Antinuclear

The Nuclear Commission findings do not bode well for Australia’s renewable energy development

The repeal of the carbon price and the stalling of renewable energy development has put Australia on a path to increase emissions to record levels and will likely not reach a peak before 2030.

The nuclear industry is essentially counting on failure on these tasks, and then having some sort of Marshall plan to allow for the extra expense of nuclear generation.

Nuclear commission findings spell more trouble for wind and solar in Australia REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 15 February 2016 The South Australian Royal Commission into the nuclear fuel cycle has conceded that nuclear power is not a viable alternative for Australia, but has urged authorities to consider it anyway – in what could have serious implications for the roll out of renewable energy across the country.

The commission delivered the results of its “tentative” findings on Monday, indicating that it supports the establishment of a nuclear waste facility in the state, the storing of spent nuclear fuel and the expansion of uranium mining.

On the subject of nuclear generation, the commission admitted that it wasn’t viable in South Australia in the foreseeable future (2030) – even with a significant carbon price and a sharp reduction in the cost of capital.

It conceded that Australia should only adopt “proven” new nuclear technologies such as “small modular reactors” and next generation “fast reactors” , but that these were some way off, and likely to be very costly.

But commission chairman Kevin Scarce wants the nuclear generation dream to continue. He admitted that while there were real risks in nuclear generation – and there are “no guarantees on its safety” – he doesn’t “think the positive side of nuclear power is being presented.”

Despite the findings of the commission on the high costs of nuclear, and its unsuitability to the South Australian market in particular, he wants nuclear energy to be part of the national consideration because of the challenges Australia faces in meeting its emissions abatement task.

In effect, he and the nuclear proponents are betting that Australia will fall short in its climate targets; and given the record of the Coalition government on climate policy – including the repeal of the carbon price, the slashing of the renewable energy target, the attack on key institutions and slow progress on energy efficiency – that is a fair bet.

And this is where the problems emerge for the renewables industry, and wind and solar in particular. Most major studies, despite the best efforts of the nuclear lobby, suggest the abatement tasks of Australia and the world can be met by a combination of renewables, such as wind and solar, and energy efficiency. Even the International Energy Agency suggests that nuclear would play a minor role in emissions reductions.

But in Australia there is no policy in place to ensure that Australia’s modest emissions reduction targets are met. The repeal of the carbon price and the stalling of renewable energy development has put Australia on a path to increase emissions to record levels and will likely not reach a peak before 2030.

The nuclear industry is essentially counting on failure on these tasks, and then having some sort of Marshall plan to allow for the extra expense of nuclear generation.

The potential implications for large-scale and small-scale wind and solar are clear. Already, large-scale wind and solar developments are at a standstill because of changes to government policy by the current Coalition government.

And there is clear support for nuclear within the Coalition. Senator Sean Edwards is a major proponent, and Energy minister Josh Frydenberg, as we noted on his appointment, is a long-term nuclear supporter, and said so again on Monday. And many in the Coalition hate wind energy in particular, and renewables in general, such as new deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, as do many on the cross bench.

That suits the incumbent fossil fuel industry just fine. The major coal lobbies, the Minerals Council of Australia and the Energy Supply Association of Australia, which represents coal generators such as AGL Energy, Origin Energy and Energy Australia, among others, have expressed support for nuclear power, keen to see the continuation of a commodities-based economy and centralised power in the energy markets.

Privately, the energy generators think nuclear is an absurd option for Australia, because of its high costs, long lead times, the fact that no energy producer has the balance sheet to support such projects, because it would need subsidies that would dwarf those needed for renewables, and because Australia has such excellent wind, solar and other renewable resources.

But by tentatively supporting nuclear, and keeping the brakes on renewable energy, it means that billions of dollars of coal assets can remain profitable for longer, and the massive sunk investments in the grid can also be protected.

The established industry is being severely challenged by emerging decentralised energy technologies – solar, storage and smart controls – and the pro-nuclear lobby has run a deliberate campaign against wind and solar, arguing that they cannot power a modern economy. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/nuclear-commission-findings-spells-more-trouble-for-wind-and-solar-in-australia-88409

February 17, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics