Beyond Zero Emissions has officially launched its "Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan".

The is a detailed and costed blueprint for transitioning our stationary energy sector to 100% renewable energy in ten years. The technologies utilised in this plan, which are predominantly concentrated solar thermal with molten salt storage, are commercially available now.

To download the full 200-page Plan click here (8.4MB). For a 16-page synopsis of the Plan click here (2.2MB). Hard copies can be purchased from the Melbourne Energy Institute.

Several eminent scientists, including Professor Robin Batterham, President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and formerly Chief Scientist of Australia, have attested to the technical feasibility of the plan.

Professor Batterham went on to say "With our natural advantage Australia can and should be positioning itself as a global renewable super power for future prosperity. This report will help shift the climate debate to focus on energy; security; affordability; export and of course opportunity. Beyond Zero Emissions offers a new and invigorating message that is much needed”
 

Thw Age has reported that the Victorian Government is considering closing two of the Hazelwood power station’s eight power units. The La Trobe Valley power plant produces almost a quarter of Victoria’s electricity from brown coal and is regarded as Australia’s dirtiest power plant – some environmental groups claim that it is the dirtiest power plant in the developed world.

Closing a quarter of the plant would cut of 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year – just over 3% of Victoria’s annual emissions and 0.7% of annual national emissions.

A complete closure of Hazelwood would only go ahead once an emissions trading scheme – or an alternative federal opposition climate plan – is in place.

Read more about this …

Queensland;s Premier Anna Bligh has released the government’s new climate change strategy, "ClimateQ: Towards a Greener Queensland".

The major initiative is that no new coal-fired power stations will be built in Queensland unless they use world’s best emissions technology and are able to capture and store carbon and must do so within five years of the technology becoming available. One new coal-fired power station is currently proposed for the state, to be built at Wandoan, near Miles. It is already part of a flagship carbon capture and storage scheme.

The climate change strategy also includes an anti-congestion plan, using a high-tech traffic management system, and programs to change travel habits and offset vehicle emissions. The carbon offset scheme will allow the public to purchase offsets for vehicle emissions with the funds being used to purchase biodiversity corridors across the state.

A CSIRO report on Queensland’s potential to mitigate greenhouse gas through biosequestration was also released.

The report found the Queensland government, as the third largest landholder in the world, has significant potential to create carbon "sinks", storing large amounts of carbon in forests and the soil.

Professor Tim Flannery, who is on the government’s climate change council, said it was timely, as US legislation had just created a $20 billion a year carbon sequestration industry there.

While the United States and Australian legislatures are bogged down in political disputes over the introduction of carbon trading schemes, a group of economists, climate scientists and academics has released an analysis for the the German Marshall Fund of the benefits and lessons that have come from the European Union’s Emissions Trading System.

The EU introduced a cap-and-trade system in 2005 and now has a carbon market worth 40 billion euros ($AU 67 billion) annually.

The report, titled "Climate Policy and International Competitiveness", lists ten main "insights":

1. Despite initial setbacks, carbon trading has been a success in reducing carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 50 to 100 million tonnes (2.5 to 5%) annually.
2. Everyone learns after the system has been introduced, so it must be flexible enough to be adapt over time.
3. Prices can be volatile and are impacted by unforeseen circumstances. In Europe, these have reduced prices below initial expectations.
4. The impact on gross domestic product has been small and consistently less than predicted.
5. Those industries which engage contructively in the system profit from it.
6. The impact on international competitiveness is small and isolated to a few industries.
7. Free allocation of credits degrades efficiency and can create new inefficiencies.
8. Free credits can also create windfall profits for dirty industries.
9. The best way to allocate credits is by auctioning them.
10. Any international trade difficulties should be dealt with by multilateral negotiation rather than unilateral trade barriers or subsidies.

At United Nation’s climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, more than 450 non-government organisations from around the world  have voted to give Australia first place in a "Fossil of the Day" award for greenhouse gas emission targets.

The NGO’s criticised Australia for setting a completely inadequte target for 2020 of only a 5% greenhouse reduction, which would be increased to a still inadequte 24% reduction provided that other countries also made certain commitments. The NGO’s, which believe that rich coutries need to achieve targets of more than 40%, described the conditions demanded by Australia as "obnoxious".

