AGL’s plan to replace Liddell is cheaper and cleaner than keeping it open

The Commonwealth government called last week for AGL Energy to consider selling its Liddell power station to rival Alinta.

AGL has promised to replace the power generated
 by Liddell with a mix of other sources.

Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has raised concerns that the scheduled 2022 shutdown of Liddell will affect New South Wales’ energy reliability. It’s suggested the sale would provide a way to keep the ageing power station open past the end of its normal 50-year operating life.

However, AGL responded to government concerns in December 2017 by releasing a replacement plan. Liddell’s theoretical maximum output is 1,800 megawatts (MW), but the firm capacity – the power that can be relied upon at peak time – is 1,000 MW. AGL is confident this can be replaced by a mix of improved efficiency, renewables and demand response.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Senior Research Consultant from Sydney’s University of Technology, Kriti Nagrath -  “AGL’s plan to replace Liddell is cheaper and cleaner than keeping it open.”

Kenya imposes world's toughest law against plastic bags

Nairobi: Kenyans producing, selling or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of US$40,000 from Monday, as the world's toughest law aimed at reducing plastic pollution came into effect.

Men and women scavenge for recyclable materials
amidst mountains of garbage and plastic bag
 at the dump in the Dandora slum of Nairobi, Kenya.

The East African nation joins more than 40 other countries that have banned, partly banned or taxed single use plastic bags, including China, France, Rwanda, and Italy.

Many bags drift into the ocean, strangling turtles, suffocating seabirds and filling the stomachs of dolphins and whales with waste until they die of starvation.

"If we continue like this, by 2050, we will have more plastic in the ocean than fish," said Habib El-Habr, an expert on marine litter working with the UN Environment Programme in Kenya.

Read the story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Kenya imposes world's toughest law against plastic bags.”