Bush Fire Causes, Bush Fires, Climate Change, Hedge Funds, Investment In Renewables No comments yet

MYSTERY SURROUNDING TURNBULL HEDGE FUNDS

By on January 25th, 2020

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD REPORT JANUARY TWENTY FIFTH

Ever since Alex Turnbull emerged guns blazing amidst the ruin of (Malcolm) Turnbull the Elder’s prime ministerial career, one question above all others has been repeatedly asked from the offices in Chifley Tower to the venture capitalist mecca of Paddington. How much money is run through the vault of Keshik Capital, the hedge fund he started in 2015 after a stint in Goldman Sachs’ Singapore office?

Hedge Funds and Renewable Energy          Illustration by John Shakespeare for the SMH

We’re prepared to put our stake in the ground at between $40 million and $50 million after consulting Keshik’s finances recently lodged with Singapore’s corporate regulator. Keshik, which there is little public information Continue reading MYSTERY SURROUNDING TURNBULL HEDGE FUNDS →

Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Climate Change, Fossil Fuels, IPCC, Nuclear Weapon Treaty, United Nations No comments yet

THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK EVER CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT

By on January 25th, 2020

THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK IS WITHIN ONE HUNDRED SECONDS OF MIDNIGHT

According to the United Nations the greatest level of peril to humanity since its creation in 1947 is the threat posed by climate change and the growing nuclear threat. On climate, two major UN summits fell dismally short of the action required to limit the long-term warming to 1.5 C above the pre-industrial period set out by the Paris Agreement that scientists say is necessary to prevent a global catastrophe.

The effects were already apparent in the record-breaking heat waves and floods India faced in 2019, and the wildfires that raged from the Arctic to Australia. The UN are not able to identify what the average temperature for the pre-industrial period was. (1850-1900).

The IPCC have warned that climate change represents an urgent and a potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet. In recognition of this, the central aim is to pursue efforts to limit global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C Continue reading THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK EVER CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT →

Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Climate Change, Family Planning, Fossil Fuels, Overpopulation 6 comments

POPULATION GROWTH BEGAN WITH FOSSIL FUELS

By on January 11th, 2020

AS GOES FOSSIL FUELS AS GOES HUMANITY

To a first approximation, everything we’ve done since 1900, including agriculture, has been the result of our use of fossil fuels. The biophysical driver of fossil fuel energy transcends all political boundaries and philosophies. Fossil fuels have supplied 89% of the total primary energy used throughout the world over the last fifty five years, and supply 87% of the energy used today, according to BP Statistical Review.

Agriculture Continue reading POPULATION GROWTH BEGAN WITH FOSSIL FUELS →

Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Climate Change, Coal, El Nino, Fossil Fuels, Global Cooling 12 comments

AGREEMENT ON PRE-INDUSTRIAL TEMPERATURES?

By on January 1st, 2020

“ANTHROPOGENIC WARMING NOW ABOUT ONE DEGREE ABOVE PRE-INDUSTRIAL LEVELS”

But what if global temperatures exceed the tipping point for one or two years and then drop away like they have in the past, just as they had during the thirty nine year cooling period that took place between 194o-1979, despite a rapid increase in GHG emissions due to car and arms production or the longest period of 20th century warming that happened between 1910 to 1939 when emissions remained stable.

Eiffel Tower Tipping Point 1.5 C  Rally

It was futile talking about a global temperature tipping point of 1.5 C, above the average temperature of the pre-industrial period, while they won’t provide the data. The more you inquired the more the IPCC scientists would waffle: Continue reading AGREEMENT ON PRE-INDUSTRIAL TEMPERATURES? →

Australian Government, Battery Storage, Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Climate Change, Coal Power, Fossil Fuels 7 comments

WIND FARMS NEED MASSIVE SUBSIDIES TO SURVIVE

By on December 23rd, 2019

NEED FOSSIL FUELS FOR MANUFACTURE-TRANSPORT-INSTALLATION-MAINTENANCE

“The fact that oil is a “finite” material is not a problem. Every material is finite. Life is all about taking the theoretically finite but practically limitless materials in nature and creatively turning them into useful resources”. “The fossil fuel industry does it, renewable–actually, the “unreliable”– energy industry doesn’t. End of story.”  “it is commonly assumed that green house gas and energy can be solved by switching from fossil fuel sources of energy to renewables”. “However, little attention has been given to exploring the limits of renewable energy”. Unfortunately, people working on renewable energy tend not to throw critical light on the difficulties and limits”. “They typically make enthusiastic claims regarding the potential of their specific technologies”……… ……..quote by Alex Epstein.

