Australia should be leader in renewable energy
Get a supergrid The Geelong Advertiser, Gavin Brown 6 Nov 09 “…………………….The most powerful claim from coal and nuclear supporters is that renewable energy cannot provide baseload power, as it is not available at all times in the day. This is a partial truth. A small number of isolated series of solar and wind stations will not provide baseload power, however, as our renewable energy supply becomes larger and the variety of electricity-generation types increases, the variations in natural factors such as wind, sun, tides and waves cease to become a significant problem.
In fact, such a system would be less susceptible to power outages than our current system. If technologies such as hydro power, geothermal and bioenergy (burning crop waste) are included in the mix, these can allow simple fine-tuning of electricity supply to allow for variations in demand. Another common argument is that we need nuclear power to bridge the gap while renewable energy technologies develop to the point where they can replace coal. This argument is completely misleading. Many of the emerging renewable energy technologies will be able to provide large quantities of baseload power in Australia well before we can develop nuclear reactors or prove the concept of carbon capture and storage.
In spite of all this talk about other technologies, a great majority of the renewable energy available to us is solar. So the solution to the debate depends upon relatively new technologies in solar power, a rapidly developing field. One new technology is called concentrated solar power (CSP). This uses hundreds of mirrors to concentrate the suns rays onto solar panels. A group in Europe has developed a concept called DESERTEC, which involves placing CSP arrays in desert areas in the Middle East and North Africa and transmitting the power generated from these throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa via a supergrid comprising super-efficient, high-speed, high-voltage transmission lines.
The DESERTEC foundation estimates it only needs to cover 0.3 per cent of the Sahara Desert with CSP plants to power these areas with electricity, with less than three per cent of the Sahara needed to power the world. Other scientific research has proved wind power could theoretically supply the entire world with 40 times the electricity used in the world today (and five times the total energy used)……………….Why is Australia not developing its own version of DESERTEC? We have a massive solar supply in our desert regions, many windy areas throughout the nation, great waves, plenty of rubbish (biomass) and one of the largest geothermal energy supplies in the world right here in Geelong. We have the scientific talent to make it happen _ if we get moving before our scientists all leave the country.
Manufacturers have left the country and the mining boom will one day be over. Our country will have to start producing sustainable incomes to adjust to this reality. An Australian supergrid is the simplest way for us to take a leadership position in the response to climate change and allow our economy to continue to flourish into the future.http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/11/06/119155_opinion.html
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