Australia’s biggest coal miner, Glencore, pledges to limit coal production and focus on renewable energy materials.
agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said it has taken a long time for Australia to recognise the damage climate change was doing, but the mood had clearly shifted.
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Another article regarding a coal power staion owner investing in renewable energy.
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I’d like CHOICE to look into the start rating system for houses, which atm is a score across the year, rather than separate ratings for performance in the cold and hot seasons. See http://w3.unisa.edu.au/unisanews/2019/February/story3.asp.
For example, here in Adelaide where summers are so hot, many new houses are being built with black roofs and other features that perform poorly in the summer but better in the winter. We need a house star rating system that matches the local climate and drives the building of the right kind of houses for the area they are in.
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Oh no, now you have done it, gone and pressed my design button.
The lower Hunter valley, which gets bloody hot in summer, is opening up new housing developments each year, creating new suburbs that grow like mushrooms. In many cases you can get an overview and see 100 or 200 new houses in a bunch. Of these 80% will be the fashion roofing colour of the decade charcoal grey, 10% other dark colours and 10% if you are lucky off white or pale.
Lot layouts are intended to maximise land use and access views, solar orientation is not considered. Nearly all houses will face the view if there is one or the street if there isn’t, if any face the sun it will be by accident. McMansions that are two storey or 1 1/2 storey split level will have the two level walls facing north so that the upper floor will be almost impossible to shade.
“Wind up air a couple of notches will you darl’, I don’t know why the bedroom gets so hot…”
A great deal needs to be done to educate people about passive solar design. There is plenty of information out there but obviously young couples and project home companies don’t read it or don’t think it important.
BTW dark roofs are not such a good thing in winter. It is tempting to think that they will absorb more heat (and they will during sunny days) but they radiate more heat than a light roof any time the house is warmer than the environment and thus lose heat faster.
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An article regarding climate change litigation possibilities.
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In starting this thread, we were obviously aware that at some point someone would come along wanting to ‘debate’ the existence of climate change, and while we do love busting myths and debunking false info, this discussion is intended to focus on the potential effects that climate change will have on the consumer (being that we are a consumer group).
If you’re interested on a debate on climate change itself, you’re welcome to do so in other parts of the internet. Otherwise, comments of this nature will be removed (and replies, to preserve the integrity of the discussion).
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Hi Brendan,
My apologies .It looks as though I was a key driver of the climate change debate which probably should be on other sites. However when you invited comments on effects of climate change on the consumer you must have anticipated that the rise in electricity prices would be raised . We have gone from one of the cheapest to one of the dearest countries on this metric.
John123
It’s hard to say whether any increase in electricity prices can be credibly attributed to climate change. Most of our problems seem to stem from attachment to outmoded forms of generation.
This is how costs were trending in 2017:
And this is where they were last year:
Politically-induced uncertainty has discouraged investment.
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That accounts for much of the rise in wholesale costs.
We have also seen coal fired stations being retired approaching the end of their life and generators afraid to commit to funding replacement plants due to uncertainty introduced by government indecision.
According to a number of sources (including the ACCC) increases in network costs, retail costs, and retail margins have been added on top of wholesale rises.
The matter is far too complex to say there is one reason for electricity price rises.
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True, but climate change doesn’t seem to be significant.
Apart from when the old (and new) coal and gas generators clap out in unprecedented heat waves, forcing the wholesale price up to $14500/MWh… which of course relates to the Federal Government’s reluctance to embrace renewables. These peak cost periods eventually make their way into higher costs for the consumer
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So far, what insurers seem to be doing is excluding more events–certain types of floods, acts of god (which would presumably include most events exacerbated by climate change?) etc. … it becomes more tricky to choose insurance (house, contents, life, income protection, vehicles) and to understand exactly what is covered by a policy.
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Good idea Robyn.
I don’t remember Choice having covered new house builds–possible design options depending on climatic zone to reduce the need for heating and cooling. I’m truly shocked at how it is still possible to have truly terrible house plans approved–east-west axis with loads of windows for example. No amount of insulation, curtains, pelmets etc. is ever going to make a house like that comfortable without a significant amount of air-conditioning and heating. Friends recently built such a house in the ACT, where there is a compulsory star rating of every house. Newly built dwellings are supposed to have a minimum EER of 6 stars. How could such a house have met that standard?
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An article advising that this summer was the hottest ever recorded in Melbourne and Victoria.
What a contrast with this same day, Friday 01.03.1996, when it was announced that the summer was the coldest ever recorded in Melbourne.
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Quite apart from other factors already mentioned, perhaps this explains part of our problem:
The awarding of an underwriting agreement to a project with no name, no location, no business model, no pricing, no customer, and no date
Love the name of the program:
FUNGI – federal underwriting new generation investment
Some facts and figures. The figures raise concerns about power prices.
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An article regarding primary producers reducing emissions and utilising waste for electricity generation.
Energy from methane from pig manure? Looks like someone rewatched the Mad Max movie “Beyond Thunderdome”.
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Which we could apparently eat and still starve:
