Regrow Qld 24 February 2021 Issue 8 Vol 2 (Subscriber)
Renewable energy, regenerative farming, and revitalising our communities. Unashamedly parochial. Unashamedly political. Let's Regrow Queensland.
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Editorial
Anna Hitchcock
Image by M. Maggs from Pixabay
My friends, with renewable technology gathering pace, I think it’s time we rethought what fights we should be putting our energy into. The conservation movement has a history of smacking its head against a brick wall and achieving very little. Now while I like a lost cause as much as anyone with a little Celtic blood, my pragmatic German side tends to dominate.
I think that fighting coal in the general sense is a waste of everyone’s time, apart from playing whack-a-mole with new coal proposals. Coal is dead, we all know it, it’s simply a matter of time. Less time than you might think. I believe around 20 years will see the bulk of all our coal exports gone, including thermal coal.
Fighting gas is simple - we just promote green hydrogen instead of the filthy fossil fuel version.
Fighting oil is the same as coal - it’s dead but doesn’t yet know it.
So where should we be putting our energy? I think we should be moving towards a more community focussed approach. Big Oil, Big Coal and Big Gas focus on stripping communities bare.
That’s where we should be working, to lift communities up with a variety of eco friendly jobs, with supportive networks, and with regenerative agriculture. We need to be healing our soils, our rivers and our forests, and rewilding as much as possible.
It’s a future focussed vision, and a lofty one, but we have come a long way from the days when making your own solar panels was a key component of every Earth Garden magazine. That’s only 20 years ago. We can do this.
{Anna}
NEWS
Future Crunch: “Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, has sold its entire portfolio of companies focused on oil exploration and production. The portfolio, worth about $6 billion in 2019, was fully exited by the end of 2020. The fund’s new CEO has made sustainable investing an explicit strategic focus and says all portfolio managers "need to operate with that in mind."
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2021/2/4/norway-s-sovereign-wealth-fund-scrutinizes-its-oil-holdings
Future Crunch: “South Australia has become the largest grid in the world to have 100% of its electricity demand met by solar power, even as electricity prices have become the cheapest in the country. For years, fossil fuels advocates in Australia have been warning that too much wind and solar will increase energy prices. Unsurprisingly, those voices are now conspicuously absent.”
Boiling Cold: In yet another weirding of party lines and politics in general, the West Australian Liberals are coming out in favour of green hydrogen and reducing carbon emissions. Hopefully there can be some bipartisan politics moving towards change in the next little while. I wouldn’t hold your breath for the Feds, but the States will lead the way in this I believe.
Forward thinking -
Peter van Beek
A brighter picture for Regional Australia’s future - thanks to Renewable Energy - Part 2
Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay
The savings in cost of living from Renewable Energy shown in Part 1 are only half the story. Equally important are the vast improvements in reliability and ease of mind.
Locally generated renewables will put a stop to this!!!
Image by The Weekly Timeshttps://tinyurl.com/qe22hd9b
Locally produced electricity means:
· No longer the constant risk of having the power cut-off due to a mishap in the long supply lines of poles and wires. Bush-fires, floods, storms and cyclones or plain carelessness don’t affect local renewables.
· No longer depending on interstate or overseas supply-chains for fuel. Australia has about 63 days’ supply should there be a major interruption[1]. There are many causes of that: political, business greed, industrial action, natural disasters and international conflicts.
· No longer the worry about the next increase in electricity bills. If a company wants to make more money for whatever reason they deem fit, they can go somewhere else.
The benefits of that go far beyond dollars, it means a less uncertainty and fewer worries.
And once installed, no-one can take away these benefits.
Converting vehicles will save money
To top it all off, a “conversion” industry is starting up.[2]Converting means replacing an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) with an electric one. While this started by classic car enthusiasts, business has seen money and is moving in, VW and Toyota amongst them.[3]
If your vehicle is still in good condition, the savings in fuel, repairs and maintenance can make up for the cost of conversion. Re-registration, if needed, will be easy as companies have been working closely with the regulators is to make sure it is.
As low milage cars, vans, or busses will not have to be dumped there is no need to take out another loan. Even aircraft can be converted as an Australian company is showing.[4]
Conclusion: Renewable Energy is not a threat, it is a huge opportunity
Renewable Energy will provide huge benefits to the bush and regional centres, it is not a threat. The audacity of some public figures to keep sowing fear and confusion keeps astounding me. They have not provided a single credible reason or one believable bit of evidence to support their claims. They use vague fear instead.
How they can pretend to believe that repeating emotive nonsense will hide the obvious safety and economic benefits of renewables beats me. Especially when these economics lead to a brighter and safer future - a future that is already visible.
Ultimately safety and economics rule, not fear. Don’t be misled. Make sure that more money stays in your pockets in the future than at present and join the change to Renewable Energy when you can.
[1]https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-11/australia-loses-another-oil-refinery-risking-fuel-supply/13139648
[2]https://thedriven.io/2019/05/23/electric-landcruiser-converted-for-australian-mining-industry-goes-viral/
[3]https://thedriven.io/2021/01/27/australias-gb-auto-secures-huge-deal-to-convert-hilux-utes-and-land-cruisers-to-electric/
[4]https://thedriven.io/2020/12/10/sydney-seaplanes-goes-electric-to-convert-cessna-in-australia-first/
Eco Friendly Living
Anna Hitchcock
Eggs
Some of you may already know that I’m a crazy chicken lady in training. Eggs and chickens have been a huge part of my life, and when we bought a house which was suitable, buying chickens was one of the first things we did.
Now egg production is not for the faint hearted, there are any number of downsides.
Noise. Yes, roosters are very noisy, but so are hens after they lay an egg, or if they suspect there might be a treat in your pockets. They’re not noisy at night but expect to be woken very early as they lay.
