Category Archives: Business

New Abbott gov’t heads for environmental disaster, expert warns

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A day after Tony Abbott was elected as the new Prime Minister of Australia, conservation groups are already worrying about the future of environmental protection and sustainability in the country.

Under the new “management”, a term used by Abbott in his acceptance speech at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, his government will put environmental issues on the back burner to get the business back on track.

Tony Abbott (top) won the 2013 federal election to become Australia's 28th prime minister beating Kevin Rudd who conceded defeat on Sept. 7.

Abbott won Saturday’s Federal Election to become Australia’s 28th prime minister, beating Kevin Rudd in an overwhelming victory.

In a reaction to his election, however, Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe from the School of Science, Griffith University said Australia’s newly elected government will be disastrous for the environment. He finds the Coalition Government’s policies on environment to be depressing, The Conversation reports.

Under the Liberal Party’s plan, Abbott will seek to abolish the carbon tax immediately, which he considers toxic and destructive for Australian businesses. The new PM also vowed to suspend the operation of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Citing New South Wales as an example of bad business affected by carbon tax, Premiere Barry O’Farrell has made it clear that the state’s black coal-fired power stations will suffer a loss in value of at least $5 billion because of the carbon tax.

Abbott will also abolish the mining tax which he claims undermines investor confidence in Australia as an investment destination and as a secure “supplier of resources.” By scrapping the tax, the Coalition aims to “restore confidence, stability and security for the industry, allowing it to thrive, create jobs and contribute to the prosperity of all Australians.”

Green groups have been alarmed at the Coalition’s plan to implement a One-Stop-Shop Environmental Approvals Process. The process will cut green tape and will fast-track approvals of new mining and other projects. Once it gives  green light to the petition lodged by the Business Council of Australia, the Coalition will offer State and Territory governments the opportunity to act as a one-stop-shop for environmental approvals. The States and Territories would then administer a single approvals process including approvals under Commonwealth legislation such as the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The Environment Defenders Office has already released a report that finds the One-Stop-Shop a process to streamline the process of environmental destruction. Read related article here.

Lowe said Abbott’s  proposal will turn the clock back 30 years on environmental protection.

“Since the Hawke government blocked the proposed Franklin Dam, successive governments – ALP and Coalition – have curbed the worst excesses of growth-oriented states, which are prepared to approve irresponsible developments. Even our National Parks are no longer safe,” he said.

Other plans in the Coalition pipeline include a go for mineral exploration activities; agricultural land exploration for seam coal gas; approval of uranium exports to India; examination of the potential of thorium as an energy source for export; and a review of the former government’s White Paper on energy and resources, among other things.

Relevant links to the new government’s policies are here, including resources and energy plans.

Blog Link: Asian Correspondent’s Green Journal

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Australia maps out smart energy plans

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Climate solutions think-tank Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) and the University of Melbourne are launching a joint project that hopes to help developers build smarter buildings: eco-friendly and energy-efficient.

The Zero Carbon Australia Buildings Plan, to be unveiled Thursday, will showcase a blueprint aimed at helping existing buildings cut their energy usage by half. Residential and commercial buildings can achieve maximum energy efficiency in 10 years.

BZE Research Director and Lead Author Trent Hawkins notes Australian buildings are not up to the challenges of the time. They are generally “too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and use a phenomenal amount of energy to run basic services,” he explained. The plan also scraps gas-operated appliances to be replaced by more efficient and healthy technology. “This plan shows how Australia can transform our existing buildings to reduce energy bills, increase comfort and health, and generate renewable energy,” he said.

The plan projects residential building sector to cut 53 per cent of energy use, with some typical home categories seeing over 70 per cent reduction, and commercial buildings can reduce energy use by 44 per cent.

Going gas-free is a key element of moving towards zero emissions. The plan, if implemented, has multiple benefits: households get a new level of control over their energy bills, it could remove the need for the polluting and unpopular coal-seam gas industry, and it would stimulate employment in trades and services for the buildings sector by tens of thousands of jobs, BZE said.

Australian households spend $15 billion per year on electricity and gas bills. The modelling shows that this plan could save up to $40 billion over the next 30 years, compared to business as usual,” Mr Hawkins explained.

BZE introduced the idea of a 100 per cent renewable electricity grid to Australia’s political and public discussion with the 2010 Stationary Energy Plan.

Mr Hawkins concludes his group wants to start the conversation on how Australia can fix its buildings. “By taking action now, we can start to curb the environmental impact of our energy-hungry buildings – and improve life for us as occupants,” he said.

BZE is one of the grassroots’ movements that support Australia’s drive towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy source.

Solar Power

By 2020, Australia aims to generate 20 per cent of its energy needs from renewables. The Climate Commission earlier released a modelling of Australia’s future energy usage that consistently indicates increased reliance on solar energy. By 2050, solar photovoltaics are projected to provide 29 per cent of Australia’s power needs.

