FMG, Stokes-backed projects hushed through as WA distracted by lockdown: green groups
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Two major projects expected to blow a million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere in their first year were approved days before the West Australian government entered pre-election caretaker mode amid a COVID-19 lockdown.
Academics, lawyers, farmers and the Conservation Council of WA have battled Mitsui’s Waitsia onshore gas project in the Mid West and Fortescue Metal Group’s gas-fired power station in the Pilbara, appealing the state environmental watchdog’s recommendation for ministerial approval.
12 February 2021
With major party leaders set to square off in a key pre-election energy debate on Monday, the clean energy industry has called for them to place clean energy at the centre of their election platforms, even beyond the WA Liberals surprisingly ambitious plan for a zero emissions grid by 2030.
“WA should go hard, go early,” Clean Energy Council chief executive, Kane Thornton, said.
“Several countries around the world, and virtually every state and territory in Australia, have set out ambitions to become clean hydrogen producers. While WA has made good progress, it will need more than small, incremental spending commitments to set itself apart from other local and international investment destinations.”
Greenhouse gas emissions from Chevron’s Gorgon LNG facility have increased because the company’s carbon capture system is not working properly, meaning more carbon dioxide is being vented into the atmosphere. Environment groups have blasted the Western Australian government for not imposing penalties on the energy company after documents revealed sand was clogging the injection system designed to bury up to 4m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Woodside legal battle casts more doubt on $43b LNG projects
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Woodside Petroleum is facing a drawn-out legal battle over its $43 billion LNG expansion plans with a leading green group claiming the company’s carbon emissions profile has the potential to dwarf that of the Adani coal mine.
The Conservation Council of Western Australia is dragging Woodside and the state s Labor government into the Supreme Court in a bid to overturn environmental approvals for Woodside’s Burrup Hub LNG expansion.
Woodside is on the hunt for a replacement for long-time chief executive Peter Coleman.
Philip Gostelow
The Conservation Council is alleging there were flaws and shortcuts in approvals for Woodside to process more gas, potentially from the proposed Scarborough and Browse Basin fields, at the company’s existing LNG facilities.