Honest Government Ad: Visit Western Australia
November 6, 2022 5:24 PM Subscribe
In the ongoing tradition of satirical Honest Government Ads by The Juice Media, this one about a new gas project that, if approved, would be be very bad for climate change. Honest Government Ad: Visit Western Australia.
I'm in Perth at the moment, visiting from the US. It's a beautiful place and the people are lovely but I am dismayed at how dependent on resource extraction the economy is.
I had a view of the Belltower from dinner at Wildflower a few nights ago, and it was the subject of much mockery.
This video does a great job of touching on many of the project's downsides and business' many tentacles in government. I'm not sure how effective it will be, but the voice is clear and necessary.
posted by workerant at 6:55 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I had a view of the Belltower from dinner at Wildflower a few nights ago, and it was the subject of much mockery.
This video does a great job of touching on many of the project's downsides and business' many tentacles in government. I'm not sure how effective it will be, but the voice is clear and necessary.
posted by workerant at 6:55 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm in Perth at the moment, visiting from the US. It's a beautiful place and the people are lovely but I am dismayed at how dependent on resource extraction the economy is
Especially since Perth/Western Australia has so much sunlight, and so much wide open space, that we're an IDEAL location for massive solar panel farms!
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:00 PM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Especially since Perth/Western Australia has so much sunlight, and so much wide open space, that we're an IDEAL location for massive solar panel farms!
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:00 PM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Especially since Perth/Western Australia has so much sunlight, and so much wide open space, that we're an IDEAL location for massive solar panel farms!
36% of SWIS customers already have solar panels on their roofs. 30% of the energy mix in SWIS is renewable already. So many people have solar on their roofs that Synergy needed to be given the option to turn some of them off while they rework the grid into something more renewable friendly using things like the Big Battery Project.
The biggest problem with being an energy superpower is that Perth can't really be connected anywhere without some really long cables and that's going to mean massive transmission loss. Adelaide is 2,150km from Perth as the crow flies and even if you started from Kalgoorlie it'd still be 2,150km along the road going down to Norseman then east out to Eucla and beyond. It quickly becomes uneconomical and inefficient to export power that far.
So now to the video itself about WA gas exploitation. All that LNG WA drills up. Half of it goes to Japan. A third goes to China. Both those offset coal consumption in both countries. Natural gas outputs 60% of the carbon dioxide compared to coal. If WA isn't exporting that gas it's not going to reduce worldwide emissions, it'll probably increase them because they'll be universally replaced by coal.
McGowan is closing the Collie and Muja power plants by 2030 and reducing domestic demand on coal to nearly nil, and given how much of a third rail the coal industry has been in WA politics it's a pretty big political achievement. Parts of Muja are going to be closed this year, Collie will be gone by 2027, and the rest will be out by the end of 2029. Labor means unions which means where industrialists and trade unions align the greens are going to not be happy.
Now while the gas royalties aren't very significant cash wise, but as part of the deal we get 15% of all gas production allocated to domestic demand. This has made WA virtually immune to LNG market fluctuations (unlike the east coast) and as a result it has the lowest domestic natural gas price in the OECD.
I'm not saying Woodside aren't pieces of shit. They are. And she's right that Gina Reinhart and Basil Zempilas are giant knobs. And she's right where the resource sector has too much influence in both parties. But there's a lot more to it than "we're getting ripped off and this is a climate disaster and fuck McGowan for all of it". It's not like Mia Davies is going to be a planeteer if she replaces him (god forbid).
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:34 PM on November 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
36% of SWIS customers already have solar panels on their roofs. 30% of the energy mix in SWIS is renewable already. So many people have solar on their roofs that Synergy needed to be given the option to turn some of them off while they rework the grid into something more renewable friendly using things like the Big Battery Project.
The biggest problem with being an energy superpower is that Perth can't really be connected anywhere without some really long cables and that's going to mean massive transmission loss. Adelaide is 2,150km from Perth as the crow flies and even if you started from Kalgoorlie it'd still be 2,150km along the road going down to Norseman then east out to Eucla and beyond. It quickly becomes uneconomical and inefficient to export power that far.
