Australia sought to change a major international report on climate change to promote a future for coal-fired power and downplay the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists, the environmental group Greenpeace says.

• The leaked documents show Australia sought to change a draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Japan and Argentina were also reported to have attempted to water down language in the report
• The federal government says the leaked portions "mischaracterised" Australia's position and the process itself

Documents leaked to Greenpeace's Unearthed investigations project, and seen by the ABC, detail Australia's comments and criticisms of a draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is yet to be published.

While government feedback is a normal part of the IPCC process, Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said the leak provided an insight into the "secret world of what governments really think about the climate emergency".

In one instance, an Australian government official objected to a paragraph calling for a halt to the construction of new coal-fired power stations and the retirement of existing coal plants.

According to the documents, the official from the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said coal-fired power still had a future thanks to carbon capture and storage.

"These remarks confuse the objective (eliminating emissions) with the means 'retiring existing coal-fired power'," the official wrote.

They added that carbon capture and storage "remains relevant to zero emissions".

Australia also objected to a paragraph claiming that campaigns by fossil fuel industries had slowed progress on climate action.

"Campaigns by oil and coal companies against climate action in the US and Australia are perhaps the most well-known," the draft report stated.

But the Australian official called for the deletion of the paragraph, calling it a "political viewpoint made to seem factual".

The Minerals Council of Australia has long promoted the role of coal in providing cheap energy and jobs and it has run national advertising campaigns about the virtues of the "little black rock".

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who once brandished a lump of coal in parliament, has previously hired senior Minerals Council executives as his trusted advisors.

Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-22/greenpeace-australia-ipcc-pressure/100558890

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Fully switching to electric vehicles within the next decade and a half could save Australians up to half a trillion dollars, new research suggests.

The Deloitte analysis, commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation, shows $492 billion could be saved if Australians move completely to clean-energy electric cars by 2035 and use public buses more frequently.

The report examines savings to be made from the current cost to the Australian community of noise pollution, water pollution, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

There are still significant savings to be made under less ambitious scenarios.

Australia could avoid costs of $232.6 billion between 2022 and 2050 if all current state and federal transport and climate targets are fully implemented, including electric bus targets.

That scenario estimated 26 per cent of Australians would be driving electric cars by 2030.

The current approach to road transport will cost Australia $865 billion between 2022 and 2050, the researchers conclude.

That is based on air pollution setting us back $488 billion, greenhouse gas emissions by $205 billion, and noise and water pollution making up the rest.

Deloitte Access Economics partner Eamon McGinn, the report’s principal author, says the potential benefits of electric vehicles are “truly staggering”.

“Transport is a significant contributor to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and we’re now at a real inflection point where we can realistically look at the benefits from a fast and complete transition to EVs in this country,” Dr McGinn said.

The report suggests looking at electric car mandates, public transport upgrades, and funding reform to improve take-up of the cars.

Funding reform could mean using fuel tax revenues collected by the federal government to provide incentives for electric vehicles and accompanying infrastructure.

“If Australian leaders are looking for ways to cut emissions this decade and are serious about reaching net zero by 2050 then setting strong policy on electric vehicles is a vital and practical solution,” ACF Economy and Democracy Program manager Matt Rose said.

“Australia is getting left behind when it comes to electric vehicles and it makes no sense when there are obvious savings to be made.”

-AAP

Read more: https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/2021/10/23/electric-vehicles-costs-bebefits/

Yes... But... IN THE SAME PERIOD (15 YEARS — "a decade and a half") THE OIL COMPANIES COULD LOOSE UP TO ONE TRILLION (ONE THOUSAND BILLION) ON PROFIT ALONE:

February 2020....

BP, Shell, Chevron and Exxon have made almost $2tn in profits in the past three decades as their exploitation of oil, gas and coal reserves has driven the planet to the brink of climate breakdown, according to analysis for the Guardian.

The scale of their profits is revealed as experts say the fossil fuel boom is coming to an end, with big oil entering a “death knell” phase, according to one prominent Wall St commentator.

Analysis for the Guardian by Taxpayers for Common Sense in the US reveals that since 1990 – at which point the impact of fossil fuel extraction on the climate had been well known to industry leaders and politicians for years, experts say – the big four companies have accumulated $1.991tn in profits.

Critics say the findings highlight how a few corporations have generated extraordinary wealth by pursuing policies that were known to be driving the climate crisis.

The climate scientist Michael Mann said he was witnessing first-hand in Australia the environmental impact of fossil fuel extraction.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/12/revealed-big-oil-profits-since-1990-total-nearly-2tn-bp-shell-chevron-exxon

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Without the vision to invest in electric vehicles and transport technology, Australia is setting up its young people for a very limited future.

