Arthur Sinodinos urges Liberals to use renewables to boost environmental credentials

Arthur Sinodinos has warned that the Liberal party should not stand in the way of renewables, suggesting the government should use a changing energy market to bolster its environmental credentials.

Arthur Sinodinos says the Liberals should not make it
seem like voters have to choose between the environment
and the economy.

Anticipating a fresh internal battle over energy policy after the Liberal-National party’s success in Queensland, the Liberal senator suggested the government should recast itself as the best manager of the grid and “take advantage” of the falling cost of renewables to ensure “greater reliability, lower cost and lower greenhouse gas footprint”.

Despite the Coalition returning with a narrow majority in the 46th parliament, former prime minister Tony Abbott lost the blue-ribbon seat of Warringah and there were swings against the Liberal party in inner-city Melbourne and Sydney seats.

Read the story from The Guardian by Paul Karp - “Arthur Sinodinos urges Liberals to use renewables to boost environmental credentials.”

Morrison government backs trial to make virtual power plants a reality

Small amounts of energy fed into the grid by individual household rooftop solar systems could be harnessed into a much larger “virtual power plant” that will bolster the national energy network at times of high demand.

Australians have embraced the rooftop solar revolution.

The Morrison government is co-funding a trial of software that could control the release of small-scale energy from hundreds of thousands of household solar and battery systems so that it is fed into the grid when it is most needed.

Read the story from The Age by Adam Carey - “Morrison government backs trial to make virtual power plants a reality.”

UN says 2017 set to be among top three hottest years, as Bonn climate talks seek action despite US stance

This year will be among the three hottest on record, the United Nations says, as almost 200 countries begin talks in Germany to bolster a global climate accord that the United States plans to quit.

A polar bear greets delegates at a UN
climate change conference in Bonn.

Temperatures this year will be slightly less than during a record-breaking 2016 and roughly level with 2015, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said, part of a long-term warming trend driven by greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

"We have witnessed extraordinary weather," WMO head Petteri Talaas said, pointing to extreme events including a spate of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Caribbean, monsoon floods in Asia and drought in East Africa.

The WMO attributed the small dip from last year to the fading effects of a natural El Nino event that released extra heat from the Pacific Ocean in 2016.

Read the ABC News story - “UN says 2017 set to be among top three hottest years, as Bonn climate talks seek action despite US stance.”

Trump vows to ‘unleash’ American energy but unveils only modest new steps

President Trump vowed to “unleash American energy” on Thursday, pledging to bolster the ailing nuclear industry, open up new offshore areas for drilling, and help seal deals for oil pipelines and coal exports.

President Trump speaks on Thursday at
the Energy Department in Washington. 

Riding a wave of shale drilling that doubled the country’s total oil and gas production during the Obama administration, Trump said: “We’re here today to usher in a new American energy policy, one that unlocks millions and millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in wealth.”

But energy experts were not impressed with the measures Trump unveiled Thursday, saying they would have little effect.

Read story by Steven Mufson and Chris Mooney in The Washington Post - “Trump vows to ‘unleash’ American energy but unveils only modest new steps.”