Offshore wind farms
When done right, offshore wind is a huge part of the solution to climate change. In NSW, the Hunter and Illawarra offshore wind zones have been chosen as potentially suitable sites because they have a shallow enough sea floor, and access to things like ports, skilled workforces, and transmission lines.
They will be built at least 20km out to sea making them barely visible to the naked eye and reducing the potential impact on migrating birds and other species.
That said, further studies still need to be done to identify the environmental impact of the proposed wind farms on these specific locations.
All wind farms over 30 MW (such as in the Hunter and Illawarra) are classified as Major Projects and need to undertake an Environmental Impact Statement.
Whilst we’re very critical of the EIS process in general, it does provide some protection against wind farms being built in places that are inappropriate for birds and other species. Specifically, all wind farms in NSW also require at least two years of bird and bat studies before they’re assessed, and these offshore wind farms are no different.
From what we can tell so far, so long as wind farms aren’t built in migration, breeding, feeding or roosting areas, the evidence we’ve seen is that their impact on birds can be quite small. Not zero of course, but quite small compared to big problems like feral cats, habitat loss, and even flying into buildings.
We also need to see the much anticipated federal reforms of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act to create laws that actually protect nature, prevent extinction and provide much stronger protection for our magnificent forests, oceans, rivers, and wildlife.
Wind Farms and Whales
Climate change and vessel strikes are the primary threats to whales worldwide, and there is no peer-reviewed evidence that offshore wind farms harm whales. Greenpeace, the group that was established to protect whales and marine life, has this great summary of the issue.
Nuclear Energy
We are proud to have a longstanding position of over fifty years of standing in solidarity with First Nations people in opposing uranium mining, nuclear energy and weapons production, and storage of nuclear waste. The impacts and risk to Country, nature and people have and will always be unacceptable.
We believe that the current discussion of building nuclear energy in Australia is a deliberate distraction designed to delay the transition away from coal and gas. We recommend this great summary of the technological and financial barriers to nuclear energy in Australia: The end of Oppenheimer's nuclear energy dream
Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles offer a future with cleaner air, less air pollution, cheaper transport and dramatically reduced carbon pollution. Robust, peer reviewed evidence from independent organisations including the International Energy Agency have found that no matter how you look at it, electric vehicles produce dramatically less carbon emissions than petrol vehicles.
This includes the emissions associated with rare earth mining, manufacturing, and recycling the batteries, and is even true if the vehicle is charged with electricity generated by the burning of coal.
You can check out this nifty tool to compare the life cycle emissions of different types of electric vehicles and petrol cars.
What about the batteries?
EV batteries offer one of the most promising opportunities to develop a circular economy. Research has found that 95 per cent of battery materials can be recovered for other uses or turned into new batteries.
However, in Australia only 10 per cent of small lithium-ion batteries were recycled in 2021. The NRMA has done a great factsheet covering many of the concerns people have on EV batteries: How long do EV batteries last?
You can also find out more here: What happens when a battery is no longer fit to power an EV