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Posts from the ‘Author is External News’ Category

May 31

This Is What the Demise of Oil Looks Like

Bloomberg, 31 May 2017
From giant companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. to OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia, oil producers say their industry will enjoy decades of growth as they feed the energy needs of the world’s expanding middle classes. But what if they’re wrong? There’s a host of reasons to think they might be. Here’s what happens when you test their central assumptions. The International Energy Agency sees oil demand rising more than 10 percent, to 103.5 million barrels a day by 2040, while companies predict even faster growth.
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May 30

Why Gold Coast light rail was worth it (it’s about more than patronage)

The Conversation, 30 May 2017
Gold Coast’s light rail scheme has attracted great interest since the streets of Surfers Paradise were torn up and stations and track were built. Was it worth spending A$1.5 billion on 13km of light rail and more than $40 million a year in subsidies? Are we right to be spending another $420 million on an extension to Helensvale in time for the Commonwealth Games? Should we be taking it all the way down to Gold Coast Airport? Another question is whether gains in property values served by the project could be “captured” to fund such infrastructure.
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May 30

Battery storage paired with wind farm in ground-breaking Spanish trial

REnew economy, 30 May 2017
A world first hybrid renewables trial, pairing a grid-connected wind farm with lithium-ion battery storage and energy management software, has been switched on in Spain, in a bid to boost the integration of variable-generation renewables into electricity networks around the world. The project, led by Spanish wind energy giant Acciona, will use in-house developed “simulation” software to control the battery storage systems at a specially developed hybrid power plant, which is located next to Acciona’s experimental wind farm at Barasoain (Navarra).
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May 30

British Airways CEO will not resign despite ‘catastrophic’ IT failure

The Guardian, 30 May 2017
British Airways’ chief executive says he will not resign despite a “catastrophic” IT system failure that grounded scores of flights and led to cancellations and delays for 75,000 passengers over the bank holiday weekend. Alex Cruz said on Monday he was “profusely apologetic” for the computing glitch, which caused havoc at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, stranding passengers including many families on half-term breaks.
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May 29

Drones and driverless trucks: can Australian truckies stave off job threat?

The Guardian, 29 May 2017
Frank Black has a simple message for those who predict truckies like him are done for thanks to the arrival of self-driving vehicles: good luck getting tech support in the outback. For more than 30 years the Brisbane truck driver has hauled goods across the vast expanses of Australia, keeping watch for fast-bouncing kangaroos, felled eucalyptus trees, and other natural obstacles littering remote highways that can run for thousands of kilometres without a single bend.
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May 25

Peter Newman’s new book launched

Peter Newman’s new book is here (Tim Beatley and Heather Boyer, co-authors): Resilient Cities, Second Edition: Overcoming Fossil Fuel Dependence (ISBN: 9781610916851/US$35.00). It shows how we are going in cities around the world in getting rid of fossil fuels and what more we can do. See https://islandpress.org/book/resilient-cities-second-edition

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May 25

Swapping car seats for electric bike saddles in WA

ABC News, 1 September 2016
The wheels are turning on a cycling revolution across Australia. Electric bicycles, known as e-bikes, have surged in popularity as an increasing number of people ditch driving for pedal power with an electric battery boost.
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May 23

UBS: Electric vehicles to reach cost parity with petrol cars by 2018

REnew Economy, 22 May 2017
Analysts for UBS have torn apart a perfectly good Chevy Bolt to see how it is put together. What they found led them to make this rather startling announcement: the “total cost of consumer ownership [of electric cars] can reach parity with combustion engines from 2018.” Notice that doesn’t mean an electric car and a conventional car will cost the same to buy new. It means they will cost the same to own, figuring in maintenance, cost of fuel, insurance, and all the other factors that are part of the total cost of ownership.
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May 23

Swiss voters embrace shift to renewable energy, reject nuclear

REnew Economy, 23 May 2017
Swiss voters backed the government’s plan to provide billions of dollars in subsidies for renewable energy, ban new nuclear plants and help bail out struggling utilities in a binding referendum on Sunday. Provisional final figures showed support at 58.2 percent under the Swiss system of direct democracy, which gives voters final say on major policy issues.
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May 22

Chinese Developers control Canning?

Canning Accountability, 21 May 2017
When WA Business News announced* in 2015 that a Chinese developer had won a big infill job in Canning, no-one imagined the developer, Sunlong Corporation, would go on to win BIG TIME. In a Council area almost entirely built out but with a huge infill quota to meet, a crucial 25h site became available courtesy of the Housing Authority. Known as the Bentley Regeneration project, at 8kms from the CBD it is remarkably valuable and should have been not only the making of Canning but the key project to prove “density can work” as Perth heads towards a population of 3.5m at 2050.
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