Tag: 2016

Categories
Australia

May 4, 2016 – South Australian Premier preening at Emissions Reduction Summit

Eight years ago, on this day, May 4th, 2016 then premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill said the nice things.

source – https://www.energymining.sa.gov.au/industry/modern-energy/hydrogen-in-south-australia/hydrogen-files/hydrogen-roadmap-11-sept-2017.pdf

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 404ppm. As of 2024 it is 425ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was that Jay Weatherill had been South Australian premier since October 2011, and had inherited a very clever policy set up from Mike Rann, where the South Australian government would look at the amount of new wind being installed, because there were federal incentives and set a target for years to come, which was completely in line with the current trajectory. They would win plaudits from desperate, environmentally-minded people who didn’t know the fine details, and then be able to take credit for stuff that was already happening. The name of the game is expectation management. So here was where we were able to say how wonderful South Australia was.

What we learn is there are games people play, and I don’t mean in the Eric Berne/transactional analysis sense.

What happened next? Well, South Australia had a blackout which set the culture war going. Weatherill, overall, played a blinder, and South Australia has continued to be a laboratory for more and more battery batteries, rooftop solar, you name it. 

What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.

Also on this day: 

May 4, 1990 – coal industry sweats over greenie influence

May 4th, 2012 – The Heartland Institute tries the Unabomber smear. It, er, blows up in their face…

Categories
Australia

May 9, 2016 – South Australia’s last coal-plant shuts down 

Seven years ago, on this day, May 9, 2016, South Australia weaned itself off coal (sort of).

At 9.40 am local time on Monday May 9th the turbines at Alinta’s 520 megawatt Northern Power Station at Port Augusta disconnected from the grid for the last time.

https://theconversation.com/goodbye-northern-lights-hello-sunlight-58219

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 407.9ppm. As of 2023 it is 420ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was

South Australia which had long been dependent upon coal for electricity [first imported, and then its own filthy stuff] had started moving away and taking advantage of policy incentives at the national level for the creation of more and more wind power in areas where the wind was reliable. The Labor government under Mike Rann had basically figured out how to take advantage of policy and physical opportunities…

What I think we can learn from this

These symbolic moments like the last flight of Concorde are useful pegs for historians wanting to impose some order on the inherent messiness of history.  South Australia is going to be by at the forefront of the energy transition. Whether it can store huge amounts of electricity as required – when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow – remains to be seen

What happened next

There was a blackout in South Australia that had nothing to do with renewable energy, which was certainly useful to idiots who wanted to blame everything on the new technology in order to continue with business as usual – same old story! 

South Australia is continuing to innovate in terms of policy around renewable energy. The emissions keep climbing at a global level. Remember that…

What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong?  Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.