So now to the video itself about WA gas exploitation. All that LNG WA drills up. Half of it goes to Japan. A third goes to China. Both those offset coal consumption in both countries. Natural gas outputs 60% of the carbon dioxide compared to coal. If WA isn't exporting that gas it's not going to reduce worldwide emissions, it'll probably increase them because they'll be universally replaced by coal.
McGowan is closing the Collie and Muja power plants by 2030 and reducing domestic demand on coal to nearly nil, and given how much of a third rail the coal industry has been in WA politics it's a pretty big political achievement. Parts of Muja are going to be closed this year, Collie will be gone by 2027, and the rest will be out by the end of 2029. Labor means unions which means where industrialists and trade unions align the greens are going to not be happy.
Now while the gas royalties aren't very significant cash wise, but as part of the deal we get 15% of all gas production allocated to domestic demand. This has made WA virtually immune to LNG market fluctuations (unlike the east coast) and as a result it has the lowest domestic natural gas price in the OECD.
I'm not saying Woodside aren't pieces of shit. They are. And she's right that Gina Reinhart and Basil Zempilas are giant knobs. And she's right where the resource sector has too much influence in both parties. But there's a lot more to it than "we're getting ripped off and this is a climate disaster and fuck McGowan for all of it". It's not like Mia Davies is going to be a planeteer if she replaces him (god forbid).
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 7:34 PM on November 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
"lawn sausage" is a fair summary.
As for WA's situation... look, I work in energy systems, for a different region. There's always reasons why [INSERT REGION NAME HERE] can't possibly reduce emissions. Those reasons are always emphasised by existing fossil fuel industry as a reason to carry on with the status quo. And that's why the world is on fire/flooded/drought/whatever your local climate shitfuckery happens to be
So let's review the reasons for WA:
1. Sure, 30% solar will give you too much power at lunchtime. Electricity prices going negative at midday so you get paid to take electricity. Then prices peak at 6-8 pm and you get paid to give it back. That arbitrage pays for the storage. That's why the world is building grid-connected batteries and I'm an investor in an Australian thermal energy storage company. WA needs four hours of storage.
2. Perth can't really be connected anywhere without some really long cables and that's going to mean massive transmission loss HVDC cables can transmit power with 3% loss per 1000 kms. Perth to Adeliade is shorter than existing HVDC lines in Brazil and China. No biggie.
2. Gas exports offset coal - here's the actual report referred to in the video, paid for by Woodside. "Modelling the emission impact of additional LNG in Asia". Gas doesn't substitute for coal. China & Asian markets are building renewables and getting rid of coal because renewables are cheaper. More cheap gas just means slower build of renewables. Depending upon relative prices in each market, the net effect of more gas is at best no change or at worst an increase in emissions.
None of these reasons are valid. It's just the existing status quo industries continuing in their attempts to drag the world to hell.
posted by happyinmotion at 9:33 PM on November 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
As for WA's situation... look, I work in energy systems, for a different region. There's always reasons why [INSERT REGION NAME HERE] can't possibly reduce emissions. Those reasons are always emphasised by existing fossil fuel industry as a reason to carry on with the status quo. And that's why the world is on fire/flooded/drought/whatever your local climate shitfuckery happens to be
So let's review the reasons for WA:
1. Sure, 30% solar will give you too much power at lunchtime. Electricity prices going negative at midday so you get paid to take electricity. Then prices peak at 6-8 pm and you get paid to give it back. That arbitrage pays for the storage. That's why the world is building grid-connected batteries and I'm an investor in an Australian thermal energy storage company. WA needs four hours of storage.
2. Perth can't really be connected anywhere without some really long cables and that's going to mean massive transmission loss HVDC cables can transmit power with 3% loss per 1000 kms. Perth to Adeliade is shorter than existing HVDC lines in Brazil and China. No biggie.
2. Gas exports offset coal - here's the actual report referred to in the video, paid for by Woodside. "Modelling the emission impact of additional LNG in Asia". Gas doesn't substitute for coal. China & Asian markets are building renewables and getting rid of coal because renewables are cheaper. More cheap gas just means slower build of renewables. Depending upon relative prices in each market, the net effect of more gas is at best no change or at worst an increase in emissions.
