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Post by pim on Feb 8, 2021 23:08:53 GMT 10
 Morrison’s non-target target is vanishing before it even existedBernard Keane 8 February 2021 Crikey To get an example of why climate politics in Australia is so enraging, witness the last 24 hours. Michael McCormack, acting Nationals leader, yesterday decided to push back against any suggestions of a 2050 net zero emissions target by saying agriculture would be exempt. His specific reason? The basis for exempting what, in non-drought years, makes up about 16% of Australia’s emissions? “We are not going to hurt those wonderful people that put food on our table.” But by this morning, McCormack had received backing from within the government for an exemption, and it had expanded from a “wonderful people” exemption to — according to the Coalition’s mouthpiece — exempting all emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries (EITEs). The argument run by The Australian was that Labor had exempted EITEs in its carbon pricing schemes (CPRS). We have to stop at this point because there are so many caveats and assumptions in the last six sentences that continuing without itemising them risks deep confusion. First, there is no 2050 net zero target, despite the press gallery trying to heroicise Scott Morrison for saying words like “preferably”. Even senior gallery journalists are peddling the narrative that Morrison is bravely shifting the Coalition toward climate action — the same journalists who instantly scream “Labor leadership crisis” if there’s any dispute within opposition ranks over climate. In fact, Morrison is investing in gas, studies of coal-fired power stations and discredited carbon capture and storage, designed to prolong the use of coal-fired power stations. Morrison’s cheerleaders never mention this. Second, Labor indeed omitted EITEs from its carbon pricing scheme — a key reason why the original CPRS was rubbish and deserved to be voted down. But a 2050 net zero target is not a carbon price. It’s merely a commitment — like the 26-28% reduction commitment made for the Paris Agreement, which we will miss by miles. Third, net zero by 2050 for Australia is too little, too late. Fourth, removing major chunks of Australia’s emissions sources from policy action simply means the sectors remaining within the commitment need to do more. Other sectors will have to achieve greater emissions reductions to make up for the absence of 16% of emissions from the target. Fifth, the EU is already working on a relatively straightforward solution to the problem of trade-exposed industries — impose levies on imports from countries failing to take sufficient action on climate change, to overcome the unfair advantage imports from the latter have over products from domestic sources where climate action is taken seriously. Boris Johnson is pursuing this as well. Australia would, naturally, be excluded from such a carbon club for its agricultural exports. Sixth, the government has spent years funding “soil magic” carbon sequestration schemes, which work on the unproven basis that carbon can be safely and permanently stored in soil, and there is regular speculation the government will expand such schemes because they act as handouts to farmers to do what, in many cases, they would do anyway. If agriculture is omitted because of a “wonderful people” exemption, what’s the basis for continuing to fund soil magic programs? Seventh, and possibly most pointedly, actual farming groups like the National Farmers Federation support an economy-wide 2050 net zero target with agriculture included. On we go. The fact that within 24 hours mooted exemptions expanded from agriculture to all trade-exposed industries illustrates the complete unreality within which climate policy is considered by this government and reported by a press gallery that increasingly looks unfit for purpose. If we use McCormack’s “wonderful people” category, aren’t there many more deserving recipients of exemptions? What about regional manufacturing? Or mining (which is now the Nationals’ true constituency)? Transport is crucial in regional areas, too. The heavy vehicle sector primarily move through regional areas. Why is agriculture singled out when so many other deserving sectors should be looked after? But as we saw when Kevin Rudd was putting together, and then watering down, his CPRS, you can get trampled in the rush of vested interests demanding exemptions from emissions reduction policies, each one of them explaining why they deserve it. What’s more relevant is the way the press gallery continues to run a protection racket for Scott Morrison on climate, lauding minimal changes in wording as masterful climate actions, when this government remains committed to expanding fossil fuels, and is already watering down a non-existent target unaccompanied by any implementation plan. |
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Post by ponto on Feb 9, 2021 8:31:38 GMT 10
There are many farmers achieving carbon neutral practices...remember when they used to burn the sugar cane fields...now it is harvested and sold on as mulch..what McCormack wants is protecting farmers who do not want to change their farming practices, to be able to clear land at will and burn the stockpiles of bulldozed into a heap timber, sell land to developers and knockdown Koala habitat...protecting the anti green Red Neck Farmers.
Its not that hard to look at what other countries as in Europe to see what they are doing.....McCormack and the LNP its more about protecting mining.
