May 18, 2021

Paying Australia’s coal-fired power stations to stay open longer is bad for consumers and the planet

Australian governments are busy designing the nation’s transition to a clean energy future. Unfortunately, in a misguided effort to ensure electricity supplies remain affordable and reliable, governments are considering a move that would effectively pay Australia’s old, polluting coal-fired power stations to stay open longer. The measure is one of several options proposed by the …

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Coal-rich Hunter Valley ponders jobs future as Asian giants commit to net-zero carbon emissions

At the Lochinvar pub in the NSW Hunter Valley, a couple of power industry workers meet for a drink and ponder the future. “Everybody’s a bit nervous because we are very reliant about coal, coal-fired power,” says Gerard Spinks, who has worked for 39 years in the power stations of the Upper Hunter. “All of …

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Bitcoin may soon consume more power than Australia — almost 10 times more than Google, Microsoft and Facebook combined

Bitcoin has a climate problem. The cryptocurrency uses huge quantities of electricity and as the price of a single Bitcoin has skyrocketed beyond $50,000, Bitcoin miners are now producing as much carbon pollution as a medium-sized nation. “Bitcoin uses more electricity per transaction than any other method known to mankind,” said Microsoft founder Bill Gates, …

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Meet the giant mechanical stomach turning food waste into electricity

Tonnes of food scraps collected from restaurants and supermarkets are being converted into electricity under a green energy initiative powering thousands of homes in Perth. The City of Cockburn has made the waste to energy service a permanent fixture of its general duties, collecting rotting food waste from local businesses and feeding it to a mechanical ‘stomach’ …

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