The ESB has proposed that the so-called “capacity mechanism” be technology neutral, allowing plants powered by coal, gas or renewables to receive the payments. This has sparked concerns from some major power companies that incumbent fossil fuel generators would be propped up at the expense of investment in clean energy, or that consumers would pay higher bills than necessary.
He couldn’t tell the truth before he was elected how could he be expected to tell it before this recent election? Energy prices were going up despite the Ukraine not because of it.
On 30 April, less than a month before the election I penned this piece, about the foreshadowed spike in energy prices, about to hit Australian consumers: Coalition promises higher electricity costs! I wrote it because it was quite clear that the Coalition were not going to come clean before the election and it was a known major factor that was going to hit Australian businesses and consumers as winter came on.
Decarbonization won’t be achieved through market-led solutions. It’s only by democratizing the economy and resisting privatization that a meaningful and sustainable transition to green energy can be won.
Australia should embrace the opportunity to become a renewable energy power. If we don’t act now, with the global energy transition gathering pace, Australia could be exposed to a hostile international energy environment with profound economic, security and diplomatic consequences.
Victoria has powered its electricity grid with 50 per cent renewable energy for the first time, well ahead of state government projections for the transition to clean energy.
It is crucial to an understanding of the global consequences of the coronavirus pandemic to consider the transition to alternative energy sources for the benefit of future generations. Covid-19 is affecting people all over the world, but a year ago it was just another public health issue. That has all changed, and it actually affects every aspect of our lives as individuals and as nations.
It’s not hard to guess what this government has in mind (ODT
Proponents of renewable energy raised concerns that using hydrogen to store fossil fuel-generated energy could support the coal sector and prolong the operation of the nation’s ageing fleet of coal-fired power stations. Related Article Safety is the key gateway for securing a social licence for the hydrogen economy, says Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel. Energy Battlelines drawn over Australia’s hydrogen ‘fork in the road’ ACT Energy Minister Shane Rattenbury argued before the meeting that Australia faced a “fork in the road” that could set the direction of hydrogen as either a forward-looking renewables industry or a mechanism to “prop up” coal.
A project on the scale of transforming the energy system will create jobs – many jobs – which is perhaps the economic measure of most importance to the citizenry.
Research from me and others shows that fully renewable electric grids are feasible with current technology at current prices; barriers to using renewable electricity are more political and cultural than technological or economic.
The clear result is that both greenhouse gas emissions and electricity prices are now surging to new highs under the Coalition and the last six years of policy chaos have seen households and businesses bearing the cost of poor system planning.
“The benefit is simple in that it is very large-scale base load [continuous] energy production, with zero greenhouse gas emissions and no long-life radioactive waste.
Solar photovoltaic and wind power are rapidly getting cheaper and more abundant – so much so that they are on track to entirely supplant fossil fuels worldwide within two decades, with the time frame depending mostly on politics. The protestation from some politicians that we need to build new coal stations sounds rather quaint.
Clean energy employs an incredible 9.8 million people worldwide. Here’s how three countries – the US, China, and Germany – are making clean energy work at home.
The United States
Even with the White House’s vocal support for all things fossil fuels, clean energy is powering more and more of the US economy every year. And it’s not just happening in California and New York – thanks to the power of market trends, the clean energy revolution is taking hold even in states like Texas and Iowa. Here’s the scoop:
Last Thursday, one of the biggest coal units in Australia, Loy Yang A 3, tripped without warning at 1.59am, with the sudden loss of 560MW and causing a slump in frequency on the network.
What happened next has stunned electricity industry insiders and given food for thought over the near to medium term future of the grid, such was the rapid response of the Tesla big battery to an event that happened nearly 1,000km away.
Even before the Loy Yang A unit had finished tripping, the 100MW/129MWh had responded, injecting 7.3MW into the network to help arrest a slump in frequency that had fallen below 49.80Hertz.
In fact, the market for electric cars is growing faster than previously thought, as the lithium-ion batteries that power them have become cheaper and more accessible. Electric vehicles are expected to make up 54 percent of the worldwide new car sales by 2040, according to a forecast released Thursday by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That’s up from 35 percent projected last year by the data firm in its annual outlook, a serious boost for advocates who say the technology is critical to lowering urban pollution and slowing the rate of climate change.
A company called Zero Mass Water has created a special solar-like panel that creates clean, drinkable water from the air. You can now install them on your home or office.I’ve drank a lot of water from bottles, but it was never created like this.I’m on the rooftop of a building in Santa Monica on an overcast day, checking out solar panels from a company called Zero Mass Water. These are not just your typical energy creating panels – they are busy pulling water out of the air.
Some new form of madness must surely have taken hold when we’re being asked to ponder whether or not the Clean Energy Finance Corporation should fund ‘clean coal’, or cleaner coal, power stations.
Solar power is becoming the cheapest way to generate electricity, according to leading analysts. Data produced by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) showed the cost of solar in 58 lower-income countries – including China, Brazil and India – had fallen to about a third of levels in 2010 and was now slightly cheaper than wind energy.
Malcolm Turnbull says he has lots of solar panels. But the Coalition’s hatred of renewable energy isn’t so much about personal views as about the cash.
More than nine out of every 10 people on the planet live in areas where air pollution breaches official safety limits – and millions of people are dying as a result, according to new research by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A dream team of tech giants – Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma from Alibaba, along with a host of international tech leaders – have announced they’re coming together to combat climate change.
Climate change action has just been given an official round of applause: the International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared that over 26% of the world’s energy supply will come from renewable energy sources by the end of the decade.
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – 1. The Christian Science Monitor says that in 2016, US solar …
Some new form of madness must surely have taken hold when we’re being asked to ponder whether or not the Clean Energy Finance Corporation should fund ‘clean coal’, or cleaner coal, power stations.
Climate change action has just been given an official round of applause: the International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared that over 26% of the world’s energy supply will come from renewable energy sources by the end of the decade.
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