Many hundreds of jobs might be misplaced within the alumina trade as safe, dependable and reasonably priced energy provides dwindle due to ineffective renewables. Coal-fired energy is by far the most cost effective and most dependable for trade and the Labor-held industrial stronghold of Gladstone will probably be first to fold. Pic Boyne Smelter at Tannum Sands close to Gladstone threatened by uneconomic energy provides with Power Minister Bowen’s Inexperienced Dream
By John Mikkelsen
When Queen entrance man Freddie Mercury belted out the refrain to One other One Bites the Mud again in 1980, he would by no means have imagined these lyrics may have been a get up name for at this time’s inexperienced dream believers and particularly the Albanese Labor Authorities.
Freddie strutted the stage to a driving bass beat, singing:
One other one bites the mud
One other one bites the mud
And one other one gone, and one other one gone
One other one bites the mud (yeah)
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
One other one bites the mud….
Listening to the information this week about extra inexperienced hydrogen schemes becoming a member of an increasing checklist of stalled or cancelled tasks regardless of billions in promised authorities subsidies, Freddie appeared like a latter-day Nostradamas reasonably than the sensible musician who was taken from us approach too quickly.
I’m a bit surprised by the pace at which the inexperienced dominoes are falling since I wrote an article a few weeks in the past, revealed on numerous websites beneath the title of “Airheads for Inexperienced Hydrogen” or “Inexperienced Aluminium? Inform Albo he’s dreaming.”
This referred to Labor’s lately introduced plan to place one other $2 billion in subsidies in direction of the manufacturing of inexperienced aluminium utilizing inexperienced hydrogen as the ability supply. That is by no means going to occur for causes apparent to anybody with a primary data of physics, chemistry and engineering, not to mention economics.
The most recent inexperienced dream comes on high of the $13.4 billion in manufacturing tax credit for “inexperienced hydrogen” and demanding minerals unveiled in final yr’s funds beneath Labor’s Future Made in Australia coverage.
Nevertheless it doesn’t matter what color you name it or nonetheless you make it, hydrogen (h2) at all times stays the identical colourless, corrosive, explosive gasoline that claimed 36 lives when Germany’s Hindenburg Airship exploded and burned again in 1937.
A serious supporter of the fabled inexperienced hydrogen, billionaire Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, final yr slashed 700 Fortescue Mining jobs and backed away from its plan to supply 15 million tonnes of this gasoline by 2030.
Sizzling on Twiggy’s heels, Origin Power dropped out of the foremost Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub venture, citing uncertainty out there for the choice gas.
This got here as one other main blow to the federal authorities’s inexperienced hydrogen ambitions.
However to cite one other hit from a long time previous by Bachman Turner Overdrive, “Child, You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ But. Simply previously week, we’ve seen the brand new Queensland LNP Authorities refuse to commit $1 billion in direction of the much-touted $12.5 billion Central Queensland Hydrogen venture at Gladstone, beforehand supported by the State-owned Stanwell Company and a few worldwide backers.
Then the very subsequent day, BP pulled the plug on its $600 million inexperienced hydrogen venture at Kwinana in West Australia. Oops, a lot for PM Almanese and Power Minister Chris Bowen regularly spruiking about Australia’s “inexperienced hydrogen” revolution earlier than actuality and economics began profitable the propaganda struggle.
In accordance with the ABC, The federal authorities had already provided some important monetary help to the Gladstone venture, together with $20 million from the Australian Renewable Power Company for a “front-end engineering design” venture, and a dedication of almost $69 million by the federal government’s Hydrogen Hubs program.
“Of that $69 million, $14 million has already been paid out, and authorities sources counsel that if the venture doesn’t proceed, it could search to get better any unspent funds.
“Mr Bowen stated the federal authorities stays supportive of the venture…”
Nicely Mr Bowen, it’s not simply the truth that inexperienced hydrogen is taking off like a proverbial Lead Zeppelin that makes your inexperienced aluminium plans not more than one other inexperienced pipedream.
The manufacturing of aluminium is an power intensive three-stage course of involving mining, refining and at last smelting. It’s this third stage that requires a relentless dependable energy supply which might’t be delivered by but undeveloped inexperienced hydrogen, photo voltaic, wind or storage batteries with restricted capability. Reduce the ability provide by greater than a few hours and the molten metallic can solidify, placing a smelter out of motion for months. This science web site explains why, and it must be important studying for Albo and Bowen:
“The smelting course of requires massive quantities of electrical energy. A dependable and uninterrupted electrical energy provide is a essential problem for aluminum smelters. Alternating or AC present equipped from the grid should be remodeled into direct or DC present, which requires using massive rectifiers, transformers, and complex monitoring programs positioned adjoining to the potline constructing. Probably the most inherent threat in aluminum manufacturing is a lack of electrical energy. A failure of electrical energy provide lasting greater than 2–3 hr may cause the electrolyte within the cells to chill to the purpose the place its electrical resistance is just too nice when energy is restored leading to shutdown of all cells. It’s costly and time consuming; normally it is going to take a number of months to restart a frozen potline as a result of the solidified aluminum and electrolyte should be bodily damaged out of the cells. Thus, important enterprise losses will probably be incurred as a result of interruption within the occasion of a potline freezing. The remaining lifetime of the cathodes will probably be shortened as a result of further thermal stresses inevitable with shutdown and restart of cells….” https://www.sciencedirect.com/matters/engineering/aluminum-smelter
I used to be reminded of all this a number of days in the past once we had an unscheduled energy outage which lasted about two hours from mid-morning in our stretch of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. It was a transparent day with no sturdy winds and a number of other suburbs had been affected, so I requested the government- owned energy supplier Energex what had induced it. They suggested me to fill out an insurance coverage declare kind even when I wasn’t making a declare, and they might get again to me – up to now they haven’t.
If Labor persists with its push to attain its seemingly unachievable renewable power goal of 82 % by 2030, what it most likely will obtain is the lack of Australia’s 4 present aluminium smelters as they head offshore to dependable and reasonably priced energy sources.
Gladstone might be among the many hardest hit because the trade is a significant employer and regional financial driver, with Rio Tinto’s Boyne Smelter, the Yarwun Alumina refinery and the Queensland Alumina Refinery doubtlessly in danger.
The federal coalition’s plan to maintain coal and gasoline era within the power system longer whereas it transitions to a mixture of renewables and nuclear energy, appears a way more smart method to maintain our lights on and the wheels of any remaining trade turning.
In the meantime for some mild reduction, I’ll flip Freddie again on and hope his lyrics hit the proper inexperienced targets (figuratively). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE
Imagine it or not – the beat simply began pounding and the ability went off for about 20 minutes. An indication from the gods or an indication of issues to return?
*John Mikkelsen is a former editor of three Queensland regional newspapers, columnist, freelance author and writer of the Amazon Books Memoir, Don’t Name Me Nev. (https://www.amazon.com.au/Dont-Name-Nev-John-Mikkelsen/dp/B09S244GP1/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?
