Frydenberg takes the low road: It’s a weak NEG or nothing

The Coalition government is ramping up the pressure on the Labor states, seeking to paint the National Energy Guarantee as the middle path and the one and only policy option, despite its desperate attempts to shift the discussion to meet the demands of its own right wing.

Energy minister Josh Frydenberg - "Nice
words, but the cynicism is breathtaking".

Energy minister Josh Frydenberg used a National Press Club appearance on Wednesday to try and force the states to agree on the as yet ill-defined NEG, arguing that economics and engineering should triumph over ideology, and there was a need for a market based solution.

Nice words, but the cynicism is breathtaking.

Ideology? This, from a man who has spent much of the past 18 months demonising renewables, arguing in the face of all evidence to the contrary from the CSIRO and the network owners that high levels of renewables is reckless.

Read the story Giles Parkinson story from RenewEconomy - “Frydenberg takes the low road: It’s a weak NEG or nothing.”

Starting the Dialogue on Climate Engineering Governance: A World Commission

Climate engineering can, if appropriately governed within a coherent overall climate change strategy, reduce risks beyond what mitigation and adaptation can achieve alone, and is probably essential to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature targets. Climate engineering also poses significant new risks, and needs expanded research and scrutiny in climate assessments.

Starting the conversation on
climate engineering governance.

Both types of climate engineering — carbon removal and solar geoengineering — also pose significant challenges to governance. The governance challenges of solar methods are particularly novel and severe, and urgently need international examination and consultation, both to learn how (and whether) climate engineering can deliver societal and ecosystem benefits, and to prepare for the likelihood that some states, facing mounting climate change impacts, will pursue climate engineering, and the international system will have to respond.

The needed international dialogue on geoengineering governance will have broad international participation; engage high-level expertise in international policy and institutions; draw closely on parallel advances in scientific knowledge and technical capability, while keeping governance the central focus; and facilitate open, exploratory investigations of governance needs and potential responses, rather than pursue specific decisions, at least in initial stages. Present institutions are not well equipped to support these needs.

Read the Centre for International Governance Innovation by Edward A. Parson - “Starting the Dialogue on Climate Engineering Governance: A World Commission.”

(Read the "Conclusion" closely and you will see that such an idea is not without its challenges - Robert McLean)

GE hopes giant grid batteries can save the planet (and its fortunes)

The engineering firm hopes a storage system can smooth electricity supply on a grid powered by renewables—and let it capitalize on a fast-growing market.

GE's "Reservoir" battery system.

GE announced a new system called Reservoir—a large battery attached to the grid to store spare electricity from renewables. When the sun doesn’t shine and wind doesn’t blow, it dumps electrons into the grid to meet demand. It uses discharging smarts to extend its working life, and it’s modular, so it can be adapted to fit small or large gigs.

Read the MIT Technology Review story - “GE hopes giant grid batteries can save the planet (and its fortunes).”

World has missed chance to avoid dangerous global warming – unless we start geo-engineering the planet

The world has missed the chance to avoid dangerous global warming – unless we start geo-engineering the atmosphere by removing greenhouse gases, according to new research.

Planet Earth - do we resort to geo-engineering?

Scientists used computer models to assess what needs to be done to restrict global warming to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius, the limits adopted by the Paris Agreement on climate change.

They found that the world was likely to overshoot this temperature but could bring it back down to 1.2C by the end of this century by using techniques to remove carbon dioxide from the air.

Giant biological machines could be created to do this by growing vegetation which absorbs carbon, then burning the resulting biomass in power stations that capture the emissions.

Read Ian Johnston’s story in the Independent - “World has missed chance to avoid dangerous global warming – unless we start geo-engineering the planet.”

Large-scale solar industry takes off as 12 new plants secure finance

Australia’s large-scale solar industry now appears to be on solid ground, with all 12 plants recently awarded grant funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency reaching “financial close” this month.

That means they are fully financed and have locked in engineering, construction and grid connection agreements, as well as council and environmental approvals.

Construction has already begun at nine of the 12 Arena-funded plants, and the others three are a done deal, with the NSW White Rock solar farm the final project to reach financial close last week.

Arena’s chief executive, Ivor Frischknecht, said there were at least six more plants being developed in Australia without grant funding, suggesting the grant program had succeeded in establishing a self-sustaining industry.

Read Michael Slezak’s story in The Guardian - “Large-scale solar industry takes off as 12 new plants secure finance.”