None of these reasons are valid. It's just the existing status quo industries continuing in their attempts to drag the world to hell.
posted by happyinmotion at 9:33 PM on November 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
1. Sure, 30% solar will give you too much power at lunchtime. Electricity prices going negative at midday so you get paid to take electricity. Then prices peak at 6-8 pm and you get paid to give it back. That arbitrage pays for the storage. That's why the world is building grid-connected batteries and I'm an investor in an Australian thermal energy storage company. WA needs four hours of storage.
Might be worth pointing out half that renewable supply in SWIS is wind and the other half is PV. It'll still take time to build energy storage though. I really hope the thermal energy storage stuff works out.
2. Gas exports offset coal - here's the actual report referred to in the video, paid for by Woodside. "Modelling the emission impact of additional LNG in Asia". Gas doesn't substitute for coal. China & Asian markets are building renewables and getting rid of coal because renewables are cheaper. More cheap gas just means slower build of renewables. Depending upon relative prices in each market, the net effect of more gas is at best no change or at worst an increase in emissions.
China put 33GW of coal into service last year alone and the CNPC has even said it replaces coal with natural gas in their energy mix. If energy generation isn't fungible they're doing a hell of a job deliberately bringing more coal online for shits and giggles.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 9:54 PM on November 6, 2022
Might be worth pointing out half that renewable supply in SWIS is wind and the other half is PV. It'll still take time to build energy storage though. I really hope the thermal energy storage stuff works out.
2. Gas exports offset coal - here's the actual report referred to in the video, paid for by Woodside. "Modelling the emission impact of additional LNG in Asia". Gas doesn't substitute for coal. China & Asian markets are building renewables and getting rid of coal because renewables are cheaper. More cheap gas just means slower build of renewables. Depending upon relative prices in each market, the net effect of more gas is at best no change or at worst an increase in emissions.
China put 33GW of coal into service last year alone and the CNPC has even said it replaces coal with natural gas in their energy mix. If energy generation isn't fungible they're doing a hell of a job deliberately bringing more coal online for shits and giggles.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 9:54 PM on November 6, 2022
The China National Petroleum Corp's carbon emissions are higher than the Netherlands, possibly higher than Canada, depending upon whose data you believe. They're facing an existential threat, just like every other fossil fuel company.
So of course they're going to say that they're doing everything they possibly can to reduce emissions, including swapping coal for slightly cleaner gas.
How credible they are is left as an exercise for the reader.
posted by happyinmotion at 12:07 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
So of course they're going to say that they're doing everything they possibly can to reduce emissions, including swapping coal for slightly cleaner gas.
How credible they are is left as an exercise for the reader.
posted by happyinmotion at 12:07 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is hilarious
posted by rossmeissl at 9:48 AM on November 7, 2022
posted by rossmeissl at 9:48 AM on November 7, 2022
Adelaide is 2,150km from Perth as the crow flies and even if you started from Kalgoorlie it'd still be 2,150km along the road going down to Norseman then east out to Eucla and beyond. It quickly becomes uneconomical and inefficient to export power that far.
This is a normal distance for power transmission in North America. You just need to transmit at a very high voltage to prevent the transmission losses from getting too high. If you have a lot of power and it's cheap (which is the case if you have a lot of sunlight and land), then transmission on this scale is not a problem. I don't know if solar in WA plus transmission is better than solar closer to the point of use in Australia, but a low carbon world is absolutely going to require more long-distance transmission.
Battery storage also has losses (plus batteries are very expensive).
posted by ssg at 10:16 AM on November 7, 2022
This is a normal distance for power transmission in North America. You just need to transmit at a very high voltage to prevent the transmission losses from getting too high. If you have a lot of power and it's cheap (which is the case if you have a lot of sunlight and land), then transmission on this scale is not a problem. I don't know if solar in WA plus transmission is better than solar closer to the point of use in Australia, but a low carbon world is absolutely going to require more long-distance transmission.