The NGOs said that “Australia was awarded First Place, for announcing its target which puts unreasonable conditions on other countries. Australia will adopt an inadequate 24% target by 2020 with the following and particularly obnoxious provisos that include, all countries (including developing countries) contribute finance and that developing countries slow growth, take a 20% (against BAU) reduction by 2020 and nominate a peaking year for their emissions. It is worth noting that Australia’s emissions have yet to peak and they are yet to commit any additional money to adaptation.”

The Australian Government has announced that it will invest more than $20 million in research and development aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by livestock.

According to a United Nations report, cattle are "responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together." The reasons why are cattle so bad, and whether other sources of meat are better, has been discussed on our sister site, GreenBiz Cafe.

The Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, said that the research will look at breeding options and improving feed to reducing methane levels. Farmers in the UK are altready trialling a diet for cows that promises to reduce methane emissions. (See GreenBiz Cafe).

UPDATE: 3 March 2009

The Federal Agriculture Minister, Tony Burke. announced today that there will be nine research programs across the country which will begin looking at effective ways to store carbon in soil in a bid to reduce emissions. A further nine programs will monitor nitrous oxide emissions of various farming systems, at a total cost of $32 million.

The CSIRO will oversee the management of all programs and analyse the potential for soils to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as little as 5 percent by the year 2020 – far less than the 25 percent cut sought be environmentalists.

The White Paper released today says that Australia will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 5% of 2000 levels by 2020 but could make a cut of up to 15% if other countries also sign up to stronger reductions. The commitment falls well below the 25 to 40% target for 2020 recommended by the United Nations for developed economies and the European Union’s commitment to cut emissions by 20% of 1990 levels by 2020 and to increase that to 30% if a global agreement is reached.

The White Paper also contains details of the governments emission trading scheme to start in 2010.

Read more about this …

Professor Ross Garnaut, Australia’s climate change advisor, has handed down the second part of his report on greenhouse gas reduction.

Professor Garnaut’s report says that ideally Australia should aim to reduce emissions to 25% below 2000 levels by 2020 but concedes that this target is probably unattainable. It suggests that an attainable target, if an international post-Kyoto agreement is reached by 2013, would be to reduce emissions to 10% below 2000 levels by 2020. If there is no agreement, then only a 5% target would be realistic.

To achieve the 10% target, the report says that a price of $20 per tonne of carbon emitted needs to be set from 2010, rising by 4% plus inflation per annum from 2012 until 2020. Setting a higher price would drive industry offshore and not achieve greater emission reductions.

In other words, carbon trading can only deliver a 10% reduction at best by 2020 – although a much higher reduction of 25% is desirable.

In the longer term, the report recommends a target of an 80% reduction by 2050 – higher than the 60% reduction target set by the Government.

In international negotiations, the report says that Australia should  argue for stabilisation at 450 parts of carbon dioxide per million although 550 parts per million is more likely to be agreed. Even 450 parts per million would not guarantee saving sensitive areas like the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.

Announcing what she described as "the most significant economic and structural reform undertaken in Australia since the trade liberalisation of the 1980s", Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, has outlined the timetable for the introduction of carbon emissions trading in Australia.

The timetable includes immediate consultation with business leading to a "green paper" on the scheme to be published in July. There will then be opportunities to suggest changes to the scheme prior to the release of a draft Bill in December. Senator Wong said that she expected the Bill would be passed by Parliament in mid-2009 and come into effect in 2010.

Fosters Tasmanian brewery, Cascade, has launched "Cascade Green" – a 100% carbon offset beer. Cascade claims that all aspects of the production and consumption of the beer are being offset.

The beer is supplied in the lightest weight, highest recycled content glass bottles available in Australia; the carton is made from 100% recycled cardboard and printed with biodegradable vegetable inks. After reducing the carbon footprint as much as possible, the remainder has been offset by purchasing certified carbon offsets from the Hobart Landfill Flare Facility.

The beer, which is also low carbohydrate, is classified as a "premium" beer and will sell for $17.99 for a six-pack.

Rival brewer, Lion Nathan’s, Barefoot Raider beer is also certified as carbon-neutral.