From Der Speigel

 

European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger is in Brussels on Monday to present his plan for the future of energy in the EU. He wants to export Germany's push toward renewables to the rest of the Continent -- and for the first time, he actually has the money to do it.

Until recently, European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger had to rely entirely on the power of his words to push through his policies. "The internal market is being ruined," he said in reference to the Energiewende, Germany's push to abandon nuclear energy and promote renewable sources. Still, he was unable to intervene.

That may change on Monday, as Oettinger presents a list of 200 infrastructure projects that he sees as crucial for Europe's future energy supply. For the first time, he now has real power -- the power of money. He intends to spend a total of €5.8 billion ($7.9 billion) to promote the cross-border construction of new power lines, energy storage facilities and gas pipelines -- provided, of course, the EU Parliament and EU Council don't object.The former governor of the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg hopes to use this money to liberate European energy policy from the squalor of national constraints and, as an added bonus, help secure the German Energiewende. "This is a huge step forward for Europe," he says.It would also be a success for him personally. For the first time, a European energy commissioner can personally steer policies now that over €200 billion will have to be invested in Europe's energy networks by the year 2020, according to EU forecasts.

At Least Two Countries Should Benefit

The key eligibility criterion for Oettinger's program is that at least two countries should always benefit from the new power lines. This would hopefully free some countries, like Ireland and the Baltic republics, from their general energy policy isolation. Oettinger's list -- a copy of which has been obtained by SPIEGEL -- reveals that the EU has painstakingly ensured that each of the 28 EU countries receives its share of the bonanza from Brussels.

The proposed measures are highly tempting. For instance, it has been suggested that projects should benefit from low-cost loans and construction subsidies amounting to up to 75 percent of the investment sums. For those ventures where the risks and/or costs are too high for a private grid operator, the EU is prepared to help out with large subsidies.

Germany benefits from 22 large-scale projects. Oettinger wants to remove bottlenecks that have arisen in Germany as a result of the push to expand renewable energies. The list of projects slated to receive funding includes new power highways intended to transport surplus electricity from the wind turbines in northern Germany to the consumer centers of the south.

At the top of Oettinger's list are high-voltage power lines for direct current, for example, between Wilster in northern Germany and Grafenrheinfeld in central Germany. Starting in early 2014, grid operators like Tennet and Amprion can apply for low-interest loans from the European Investment Bank. In addition to power lines, the list includes some 100 gas projects across Europe.

Germany And Its Neighbors

Although the majority of these projects were already part of Germany's Federal Network Agency's development plan, the driving idea behind the EU's initiative is different: It seeks to improve Germany's network with its neighbors.

One of the long-term goals is to create a North Sea electricity ring main. This would provide an ideal way of tapping into the reserves of other countries when there doesn't happen to be enough wind to generate electricity. Oettinger sees it as an anachronism that every country maintains its own conventional gas and coal-fired plants for occasions when there is very little wind or sun. "Consumers ultimately have to pay a high price for this," Oettinger argues.

But it's not just unresolved financing issues that have been holding up plans to expand the power network. Many projects can't make any headway because numerous citizens' initiatives are blocking things like high-voltage transmission lines.

The EU has also taken a brash course on this front: The proposal would make it possible for the 200 top projects in Europe to receive a construction permit within three and a half years -- with only one court that would hear the objections of project opponents.

Only time will tell whether such an approach actually works on the ground. "It took over 30 years before a power line between France and Spain could be built," recalls an expert on the EU Commission. Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti finally had to intervene and mediate the conflict. He was successful because he used large amounts of money from Brussels to ensure that the transmission lines disappeared underground in some places.

In Germany there are also protests against virtually every major project of the Energiewende.For instance, the EU list includes the Riedl pumped-storage power plant near the southern German city of Passau. For years, Donaukraftwerk Jochenstein AG has proposed the construction of a colossal reservoir above the Danube Valley for €350 million. But conservationists object to the plan because they say it would threaten the upper Danube Valley.Similar conflicts rage in many places in the Alpine region, where the EU plans specify the construction of new reservoirs for the Energiewende. Now Brussels hopes to accelerate the approval process here, too -- using an approach that always works: money.

Translated from the German by Paul Cohen

 

 

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced he will introduce legislation next month to scrap the carbon tax from July 2014.

"When this bill is passed, Australian households will be better off to the tune of $550 a year," he promised in a press conference on October 15.

Minutes later, Environment Minister Greg Hunt echoed that figure, but was more precise about when it applied.

"The legislation will also bring in to being, as the Prime Minister said, a saving of $550 on average next financial year, as opposed to the current situation," he said.