After telling us that electric vehicles (EVs) would ruin the great Aussie weekend, the Morrison government’s “plan” for net zero emissions by 2050 forecast that EVs would reduce transport emissions by between 53 per cent and 71 per cent.

Transport directly contributed 19 per cent of all emissions in Australia in 2019, so driving the take up of electric vehicles will be essential — even if they do ruin the Aussie weekend.

The “plan” states that: “Substantial emissions reductions from transport are needed for Australia to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 — especially road transport, which is responsible for more than 80 per cent of the sector’s emissions”.

Leaving aside the question of whether a 53–71 per cent reduction in transport emissions is a sufficient contribution to get us to net zero by 2050, how does the Morrison government intend to achieve its own forecast level of emissions reduction from transport?

The “plan” says the reduction will be achieved by:

• the Future Fuels Fund, which is:
  • helping businesses integrate new vehicle technologies into their fleets;
  • reducing blackspots for public charging and refuelling infrastructure in both regions and cities; and
  • unlocking opportunities for heavy vehicle fleets to upgrade to utilise new transport technologies; while
• also investing in:
  • critical reforms to ensure the grid is EV-ready and analysis to inform the roll out of charging and refuelling infrastructure;
  • better information on electric vehicles and charging infrastructure to support consumer choices;
  • $21 million of Australian Renewable Energy Agency funding to roll out ultra-fast charging sites along two highway networks;
  • up to $1.3 billion of Clean Energy Finance Corporation finance made available to assist uptake of low and zero emissions vehicles; and
  • $25 million for the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre, which will develop Australia’s battery industry, including batteries for transport.

But extraordinarily the “plan” doesn’t actually say what the projected take up of EVs will be. The more detailed modelling, once we are allowed to see it, may make some assumptions along these lines. At this stage, however, the Morrison government deems that assumption not worthy of being revealed to ordinary Aussies — presumably because it may make them worry about their weekends.

The “plan” does say that “electric vehicles are becoming more accessible and affordable, with global car manufacturers increasingly offering electric models across their ranges. Market take-up will likely accelerate once EVs reach price parity with conventional vehicles. Some experts forecast this could occur by around 2025 for shorter range electric vehicles as the affordability of batteries improve”.

Is Scott Morrison worried any projection of EV take up may be compared with Labor’s 2019 election pledge to target 50 per cent of new cars being sold in Australia being electric vehicles?

It is good Morrison’s “plan” proposes making available better information on EVs to support consumer choices. There would certainly be merit in information that dispels the myth created by Morrison himself that EVs would ruin the Aussie weekend or indeed that tradies would lose their utes under any attempt to achieve a new car sales target.

It is also astonishing the “plan” makes no mention of the fact the take up of EVs in Australia is one of the lowest in the world at significantly less than 1 per cent. That is certainly not because Aussies are fearful of new technology — just look at the extraordinary take up of mobile phones and roof-top solar.

It is a function of the availability of the most recent and cost competitive models, the lack of competitive subsidies — the Commonwealth is one of very few central governments of developed nations that does not offer a subsidy for purchase of EVs.

After the Trump years doing nothing about EVs (which enabled Morrison to follow suit), the Biden administration is providing aggressive subsidies to both encourage EV take up and manufacture of EVs in the United States. The fact Tesla is now the biggest car company in the world in terms of market capitalisation gives the US an enormous advantage.

But the situation in Australia remains unsupportive of EVs as described by the head of VW. He says it was a key factor in his company being slow to offer EVs in the Australian market.

The lack of any substantial emissions standards for internal combustion engine cars in Australia is often cited as another limiting factor. A comparison of vehicle emissions standards by Australia’s Climate Change Authority makes for very uncomfortable reading.

Not surprisingly, this issue is also not mentioned in the Morrison “plan”.

And of course there is then the lack of car manufacturing in Australia after Joe Hockey encouraged car manufacturers to leave Australia.

Despite that, Australia still has a number of major opportunities to take advantage of the biggest transformation in transport technology in more than 100 years.

We have extraordinary reserves of lithium — essential to the manufacture of car batteries. We have one of the best battery charging companies in the world in Tritium. We have emerging companies such as SEA Trucks, an innovative electric truck manufacturing company.

Will the Morrison government have the vision to invest in encouraging these companies to maintain production in Australia or just let them leave as is so often the case with innovative Australian companies?

I fear Morrison will do as little as possible and rely on his view, no doubt encouraged by Australia’s mining magnates, that all we are really good at is “digging stuff up”.

That just consigns young Australians to a very limited future.

Read more: https://johnmenadue.com/scott-morrisons-half-hearted-u-turn-on-electric-vehicles/

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Throw ScoMo and his minions out at the next elections...!!!!!

see also: the future of gridscale...

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