Antinuclear

Reports indicate that Australia is set for huge change to renewable energy

Poised for energy game-changer http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/poised-for-energy-game-changer/story-fn91v9q3-1226441797585 BY: GILES PARKINSON The Australian August 03, 2012 The Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics has found that solar and wind will be less expensive than new coal or gas by 2020

A WEEK ago, the Climate Institute published the results of a survey that showed Australians, despite being largely undecided about climate change, much preferred solar and wind energy over coal power and nuclear.

It was a choice largely driven by the urge to be clean and green, and two key reports delivered in the past year affirm their choice: solar and wind are the cheapest options too. The reports — a study by AECOM and a more detailed, landmark analysis of 40 technology options by the government forecaster, the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics — suggest we are on the verge of a profound change in sentiment in the debate about renewables.

The studies have effectively blown the argument that the nation’s 20 per cent renewable energy target should be canned or wound back on the basis that it is too expensive.

BREE found that wind and solar will be less expensive than new coal or gas by 2020 and will be the cheapest of all energy options by 2030. Its findings suggest that the RET, because it encourages deployment, simply accelerates the fall in the cost curve. AECOM’s report found that building more renewables generation such as wind and solar would
enable the nation to protect against rising gas prices, which are seen as inevitable as gas is funnelled through the massive liquefied natural gas plants to the export market.

August 3, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy