Australia’s Minister For Nuclear Energy squashes solar power’s prospects
the budget cuts come as solar policy is in turmoil, as feed-in-tariffs, introduced over the past few years to support the installation of rooftop solar, are set to be wound back or abolished.
Spending, like meters, goes backwards and forwards, Sydney Morning Herald, Paddy Manning, May 14, 2011 The budget was dismal for the renewable energy industry and the Energy Minister just doesn’t get it.
MORE proof ricocheted through Twitter this week that federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson doesn’t ”get” renewables. Continue reading
Globally nuclear is failing, Australia needs renewables
Globally, investment is flowing to renewables. The difficulty in delivering a nuclear plant on time and budget is perhaps the reason Areva has diversified its energy portfolio…..
Given Australia has the best solar radiation of any developed country, we are better suited to building commercially available base-load solar thermal and other renewable technologies, which can be completed in two to four years.
If we move now, we can develop the expertise and jobs locally. Delay further, and we’ll be buying clean technologies from overseas…
Best option for Australia is renewable technologies, Herald Sun, Patrick Hearps , May 06, 2011, JAPAN’S ongoing nuclear crisis has re-ignited debate about Australia jumping on the nuclear power bandwagon. Nuclear proponents continue to support the technology although the full impacts of the Fukushima disaster are unknown…. we should step back and ask whether Australia needs to consider nuclear power.
The answer is a simple “no”. Nuclear power is not necessary to solve Australia’s climate and energy challenges. Continue reading
Australia’s CSIRO – cutting edge solar energy research
CSIRO is progressing world-class technology, combining two of Australia’s largest energy resources– solar energy with natural gas. The resulting product is SolarGas….CSIRO is undertaking a solar energy storage research project to be conducted in Australia.
CST projects: CSIRO, EcoGeneration — May/June 2011, CSIRO has the largest concentrated solar thermal research team in Australia; there currently are approximately 30 scientists, engineers and technicians working on research projects in the industry. Continue reading
Bloomberg predicts Australia’s renewable energy growth
Bloomberg Forecasts Renewable Energy Growth in Australia, Solar Novus Today, 3 May 11 Australia’s current policies to promote renewable energy will drive at least AUD 36bn of new investment from now to 2020, according to energy market research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Continue reading
Complex, but very feasible, transition to renewable energy
a plausible Australian scenario for the next decade is the phase-out of several coal-fired power stations simultaneously with a rapid growth in efficient energy use, solar hot water, wind power and bio-electricity. These clean technologies would buy us time to commercialise solar thermal and possibly geothermal power and then integrate them on a large scale in the 2020s as the remaining coal stations are shut down. Thus Australia could achieve a sustainable electricity system……
A mix of sources with appropriate transmission links and ‘smart grids’ could provide a reliable system of 100% renewable electricity.
The base-load myth Online Opinion, By Mark Diesendorf – , 2 May 2011“…….Several countries, including Australia with its huge renewable energy resources, could make the necessary transition to an electricity generation system comprising 100 per cent renewable energy over a few decades. Continue reading
Peak oil adds to urgency for Australia to develop renewable energy
Desperately needed, of course, is a policy to tackle both peak oil and climate change at the same time……Beyond Zero Emissions, with Melbourne University’s Energy Research Institute, published its Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan……Beyond Zero has assembled a team of scientists, engineers and planners working pro-bono on a fully costed, national transport plan that will take in three streams: city passenger and public transport, freight, and intercity transport and high-speed rail. The report is due out by the end of the year.
Peak oil highlights need for a unified policy, Sydney Morning Herald, Paddy Manning, April 30, 2011, The infrastructure Australia needs to respond to the world’s dwindling oil supply is not the sort we are building.
Peak oil is forcing its way to the top of the agenda with stark warnings from the International Energy Agency Continue reading
Australian National University in world leading solar energy research
the new silicon cells will be cheaper to manufacture and … the technology will drive down the cost of solar electricity …Jenny Goddard chairs the Australian Solar Institute (ASI) board…She described ANU’s solar energy research team as world leading.
New solar energy partnership, ABC News, By Adrienne Francis, 29 April 11, The scarcity of high grade silicon is one of the things which pushes up the price of roof top solar panels……Researchers from The Australian National University in Canberra have found a way to use more abundant lower grade silicon components to generate electricity from sunlight. Continue reading
Western Australia could be a renewable energy powerhouse
With oil prices at $107 a barrel, Professor Wills said Australia was the Middle East of renewable energy.