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Post by Gort on Feb 9, 2021 10:37:19 GMT 10
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Post by ponto on Feb 9, 2021 11:06:22 GMT 10
Diversion to Labor...again....  |
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Post by Gort on Feb 9, 2021 11:13:33 GMT 10
All these platitudes about "Net Zero" by 2050 are ...  We need an actual technical pathway to reduce emissions but avoid power blackouts. |
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Post by Gort on Feb 9, 2021 11:55:55 GMT 10
Looking for "Net Zero" ...   |
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Post by Gort on Feb 9, 2021 14:12:37 GMT 10
Solution to "Net Zero" found!... We all have to become Amish.  |
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Post by pim on Apr 28, 2021 16:59:14 GMT 10
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Post by matte on Apr 28, 2021 19:08:42 GMT 10
The problem is, world leaders get on on stage and announce all these grand targets, but with no further information.
Scott Morrison has announced a superior plan because it is about how we will reduce our emissions, not unachievable targets. We need truth, not lies.
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Post by pim on Apr 28, 2021 19:34:44 GMT 10
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Post by pim on Apr 28, 2021 19:36:37 GMT 10
Sorry KTJ if you're reading this from your bunker on Fat's board. But what other response is possible to Matt's insanity?
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Post by matte on Apr 28, 2021 19:42:04 GMT 10
I am unsure why you think announcements are more important than actual action?
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Post by ponto on Apr 28, 2021 19:59:36 GMT 10
And what action has Scomo taken when all we have seen is announcements from him....??
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Post by matte on Apr 28, 2021 20:42:15 GMT 10
And what action has Scomo taken when all we have seen is announcements from him....?? Have you been asleep? Investment in technology such as hydrogen production. |
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Post by ponto on Apr 29, 2021 1:46:17 GMT 10
Hydrogen extracted from coal and that is not reducing emissions it is maintaining emissions, you have nothing because ScoMo is doing nothing but rhetoric...and your gullible enough to believe is his spin. ScoMo was pinning his bets on Trump winning the US election, to keep the coal fires burning, now he is doing it by stealth, Trump who pulled out of the Paris Agreement so to increase Americas emissions...illogically ScoMo is also bent on increasing greenhouse emissions. Because ScoMo states other nations are just talking without action is pure rubbish, he is a liar, and you believe the dangerous muppet...your asleep at the wheel. www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-helps-reduce-more-than-30-million-tonnes-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-globally |
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Post by pim on Apr 29, 2021 4:55:24 GMT 10
Way past time he “woke” up  |
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Post by pim on May 20, 2021 14:29:33 GMT 10
 Scotty from Marketing takes his gaseous emissions reduction policies to international climate change forums |
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Post by ponto on May 21, 2021 11:05:03 GMT 10
Now industry is leading the way forward....ScoMo government is still stuck on dinosaur mode wasting public money on white elephant putrid gas.. I recall when I was saying hydrogen will be the energy future and was rebuked that the notion will never float....hard to be humble when your right. Australia’s first fully renewable ‘hydrogen valley’ slated for NSW coal heartland
Consortium plans to produce green hydrogen with wind and solar energy as a potential replacement for Hunter Valley’s coal industry  Under the Energy Estate consortium’s proposal, green hydrogen would be piped to near the Liddell coal plant in the NSW Hunter Valley, which is to close in 2023. Photograph: Tim Wimborne/ReutersAustralia’s first “hydrogen valley” would be created in New South Wales and run entirely on renewable energy under a $2bn proposal supported by local and global energy companies.