Battery storage also has losses (plus batteries are very expensive).
posted by ssg at 10:16 AM on November 7, 2022
This is a normal distance for power transmission in North America. You just need to transmit at a very high voltage to prevent the transmission losses from getting too high.
Over 1000 miles is a normal distance to send power in the US? Really? Across 1/3 of the country E/W or south Texas to Canada, north to south?
Here's a map of power plants in the US- there is no way that electricity is travelling 1000 miles on the regular to get to major cities - maybe a tertiary or backup line.
Less than 100 miles I'd say is the average.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:30 AM on November 7, 2022
Over 1000 miles is a normal distance to send power in the US? Really? Across 1/3 of the country E/W or south Texas to Canada, north to south?
Here's a map of power plants in the US- there is no way that electricity is travelling 1000 miles on the regular to get to major cities - maybe a tertiary or backup line.
Less than 100 miles I'd say is the average.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:30 AM on November 7, 2022
Adelaide is 2,150km from Perth as the crow flies and even if you started from Kalgoorlie it'd still be 2,150km along the road going
More to the point, pretty much all of Australia is a lot closer than WA to lots of sunlight and massive open space, so there's no need to transmit power that far. It would surely make far more sense to build solar and/or wind generation somewhere else than to transmit it all the way from WA.
posted by dg at 12:53 PM on November 7, 2022
More to the point, pretty much all of Australia is a lot closer than WA to lots of sunlight and massive open space, so there's no need to transmit power that far. It would surely make far more sense to build solar and/or wind generation somewhere else than to transmit it all the way from WA.
posted by dg at 12:53 PM on November 7, 2022
Over 1000 miles is a normal distance to send power in the US?
Canada exports quite a bit of power to the US at certain times of the year, especially from BC to as far away as LA and from Northern Quebec into the NE US. I don't think over 1000 miles is that typical within the US (though certainly around 1000 miles in the Western US), but there's a fair bit of power moving between Canada and the US.
posted by ssg at 3:42 PM on November 7, 2022
Canada exports quite a bit of power to the US at certain times of the year, especially from BC to as far away as LA and from Northern Quebec into the NE US. I don't think over 1000 miles is that typical within the US (though certainly around 1000 miles in the Western US), but there's a fair bit of power moving between Canada and the US.
posted by ssg at 3:42 PM on November 7, 2022
Brazil lists "the World's longest transmission line" at:
Belo Monte-Estreito transmission line, Brazil – 2,092km
Just about 1300 miles.
posted by aleph at 5:22 PM on November 7, 2022
Belo Monte-Estreito transmission line, Brazil – 2,092km
Just about 1300 miles.
posted by aleph at 5:22 PM on November 7, 2022
It's all a secessionist plot by western Australia to split and take most of the land area.
Australia really does flood like crazy lately:
23 February 2022 – 7 April 2022
3 July 2022 – 8 July 2022
13 October 2022–ongoing
posted by jeffburdges at 3:33 AM on November 8, 2022
Australia really does flood like crazy lately:
23 February 2022 – 7 April 2022
3 July 2022 – 8 July 2022
13 October 2022–ongoing
posted by jeffburdges at 3:33 AM on November 8, 2022
It's worth pointing out that with the amount of electricity that Alcoa uses every year in Western Australia to refine aluminium,
a massive solar farm just to fuel the aluminium refinery would be worthwhile...
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:52 AM on November 8, 2022
a massive solar farm just to fuel the aluminium refinery would be worthwhile...
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:52 AM on November 8, 2022
Damn, so good. Like the Carbon Capture video, sums up LNG's bullshit as a 'bridge fuel' nicely.
posted by eustatic at 5:33 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by eustatic at 5:33 AM on November 8, 2022
Al Jazeera: The Campaign Against the Climate: Debunking climate change denial
posted by jeffburdges at 2:18 AM on November 13, 2022
posted by jeffburdges at 2:18 AM on November 13, 2022
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Seriously, though. Perth has a lot of amazing civic products and most of those are built through massive resource extraction. I liked that this piece didn't just highlight the climate destruction - it showed that there would be almost no jobs and no revenue for the state. There is something in this project for nearly everyone to hate.
posted by rednikki at 5:46 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]