Tag: South Australia

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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…

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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.

Categories
Australia

November 29, 1973 – Australian politician warns of climate change

On 29 November 1973, Don Jessop, a Liberal senator for South Australia, made this statement in the Australian parliament:

“It is quite apparent to world scientists that the silent pollutant, carbon dioxide, is increasing in the atmosphere and will cause us great concern in the future. Other pollutants from conventional fuels are proliferating other gases in the atmosphere, not the least of these being the sulphurous gases which will be causing emphysema and other such health problems if we persist with this type of energy source. Of course, I am putting a case for solar energy. Australia is a country that can well look forward to a very prosperous future if it concentrates on solar energy right now.”

http://historichansard.net/senate/1973/19731129_senate_28_s58/#subdebate-21-0

   

Don Jessop – wikipedia

Jessop may have learned from Sept 1972 Friends of the Earth conference at University of Adelaide

[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 327ppm. At time of writing it was 417ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]

The context was this – 

Energy was in the, um, air, because the “first Oil Shock” was under way

Why this matters. 

We need to remember we have been failing to do anything serious about climate change for a very very long time, and while this or that recalcitrant politician or devious mofo of an oil industry shill is certainly blameworthy,they are a symptom as much as a cause of the underlying problem…

What happened next?

A collective shoulder shrug.  Though to be fair, legendary Australian civil servant Nugget Coombs did, the following year, get the Minister of Science to ask the  Australian Academy of Science to look into the climate issue…

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Australia

August 14, 1989 – South Australia creates “interdepartmental committee on #climate change”…

On this day, 14 August 1989,

“The South Australian Government established an interdepartmental committee on climate change… to prepare a strategy addressing the greenhouse issue. The Committee’s first report, `Implications of Climate Change for South Australia’, was released in August 1990 and described the possible impacts of climate change.”

Page P.29 of Industry Commission report http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/greenhouse/15greenhouse2.pdf

Why this matters. 

It doesn’t. But I am from South Australia. So, call it a self-indulgence. These sorts of committees and “strategies” were dime a dozen in 1989.

What happened next?

There followed a hell of a lot of talking, not really much doing. But through the 2000s and into the 2010s South Australia – under the canny stewardship of Labor premiers Mike Rann and then Jay Weatherill, managed to leverage the various renewable energy targets that Howard hadn’t managed to kill off.

South Australia managed to make use of its land and wind and start to properly decarbonise its energy sector.  Housing and transport and food? Well, not quite so much. But we shall see…

btw, on this day the PPM was 351.84 ppm. Now it is 421ish- but see here for the latest.