their families felt the need for tranquil retreat from the often vulgar doings on the wild diggings. The first librarian was appointed in 1863.

Late last year and right through the summer, Stanley’s Athenaeum hosted an exhibition called “Water and Mining: Water management on the goldfields”.

It told the story of how “water merchants” of the 19th century made fortunes by diverting the flow of the Nine Mile Creek - Stanley’s old name - to serve diggings down the hill.

Read Tony Wright’s story in The Age - “The village that fought and lost a war against the new water merchants.”

Victoria’s battery storage won’t be ready for this summer

Victoria’s plans to add at least 100MWh of battery storage to its grid by January – to help keep the network steady and prevent unwanted load-shedding – appear to have come unstuck.

The state government – which this week unveiled the details of the country’s biggest renewable energy auction (650MW) – has still to announce the results of its much-vaunted earlier tender for two large-scale battery storage installations in the west of the state.

The two projects – each of 20MW and producing a combined 100MWh – were supposed to be online by January 1. But despite attracting more than 100 proposals, the tender winners have still not been announced, way beyond the planned deadline of the end of the August.

A spokesperson for Minister for energy Lily D’Ambrosio said the government is still assessing proposals and further announcements will be made in due course.

Read Giles Parkinson’s story on RenewEconomy - "Victoria’s battery storage won’t be ready for this summer.”