The Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) is urging Australia’s Environment Minister to reconsider 19 coal and gas proposals; using what it says is a rarely used provision of the EPBC Act.
The ECoCeQ says it has commenced “landmark” legal intervention requesting re- assessment of nearly all new coal and gas proposals and expansions currently in the pipeline awaiting federal approval. Among these projects is the 6-year extension for Idemitsu’s Boggabri open-cut coal mine (pictured above), which is situated in New South Wales’ Leard State Forest.
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is triggered when a project has the potential to have significant environmental impacts. It commonly comes into play – even some solar energy proposals have been subject to it. For example, a small solar power project for the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) at Tidbinbilla in the ACT.
According to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water:
“The EPBC Act makes sure that ‘nationally significant’ animals, plants, habitats and places are identified, and any potential negative impacts on them are carefully considered before changes in land use or new developments are approved.”
The provision of the EPBC Act involved in the action is section 78A: “Request for reconsideration of decision by person other than State or Territory Minister”.
Climate Change Impacts Not Properly Considered
ECoCeQ says more than 3,000 documents have been submitted to Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek noting the climate impact to ” thousands of matters of national environmental significance” – which the group states previous Environment Ministers have not properly taken into account.
ECoCeQ’s action is being support by lawyers at Environmental Justice Australia (EJA).
“Our client has compiled a vault of the most up-to-date evidence showing the global scientific consensus on the effects of climate change for so many of the places, plants and species the Minister is tasked with legal responsibility for,” said EJA Principal Lawyer Hollie Kerwin. “The requests by our client aim to make sure the application of environmental law in Australia accounts for the reality of climate change.”
A web site – Living Wonders – has been established explaining the action in more detail. ECoCeQ has also set up a campaign seeking to raise $100,000 for associated costs, with any surplus to go to other relevant current and future legal matters. At the time of writing, a whisker over $16,000 had been committed.
The Climate Council has jumped on board, inviting members of the Australian scientific community to sign an open letter to Minister Plibersek in support of ECoCeQ’s legal intervention.
“It is no longer tenable for the Minister to simply ignore the damage these projects do,” states the Climate Council. “The case could halt the progress of a number of existing coal and gas projects and possibly put a stop to future ones.”
There’s also an open letter for the public to sign on the Living Wonders website that will be delivered to Tanya Plibersek in coming weeks.
“The future is not yet written,” states the letter. “However, our federal environmental laws will not work in the way that was intended unless you take this step to recognise the catastrophic impact that the emissions created by burning fossil fuels are having on our climate and on our living wonders.”
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An addendum to my previous post.
There are fears in Europe that Russia’s 10 days shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 for maintenance could turn into a permanent switch off for gas. Thankfully it’s summer so European reliance on gas is less, but complete loss could be highly damaging. Rationing is likely in Germany, and chemical firm BASF is considering furloughing part of its roughly 100,000 workforce.
Further adoption of coal and nuclear in Europe may become essential.
George Kaplan,
“Further adoption of coal and nuclear in Europe may become essential.”
Dr Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, suggests otherwise in an interview with Sarah Ferguson on ABC’s 7:30 tonight:
https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/international-energy-agency%E2%80%99s-fatih-birol-speaks/13970200
And it seems to me you refuse to acknowledge overwhelming evidence/data indicating that nuclear technologies are a reliable path for very slow deployments of new and horrendously expensive plants.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/solar-supply-chain-mb2546/#comment-1480179
I beleave in the case of Germany, they already have coal powered plants and nuclear plants that were closed down when Russian gas was cheap.
They are now firing up the old coal plants due to the gas becoming much more expensive.
It is probably a trend that will spread to countries other them Germany as well.
Currently there is NO Russian gas flowing into Germany because of “maintenance” on the pipeline. The fear is that i may be permanently stopped.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62121702
So it’s not only about price, it is about a lack of availability of gas.
Geoff, I replied earlier but didn’t get past the mods.
To summarise my post, Britain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Poland are all planning new nuclear plants. France is in the process of training thousands of new nuclear engineers and construction workers with plans to build 14 new large plants, and an unspecified number of smaller ones.
