<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/gas-shortage-that-never-was-is-over-as-government-agrees-to-find-out-how-polluting-it-really-is/>
"A potential gas shortage that was used by the fossil industry as a pretext to
drill for more fossil fuels has been declared over, just as the federal
government has agreed to consider new measurements that could confirm how
polluting and damaging to the climate fossil gas has become.
The Australian Energy Market Operator says that higher renewables production
and warmer weather has allayed concerns about a fall in fossil gas inventories,
which had sparked the warning in late June.
That warning was prompted by a fall in gas production caused by another outage
at Victoria’s main gas processing plant, and an increase in gas generation in
response to cold weather and seasonal falls in wind production.
It prompted the usual headlines from fossil fuel lobbyists and some so-called
“consumer groups” and their mainstream media mouthpieces about an energy
industry in crisis and calls for gas exploration to be expanded.
But AEMO has now rescinded the warning, more than a month early (it was to be
in place until the end of September), although the chicken little headlines are
now being pre-emptively rolled out for the market operators electricity
statement of opportunities – its 10 year supply that is due to be released
later this week.
But, as federal energy minister Chris Bowen has pointed out, these notices
advise of potential risks, not actual shortages, and define steps to be taken
to avoid them. His office notes that the system is working as it should.
Meanwhile, Bowen has announced that the chief scientist Cath Foley has been
asked to ensure that reporting methods for methane released by the mining and
production of fossil gas and coal is properly measured and transparent,
following the release of a study by the Climate Change Authority.
“Methane is among the world’s most powerful greenhouse gases,” Bowen said in a
statement.
“It is essential that our measurement approaches continue to improve, based on
sound science and expert analysis, as technologies provide additional
opportunities for increased accuracy and integrity consistent with Paris
Agreement emission reporting rules.”
The investigation into methane is important for both the coal and gas
industries. It is generally accepted that coal has had its day and that the
last coal generators will be closed within the next decade, but there is a
major push for gas generation to be expanded. And Australia remains one of the
biggest exporters of both fossil fuels."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