Last year, the Climate Commission released a report– The Critical Decade: Generating a renewable Australia– which projects the unlimited potential of renewables, particularly solar.

The report underscores a major shift in global energy policy moving towards renewables and Australia has an advantage given the enormous potential for solar generation as the world’s sunniest continent.

The report also highlights major developments in Australia such as the cost of solar photovoltaic systems which have significantly dropped over the years enabling more consumers to shift to such technology.

In 2012, over one million rooftop solar photovoltaic systems were installed, up from about 8,000 in 2007. About 2.6 million people, 11 per cent of our population, now use the sun for their electricity needs, the report said.

The Commission also admitted that while Australia generated $60 billion from the export of coal and gas, 80 per cent of global fossil fuel resources need to stay in the ground to limit global temperature increase to a relatively safe 2C.

Largest solar panels in the Southern Hemisphere

Last week, Australia reached another milestone with the announcement of large-scale solar power stations to be built in New South Wales costing a combined total of $450 million.

The Australia Renewable Energy Agency approved the fund of $166.7 million while the NSW Government committed $64.9 million to support the project.

The power stations will be built in two separate locations: Broken Hill (NSW) and Nyngan (NSW) which will generate a capacity of up to 155 megawatts (MW) (AC) of electricity. Construction in Nyngan is due on January 2014 and Broken Hill, July 2014 to be completed in 2015.

AGL Energy Pty Ltd was named to build the project and has contracted First Solar to do the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the project. First Solar will build the power stations using its thin film PV technology and will maintain the facilities for an initial five year period following construction.

The Federal Government says these will be the largest solar power stations in the Southern Hemisphere.

Mark Butler MP, Minister for Climate Change, said the project will cover a combined area four times the size of the Sydney CBD.

Blog Link: Asian Correspondent

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FoE probes Apple link to Bangka mining controversy

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Do you trust your smartphone? Do you carry a brand using tin from the Bangka mining site?

Friends of the Earth (FoE) Campaigns Coordinator Cam Walker said FoE Australia and FoE Indonesia have joined forces to support the drive to investigate the source of tin used by smartphone manufacturers in the wake of the controversial Bangka mining site in Indonesia causing catastrophic damage to the environment.

Miners working at a tin ore mine in Tanjung Pesona, District Sungai Liat, Bangka, Indonesia. (Photo: Ulet Ifansasti)

Top mobile phone brands have been pressured to reveal the source of tin in their products. The mining site in Bangka has been accused of local labour exploitation while the mining has caused horrific deaths. One death per week is the average in recent years, reports said.  Bloomberg Businessweek earlier published a report on the harrowing conditions of workers.

Mining has also caused environmental havoc to water systems, forests, corals reefs and livelihoods of people living in and around the island, FoE said.

Top smartphone brands – Blackberry, Sony, Nokia and Motorola and LG – released statements admitting they use tin products sourced out from Bangka island. Tin is used as solder in all phones and electronic gadgets and around a third of the world’s mined tin comes from Bangka and neighbouring island Belitung. The companies were also asked to cooperate in finding an industry-wide solution, FoE said.

Apple, however, stubbornly snubbed the campaign. Over 25,000 supporters have already emailed the company to reveal the tin sources of their products.

FoE UK started the smartphone campaign under Make it Better  to press phone manufacturers to observe transparency. The Bangka case highlights the need of strong laws ensuring companies reveal the human and environmental impacts of their businesses.

Bangka (or Banka) is an island province together with Belitung Island with Pankalpinang as the capital. It lies east of Sumatra, separated by the Bangka Strait. To the north lies the South China Sea, to the east, across the Gaspar Strait, is the island of Belitung, and to the south is the Java Sea. The size is about 12,000 km².

The name Bangka is derived from the word ”Wangka” which means ”tin”.  Since 1710, Bangka has been one of the world’s principal tin-producing centers. Tin production is an Indonesian government monopoly.

According to tour operators in the island, Bangka boasts of its “BANKATIN” – considered to have a worldwide reputation.

In April, Samsung Electronics led the mobile industry by publicly admitting that it uses tin from Bangka’s mines following pressure from more than 15,000 FoE individual supporters.  Dutch electronics giant, Philips, also publicly acknowledged its use of Bangka tin after a similar campaign in Netherlands (Milieudefensie) earlier.

The despicable condition of workers at a tin mine in Tanjung Pesona. (Photo: Ulet Ifansasti)

FOE’s Policy and Campaigns Director Craig Bennett wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook on 25 June pointing out that the company’s public stance on the issue is now “indefensible,” especially given Cook’s claimed desire to be more transparent about Apple supply chains. Read more about the  FoE iPhone findings here.

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