"On average, it's a saving of $3,000 per family over the next six years."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-18/greg-hunt-tony-abbott-carbon-tax/5026782

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The stupid ABC fact checker of course is not including the extra cost of Tony's ludicrous direct action, of loosing your job because you got sacked, retrenched and devalued — and your home being burnt by a bushfire, flooded by a cyclone and/or destroyed in high winds — all due to GLOBAL WARMING... and did I mention THE COST OF INSURANCE IS GOING THROUGH THE ROOF...

 

From the concrete gnome at the bottom of my garden:

"Today Tony has announced his useless government will pay half the cost of rebuilding your burned-down house with a new scheme called the Carbonisation Pricing levy... It works like this: you pay a levy on your electricity bill that will go towards rebuilding, thus bypassing all that nonsense of the reduction of CO2 fiddle. As the temperature soars, so does the levy... Simple. After a while people stop using electricity, thus the levy becomes redundant till the next bush-fire."

 

If you don't believe what my gnome made up, go to:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/18/nsw-bushfires-tony-abbott-says-canberra-will-pay-half-cost-of-rebuilding

The Defence Department has launched an investigation into whether the Lithgow fire was caused by training activity.

On Saturday Defence confirmed an investigation was under way into the fire that started on Wednesday, the same day explosive ordnance training was taking place at the Marrangaroo training area.

"Defence is investigating if the two events are linked," it said in a statement...

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/19/bushfires-toll-properties-lost-nsw-soars

If there is a link, then Canberra will have to foot the bill completamente....

 

Mr Hunt became angry during his appearance on the BBC World Service after the interviewer pressed him on whether the Coalition accepted the science around climate change - referring to reports that Mr Abbott referred to the science as ''absolute crap'' in 2009.

''In Parliament our Prime Minister has expressed clear support for the science,'' Mr Hunt replied, before the interview pressed him again.

''So [Mr Abbott] no longer thinks its absolute crap?''

''Look, with great respect, you can swear on international radio, you can invite me from Australia to do this, you can be profoundly rude, I'm happy to answer but I'm not going to be sworn at.''

''Mr Hunt, I'm merely quoting your Prime Minister,'' the interviewer protested.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/greg-hunt-uses-wikipedia-research-to-dismiss-links-between-climate-change-and-bushfires-20131023-2w1w5.html#ixzz2ibIf7iMI

Greg Hunt has NO IDEA... AND TONY ABBOTT IS AN IDIOT.

 

Anyone with an internet connection can look up Greg Hunt on Wikipedia.

The entry for a few delicious minutes on Thursday included the following pearl: "Since the 2013 election, Hunt has become the Minister for the Environment. He has already proven to be terrible at his job, to no surprise".

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/wikipedias-verdict-on-greg-hunt-terrible-at-his-job-20131024-2w34y.html#ixzz2ibaTZfPb

 

Australia should be sending a minister to international climate negotiations starting next week, the UN's former climate chief has told the Guardian following the revelation that the Abbott administration will not be sending its environment minister to the talks.

The remarks by Yvo de Boer, who stood down as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change standing down in 2010 to take up a position at KPMG, come as the UK's former top climate diplomat called the move by Australia "puzzling."

Justin Lee, a diplomat and Australia’s ambassador for climate change, will instead represent Australia, marking the first time the country has not sent a government minister in 16 years. The UK is sending energy and climate secretary, Ed Davey, and more than 50 officials from government. 

De Boer, who famously cried in frustration at progress of the talks in Bali in 2007, said: "I think it would've been really good to have had Australia represented at the talks [at ministerial level]." Such political representation was crucial to make breakthroughs at the complex and long-running negotiations, he said.

He added: "I cannot remember a previous occasion when a major player in this process has not been represented at ministerial level at the high level segment of the talks."

But he said that he had recently met the environment minister, Greg Hunt, and was convinced he was committed to tackling climate change, despite advocating a different approach to the Labor party. "He is very committed to this issue, he understands it, he understands the implications for Australia, he wants Australia to be part of the solution, but he's not very excited about the pill box that the previous government created to do that."

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/08/australia-minister-warsaw-climate-change-conference

 

Gus: anyone who knows the Liberals (CONservatives), like I do, would know that about 75 per cent of liberals don't "believe in global warming". Of these, the rabid pollies (the CONservatives who get elected) about 99 per cent don't "believe in global warming". Greg Hunt is one of those. Tony Abbott is one of those. Dear Mr de Boer, these idiots might say "the right thing" to your face, but the hell do they believe a word of what they say... THEY LIE. THEY COULD NOT CARE LESS. All they are interested in is digging dirt and make money, while flogging the workers — nothing else.

The fact is the CARBON PRICING is the most effective way so far to reduce CO2 emissions. Tony's "direct action" is far more costly and as effective as a gold fish fouling its own bowl.