They won’t lay in the nest boxes. Mine have 3 favourite spots under the house, all of which are awkward to reach. That’s the point. And heaven help you if you remove every egg, you will have ruined the spot and they will find somewhere else. You can sometimes cheat and put in a wooden egg to fool them into using that spot so you can take away all the eggy goodness.
Doctoring. You’ll have to do your own chicken doctoring, as a $9 chicken isn’t really worth a giant vet bill, and most vets won’t touch chickens anyway. This means that on occasion, you will have to put them down yourself. I grew up in the country on a hobby farm, so I am used to such things. It’s no fun though.
On the other hand, there are plenty of upsides.
Chickens love to graze on grass and weeds, and will keep your lawn down, up to a point. They do love to scratch around though, so if you want to keep a manicured garden, they’re not the best choice. I’m in the process of removing most of my lawn, so scratching up the mulch isn’t a major issue. I have had to switch to buying larger plants though, as they tend to scratch tubestock out of the ground.
Manure is another benefit that chickens add. Frankly, they’re just pooping machines, so make sure you fence them away from any areas that need to be poop free. And cover your garden furniture.
Chickens just love getting into a compost pile and giving it a good working over, and eggshells make a great addition.
Pests won’t stand a chance. I never get grasshoppers at my place, although occasionally we do get some flies, which are easy enough to trap.
And finally there’s the supreme joy of the backyard farmer - the double yolker egg. Try to buy that in the shops.
If you’ve never had chickens before, try borrowing some from a friend. Their gentle calls and scratching in the garden is amazingly relaxing to watch and will bring people out of their shells in no time.
Anna
What we’re listening to:
Radio National’s Extra program with Geraldine Doogue has a great segment this week: “As the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy gathers pace, it will have profound implications for the global geopolitical order. Global energy politics expert Thijs Van de Graaf discusses which states stand to gain, which stand to lose, and whether the post-carbon world could be a more peaceful and equitable place.”
It’s the middle segment and well worth a listen.
Opinion
EV Pros – Now, Near and Possible
This week Dear Reader, I’d like to go through some of the pros of Electric Vehicles that may be coming our way much sooner than we think.
First up, I imagine that most EV’s will be semi-autonomous, i.e.: capable of self-driving, but under the control of a designated driver.
Although, I reckon it won’t be long before our faith in autonomous EV autos’ is so high we’ll happily let our cars carry us along while we pretend to be in control… sort of like a long-term marriage.
Anyway, let’s begin with some of the stuff you can have right now:
More free time - no more wasted weekends wrestling, sweating and swearing under the bonnet! Goodbye timing light! Farewell oil pan! Toodle-oo spark plug gapper, oil filter remover, radiator coolant and a whole stack of other tools, fluids and gadgets we will no longer need as the infernal combustion engine goes the way of the typewriter, fax machine and greasy, oil stained hands.
Improved Safety – no more stepping or slipping in puddles of spilled fuel at service stations for starters. Ditto for oil stains on your driveway, garage floor and lawn.
Meanwhile, on the road, your vehicle will be constantly scanning for cyclists, pedestrians, potholes, suicidal animals and drivers who like to brake suddenly for no reason at all. Your car will immediately take evasive action to keep you safe.
And for those who scoff, trust me, your reflexes may good, but they’re not that good. Want to bet your life on it?
Laughing at rising fuel prices – Look, I’m already laughing now and I’m still driving a petrol engine car. It’s possibly due to the anticipation of soon being able to slide by service stations without having to check the advertised prices. Or, I’m just a happy sort of person.
Probably a combination of both.
No More Exhaust Fumes – people, I live in Gladstone, a rural city in central Queensland. A city filled to overflowing with diesel belching, possum squashing, bush-bashing 4WD’s and trucks. How I long for the day I can drive around my neck of the woods with the windows down and not be engulfed in billowing clouds of exhaust fumes.
However, while my eyes, skin, hair, clothes and lungs will be extremely grateful, I’ll have to find another way to kill off the flying insects which invade my cars’ interior during the warmer months while I’m cruising al fresco.
Finally, here’s my wish list for future EV’s I’d like to see become reality:
Cheaper Registration – vehicle rego’s could/should be cheaper as they’ll no longer be based on how many cylinders are pumping up and down in your engine because, there is no engine! Of course, I’m fairly certain the Govt. will find another way to gouge us long-suffering motorists.
Which brings us rather conveniently to…
No Traffic Fines – Question: if your self-driving car is speeding who gets the ticket?
Answer: Nobody, because your car will be festooned with all the necessary technology to maintain the correct speed at all times.
Which naturally begs the next question:
What will the Govt. do with all their defunct radars, cars, vans and highway patrol cops in the near future?
Answer: Quite frankly, who cares?!
No more slow drivers – on every trip I manage to get stuck for miles behind some driving ditherer who travels at 15kph below the posted speed limits (Note: until they get to an overtaking lane, at which point they channel the ghost of Peter Brock to stay in front of me).
Self-driving cars means the end of selfish, uncaring or unwitting slow drivers having more frustrated followers than Kim Kardashian’s Instagram posts.
Although, autonomous EV’s will also mean the end of me being able to tailgate slower drivers. Not a bad thing; I think.
Your car locates you outside the shops – folks, do you dream of a time when you no longer have to go on a death march through an endless, steaming hot, carpark to find your car? Imagine it coming to you at the press of a button! AND, the aircon will have had time to cool the car down before you get into it! Bliss…
Anyway, that’ll do for now. There are probably many more pros to owning an EV in the near future, and I honestly can’t wait to find out what they are.
In the meantime, I’ll ignore the Fossil Fool Brigade bleating about perceived negatives of EV’s.
They’ll see the light; eventually.
Greg Bray