“We’ve got the best renewable energy resources for the planet,” he said….
Professor Wills said other nations had to build in the ocean to get the same sort of wind resources Australia could get on land.
It should be obvious solar-thermal renewable energy should be used in a country with abundant sunshine.
Renewable energy can be winner for WA, Farm Weekly, JEAN EKEROTH, 25 Apr, 2011 RENEWABLE energy provides opportunities to restructure and refurbish rural and regional towns, according to Sustainable Energy Association chief executive Ray Wills.
Australia needs to invest in renewable energy powered electric cars
Senator Milne believes the government needs to take direct action. She criticised the government’s decision to support the local car manufacturing industry via the defunct Green Car Innovation Fund. Senator Milne said the local industry remained focused on making petrol-powered six-cylinder vehicles.
“Investment in truly innovative car manufacturing in Australia would also see a shift towards electric cars, instead of paying companies to make slightly less inefficient six-cylinder petrol cars,” she said.
Investment needed for innovative electric carSydney Morning Herald, Stephen Ottley April 23, 2011 AUSTRALIA is in danger of being left behind by the rest of the world in the race to find an alternative to petrol-powered cars. Continue reading
Dispelling the nuclear lobby’s myth about “base load” power
Firstly, the demand for power during the night is generally low and could be reduced substantially by improving our efficiency of energy use and by the forthcoming phase-out of electric off-peak hot water. This is the reverse of the previous policies, which deliberately encouraged an increase in night-time demand to allow our inflexible coal-fired stations to generate 24/7. Under the present circumstances, where coal-fired generators must be phased out, we can reduce base-load demand and supply.
The base-load myth, Mark Diesendorf , ABC, 21 April 2011 To every complex problem there is a simplistic response, which is usually wrong.
For instance, to the challenge of generating all of Australia’s electricity from renewable energy, the deniers and scoffers repeatedly utter the simplistic myth that renewable energy is intermittent and therefore cannot generate base-load (that is, 24-hour) power.
Continue reading
Victoria’s community wind farm launched
Hepburn Wind co-operative members will share in the proceeds of the sale of electricity and a portion of profits will be returned to the local area via a community sustainability fund. Through the fund, Hepburn Wind plans to provide more than $1 million for sustainability initiatives in the local community over the next 25 years.
Wind Farm erected , Eco Generation, 13 April 2011 Both turbines have now been erected at Australia’s first community-owned renewable energy project at Leonards Hill, 10 km south of Daylesford, Victoria. Continue reading
Australia-China renewable energy company
the new company would be viable in the absence of a carbon price, but that a clear carbon signal would provide the long-term certainty to promote investment in clean energy.
Australia’s CBD Energy and Chinese companies soon to form AUD6bn renewable JV | Industrial Fuels and Power April 14th, 2011 Australia’s CBD Energy together with China Datang Renewable Power Co and Tianwei Baobian Electric Co are looking to form a joint venture called AusChina Energy Development. Continue reading
Nuclear company AREVA opens solar project in Australia
The Kogan Creek Solar Booster project gave Prime Minister Julia Gillard a wonderful new photo opportunity…the largest project of its type in the world, and the first commercial-scale operation for Areva Solar,….The technology, conceived by Dr David Mills at Sydney University
Areva’s sunshine test Business Spectator CLIMATE SPECTATOR Giles Parkinson, 14 Apr 2011 It’s been just over a year since French nuclear giant Areva bought out the aspiring solar thermal energy developer Ausra, but the purchase of the Californian-based company with the Australian-grown technology may be about to pay dividends. Continue reading
Joint solar and wind energy venture – Australia and China
China joins $6.2bn Australia wind and solar roll-out Recharge 13 April 11–Australia’s CBD Energy plans to invest A$6bn ($6.26bn) in wind and solar farms across the country in a joint venture with two of China’s biggest renewables companies.
China joins $6.2bn Australia wind and solar roll-out – Finance – Renewable energy news – Recharge – wind, solar, biomass, wave/tidal/hydro and geothermal
Solar power popular for financial reasons
Although solar panel installations require an initial upfront investment, this cost has been declining dramatically in recent years and is expected to continue its descent in the years to come.
Sun Connect Survey – Economics Drives Solar Panel Installations – Planetsave.com, 2 March 11, The results of a recent survey by Sun Connect, an Australian solar power installation company, show that rising electricity bills have a major influence on homeowner’s decisions to go solar. Continue reading
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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
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