Giant Turbine Installation

Solar and wind technology, after 50 years of subsidies, produces less than 1 percent of the world’s energy—and, because the sun and wind provide only intermittent energy, continue to require fossil fuel backups. The issue of Continue reading WIND FARMS NEED MASSIVE SUBSIDIES TO SURVIVE →

Air Pollution, Burning Wood, Bush Fires, Climate Change, Coal, United Nations, World Health 8 comments

WOOD HEATERS CONTRIBUTE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

By on December 13th, 2019

“I LOVE THE SMELL OF BURNING WOOD ITS FRAGRANCE IS SO CLEAN AND GOOD”

While it is nice and cozy to sit by a wood fire in the evening it is not much good for the health of our planet. The reality is it produces black carbon which has recently emerged as a major contributor to global climate change and possibly second only to carbon dioxide as the main cause of world warming.

Black Carbon (BC) particles strongly absorb sunlight and gives soot its black color. There are a number of  alternatives that provide the same comforts as wood burning stoves and heaters without producing the particulate pollution. Continue reading WOOD HEATERS CONTRIBUTE TO CLIMATE CHANGE →

Australian Government, Education, Funding, Schools, Students, Teachers 6 comments

OUR STUDENTS FALL BEHIND IN WORLD RANKINGS

By on December 4th, 2019

CHINESE COUNTERPARTS THREE YEARS AHEAD IN MATHEMATICS

The 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, published on Tuesday 26/11/19, has found Australian students sit just slightly above the OECD average in maths literacy — its lowest level since the survey began. The study of more than half a million fifteen year old students has found that Australian students are more than three years behind their Chinese counterparts in mathematics and their performance in all three of the major subjects are in long-term decline.

The PISA survey of Australian student education standards indicate they were higher in 2012. With the PISA release of 2018 results out, the media is once again bemoaning the falling of our students in the following tables Continue reading OUR STUDENTS FALL BEHIND IN WORLD RANKINGS →

Arson, Australian Government, Bush Fires, Fire Safety Compliance, Weather 18 comments

CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT THE CAUSE OF BUSHFIRES

By on November 12th, 2019

“FIRES WERE LIT BY THE HAND OF MAN”. ..BLACK FRIDAY INQUIRY JUDGE  STRETTON

There is no evidence to suggest a correlation between the incidence or the ferocity of bush fires and climate change. Bush fires are no more prevalent today than what they were in the early 1900’s. While Australia is particularly fire-prone, natural fires account for only six percent of known causes of vegetation fires attended by fire services. At least 90 percent are the result of people’s actions.

Fire Beyond Our Door    Click to enlarge

More often than not the result of deliberate ignitions; incendiary (maliciously lit) and suspicious fires account for one-half of known fire causes in Australia, and are the largest single cause of vegetation fires. However, if we consider in this analysis that accidental fires, which account for 35 percent of all known vegetation fire causes, include those accidentally lit by children and smoking-related fires, the proportion of preventable vegetation fires is much higher. Forty percent of all fires attended across Australia do not have a cause assigned by the responding fire agency. Bush fire arson is an important issue in Australia, but studies analysing its prevalence and distribution are sparse and have focused on isolated areas or specific data collections. This paper summarises key findings of the Australian Institute of Criminology’s extensive analysis of vegetation fires attended by Australian fire agencies, and represents the first attempt to quantify the extent of deliberately lit fires in Australia, focusing Continue reading CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT THE CAUSE OF BUSHFIRES →

Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Coal Power, Economy, Energy, Exports, Greenhouse Gases 6 comments

MORE COAL & LITHIUM MINING FOR ELECTRIC CARS

By on November 8th, 2019

COAL POWERED ELECTRICITY NEEDED TO MANUFACTURE AND CHARGE THEIR BATTERIES

Greenbushes Open Cut Lithium Mine in WA                    Click to Enlarge

The International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne resulted in mining executives being harassed, spat on and dragged to the ground by misguided protesters. Yet, as the title would suggest, the conference was Continue reading MORE COAL & LITHIUM MINING FOR ELECTRIC CARS →

Car Ownership, Economy, Employment, Jobs, State Planning, Traffic Gridlock, Transport 4 comments

MELBOURNE GROWTH IN FORCED CAR OWNERSHIP

By on October 20th, 2019

TRANSPORT POVERTY OCCURS WHEN TRAVEL COSTS EXCEED HOUSEHOLD AFFORDABILITY

Forced Car Ownership’ (FCO) describes low income households with high car ownership, resulting in a high proportion of their income going to their cars. The cost of running multiple cars, combined with housing costs, puts considerable stress on low income households. Monash Institute Research has identified that FCO is one of the most prevalent social and the economic problems in Australian cities. 

Click On Above Graph. The aim of this study was to explore whether trends in FCO have continued or even accelerated over time. The 2016 census provided an opportunity to explore whether this concerning trend is continuing. The above graph shows that the increase in FCO households is occurring in all regions of the city but it is most notable in the middle and outer areas of Melbourne’s suburbs. In contrast, no-car households are decreasing in these areas and increasing in inner areas.

The table left shows the number of low income households without cars versus with 2+ cars (FCO) over time. In the 2011 census, the number of no-car and FCO households was almost even. By 2016, the number of FCO households far outnumbered no-car households. The results of this paper suggest a growing problem is getting much worse. Continue reading MELBOURNE GROWTH IN FORCED CAR OWNERSHIP →