Led by renewables advisory business Energy Estate, the consortium says it plans to produce green hydrogen with wind and solar energy and use it as a feedstock for mining, transport and industrial users in the upper Hunter Valley, spruiking it as a potential replacement for the region’s coal industry. If successful, a second stage would pipe hydrogen to Newcastle, where it could be used to help run a clean energy industrial precinct. Vincent Dwyer, a principal at Energy Estate, said it could provide zero-emissions feedstock for chemical manufacturing and allow the development of green ammonia for export. Companies said to be looking at getting involved in the Hunter hydrogen network include AGL Energy, pipeline operator APA Group, Idemitsu (the Japanese owner of a Muswellbrook coalmine), commodities trader Trafigura and renewable energy developers RES Australia and Walcha Energy. The Coalition is backing a gas plant that also runs on hydrogen. Is this the future or a folly? Read more “We’re not wanting to own all of these opportunities,” Dwyer said. “We’re wanting to enable them to occur by building the backbone infrastructure and then partner with people.” The proposal announcement follows the Morrison government’s budget commitment of $275m over five years to help develop five hydrogen “hubs” in regional areas. The government’s pledge is to support “clean” hydrogen, which could include “green” hydrogen made with renewable energy and “blue” hydrogen fossil fuels backed by carbon capture and storage. Advertisement The government was expected to announce funding for the hubs next year, with potential sites including the Hunter Valley, Tasmania’s Bell Bay, the Pilbara region in Western Australia, Gladstone in Queensland, Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and Darwin. Its goal is to help reduce the cost of producing hydrogen to $2 a kilogram. Dwyer said Energy Estate was yet to discuss its proposal with the government. He said it would not be looking for public backing “for the cost of the electrons”, but hoped to discuss “how to plan the infrastructure to allow the hydrogen to occur”. “The federal government is after good ideas and we’re hoping it would get behind it,” he said. Green hydrogen is created by using an electrolyser to run an electrical current through water, separating it into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen can also be made using gas through a different process that releases carbon dioxide. Under the government’s proposal, it would need to be captured and either used or pumped underground. An analysis by BloombergNEF last year suggested green hydrogen could become the cheapest form of fuel much faster than expected, citing evidence of Chinese manufacturers already using electrolysers that cost about 80% less than estimates released by CSIRO in 2018. The Hunter Valley proposal would involve green hydrogen being produced on the site of a repurposed coalmine at Muswellbrook by 2024 and piped to near the Liddell coal plant, which is to close in 2023. Under the second stage, more electrolysers would be installed near Liddell between 2022 and 2026, and an additional hydrogen pipeline would run from there to Newcastle, allowing development of a clean energy precinct near the port. The operation would be powered by solar and wind farms backed by batteries in a renewable energy zone on the Walcha plateau. New electricity transmission lines would be needed to connect the zone with a substation at Liddell. Under a possible third stage, another hydrogen pipeline could be built to the central west and New England renewable energy zones, which are to be developed under legislation that passed the NSW parliament last year. Hannah McCaughey, an executive with APA, said the company was excited to be part of projects that could “support a lower carbon future and potentially unlock Australia’s unrivalled advantages in hydrogen”. There have been varying estimates of the role that hydrogen is likely to play in replacing fossil fuels. It is hoped it could become an affordable emissions-free alternative to fossil fuels in industries that operate at incredibly high temperatures and in some large-scale transport, in particular. The Australian government has named “clean” hydrogen one of five “low-emissions” technology priorities and estimated it could create more than 8,000 jobs and generate about $11bn a year in GDP by 2050. The Australian government is not doing this they are leaving it up to industry to create the technology and then collect the accolades what industry has achieved ...all the while the government is spending big on fossils. |
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Post by pim on Jul 7, 2021 7:19:34 GMT 10
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Post by matte on Jul 7, 2021 10:58:15 GMT 10
The elephant in the room is nuclear energy.
Without nuclear energy we'll never get to net zero as we won't have a reliable, zero carbon, baseload electricity source.
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Post by caskur on Jul 7, 2021 17:37:26 GMT 10
There are many farmers achieving carbon neutral practices...remember when they used to burn the sugar cane fields...now it is harvested and sold on as mulch..what McCormack wants is protecting farmers who do not want to change their farming practices, to be able to clear land at will and burn the stockpiles of bulldozed into a heap timber, sell land to developers and knockdown Koala habitat...protecting the anti green Red Neck Farmers. Its not that hard to look at what other countries as in Europe to see what they are doing.....McCormack and the LNP its more about protecting mining. Farmers are shitstains on the planet. In Australian they've been illegally destroying crown land virgin habitat. They are evil. I have NO RESPECT for any farmers. |
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Post by caskur on Jul 7, 2021 17:43:42 GMT 10
The problem is, world leaders get on on stage and announce all these grand targets, but with no further information. Scott Morrison has announced a superior plan because it is about how we will reduce our emissions, not unachievable targets. We need truth, not lies. Exactly Matte, it's called "virtue signaling." Just laugh at idiots that believe otherwise. I watched for 5 decades, longer than you've been alive, they were going to build MOON BASES... How many moon bases do we have in the last half century no less? Politicians year in, year out, talk NOTHING but pure wall to wall shit!~ |
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Post by ponto on Jul 7, 2021 18:57:31 GMT 10
Scott Morrison has announced no plan...and you guys sing his praises because you want to see the planet collapse for religious Armageddon.
Germany and France are now talking with China and Australia will be caught with its pants down because of RW fucknut ideology.
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