Clearly Europe has a different view on nuclear plants being very slow and horrendously expensive. Apparently they see clean green gas and nuclear plants as an essential part of the mix for supplying reliable energy.
George, world nuclear capacity is set to decline as retirements will outpace new construction. This was going to happen before Russia invaded Ukraine, but now it will happen sooner. This article explains why:
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/russian-invasion-iea-nuclear/
George Kaplan,
“…Britain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Poland are all planning new nuclear plants.”
What does that really mean, George?
UK: Most of existing capacity (10 operating reactors with total capacity 6,368 MWₑ) is to be retired by the end of the decade. Two reactors (2x 1,630 MWₑ) at Hinkley Point C are due to become operational in the next year (or two?). Any additional reactors (like the potential Bradwell B project) are decades away.
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/united-kingdom.aspx
Czech Republic: Six middle-aged operating reactors (3,934 MWₑ), no new reactors under construction, and any planned won’t be available until about 2040.
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/czech-republic.aspx
Netherlands: One 39 year old operating reactor (482 MWₑ), with plans to add two new units. But when?
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-g-n/netherlands.aspx
Poland: No reactors built, none under construction, plans for nuclear power by 2033 – tell them they’re dreaming!
https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/poland.aspx
These potential new units look very slow to deploy to me. Who knows what the final costs will be?
Meanwhile, the director general of IRENA, Francesco La Camera, reportedly said: “Renewables are by far the cheapest form of power today.”
https://reneweconomy.com.au/new-wind-and-solar-saved-82bn-in-fossil-fuel-costs-in-2021-but-supply-pressures-loom/
George Kaplan,
“France is in the process of training thousands of new nuclear engineers and construction workers with plans to build 14 new large plants, and an unspecified number of smaller ones.”
I wonder how France will protect its river systems with the likely increasing number of heatwave events as the Earth System inevitably continues to warm further in the coming decades? Bruce Robertson (at IEEFA) tweeted Jul 14:
https://twitter.com/barobertson111/status/1547550333156597760
This is not evidence, it is a tweet.
I could also say that solar reduces its efficiency as it gets hotter
I wonder how solar will work with increasing number of heatwave events as the Earth System inevitably continues to warm further in the coming decades?
Unfortunately i dont have a tweet to back it up.
What i do know is France and all its nuclear power is currently the best source of energy in Europe at the moment. not just the best source of carbon neutral energy, but the best overall.
You also mentioned all these nuclear power plants are shutting down. Did you know that China is building more nuclear power then the rest of the world combined, It is their ticket to reducing emissions.
https://www.energymonitor.ai/sectors/power/weekly-data-chinas-nuclear-pipeline-as-big-as-the-rest-of-the-worlds-combined
My guess would be its not going to take the decades to build each one either.
James, these days a PV panel drops by about 0.36% efficiency for each degree of temperature over 25. So, all else equal, in a 45 degree heatwave their output would be 7.2% less than at 25 degrees. In reality, PV output tends to be high during heatwaves as they happen in summer when days are longer and normally under cloudless conditions.
James,
“What i do know is France and all its nuclear power is currently the best source of energy in Europe at the moment. not just the best source of carbon neutral energy, but the best overall.”
What evidence/data do you base that on, James?
Per The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2021 (WNISR-2021), in 2020, France’s nuclear industry had its worst performance in decades.
Figure 25 shows during 2020, a maximum 30 units (33 GW) were offline and the minimum 6 units (6.7 GW) simultaneously. 20 reactor units were offline simultaneously during the equivalent of 158.5 days (43% of the year).
Figure 26 shows in 2020, unavailabilities at zero power affecting the French nuclear fleet reached a total of 6,475 reactor-days, an average of 115.5 days per reactor. All of the 56 reactors were affected, with cumulated outages between 3.5 days and the full year.
https://www.worldnuclearreport.org/World-Nuclear-Industry-Status-Report-2021-773.html
“My guess would be its not going to take the decades to build each one either.”
What evidence/data do you base your “guess” on, James? Evidence/data per WNISR-2021 focus section on China (see on page 73) suggests otherwise.