Antinuclear

3000 jobs and cheaper electricity for South Australia with wind power

They are reportedly unpopular but a CSIRO report in January found there was stronger community support for wind farms across Australia than suggested by media coverage.

It found rural residents often backed the developments but did not seek media attention or political engagement to express their views.

SA wants to lead with renewable energy, Business Spectator, 22 March 12,  South Australia’s Labor government wants to be a leader in renewable energy and wants more wind farms to do it. SA has more than half of Australia’s wind farms and they provided 26 per cent of the state’s electricity last year, up from 18 per cent in 2010, and less than one per cent just five years ago……
EnergyQuest chief Graeme Bethune says SA is using more wind power
partly due to the resource itself, because, unlike parts of Queensland
and NSW, the state is very windy.

But it is also being pushed by the renewable energy targets of the
federal and state government.

“The state government has been keen to make SA a leading place for
wind power. Twenty-six per cent is certainly up there in the world
rankings for wind contribution,” he said.

“The theory was always that wind is very intermittent, so it wouldn’t
displace baseload power and would need to be backed up. But in fact
that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

SA has committed to increasing its target of renewable energy
production to 33 per cent by 2020, having already reached the 2014
target of 20 per cent and a large part of this is expected to come
from more wind farms.

They are reportedly unpopular but a CSIRO report in January found there was stronger community support for wind farms across Australia than suggested by media coverage.

It found rural residents often backed the developments but did not
seek media attention or political engagement to express their views.

SA Attorney-General John Rau says he believes there is considerable
support in the state’s rural communities for wind farm developments
and is considering public submissions on draft rules for wind farms
which would allow turbines to be as close as one kilometre from a
home, or closer if the home owner agrees….

Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond says a future Liberal government
would ban new wind turbines being within two kilometres of existing
homes.

She would also protect nearby landowners from economic losses caused
by restrictions on aerial spraying and cropdusting, and would help
develop national guidelines on wind farm locations and noise
emissions.

So far about $2.8 billion has been invested in wind power in South
Australia, creating more than 3000 direct and indirect jobs.
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/SA-wants-to-lead-with-renewable-energy-SM2GH?opendocument&src=rss

March 22, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | South Australia, wind | South Australia, wind