There are calls from the backbench and elsewhere for the federal government to safeguard the future of coal. But do those calls make economic sense? A look at Queensland’s energy landscape suggests not.
Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker signed a comprehensive energy law in 2016 that authorized the development of new offshore wind and hydroelectric projects.
Massachusetts governor’s office
Several states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have developed ambitious renewable energy targets that hinge in large part on getting their power from turbines stationed in the water.
Block Island Wind, the first offshore wind energy project in the U.S., started operation in 2016.
Ionna22
A recent survey of electric utility leaders finds that Trump administration efforts to promote coal energy and roll back air pollution regulations have had little impact on their long-range plans.
Solar photovoltaics are now the world’s leading source of new electricity generation.
US Air Force
Solar photovoltaics and wind power are on track to supplant fossil-fuel-based electricity generation by the 2030s. The only thing holding back the renewable revolution is politics.
Grid-scale energy storage systems may make it easier to rely completely on renewable energy.
petrmalinak/Shutterstock.com
Saving power to use later lets consumers, businesses and utilities generate energy when it’s cheap and deliver it when they need it most. There’s not much of it today, but the industry is growing fast.
To understand what happened to our love of giant radioactive kettles, take a look at cultural theory.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, SA Liberal leader Steven Marshall and SA Best leader Nick Xenophon at a leaders’ debate hosted by the ABC.
AAP Image/Morgan Sette
SA Liberal Party leader Steven Marshall said that state Labor policy had left South Australians with ‘the highest energy prices in Australia’ and ‘the least reliable grid’. Is that right?
The fossil fuel era won’t last forever. And a new set of countries will find their reserves of lithium, copper and rare earth metals are in high demand.
The Loy Yang power station ‘tripped’ early in the year, triggering fears of a summer of blackouts.
DAVID CROSLING/AAP
Sun, wind, waste biomass, geothermal, tides and waves: all these energy sources in Sydney’s backyard add up to a zero-carbon energy solution for the city.
The price of new-build renewable energy is expected to fall significantly relative to new-build coal energy in coming years.
AAP Image/Lucy Hughes Jones
The price of renewable energy will fall significantly relative to new-build coal in coming decades, making an all-renewable electricity system more desirable, both economically and environmentally.
Pumped hydro: all you really need is some reservoirs and a big hill.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Andrew Blakers, Australian National University; Bin Lu, Australian National University, and Matthew Stocks, Australian National University
Electricity storage is vital to the stability of a renewable energy grid. The world’s favourite form of storage is pumped hydro – and researchers have located thousands of candidate sites.
On Q&A, an audience member said renewable energy is ‘now cheaper than coal’. Senator Matt Canavan disagreed, saying renewables are not ‘at the moment, cheaper than coal’. Let’s look at the numbers.
As more wind turbines have been put in place, the cost of wind energy has gone down.
Dad of T&S
Solar PV and wind energy have overtaken coal as the leading sources of new electricity generation worldwide, with falling prices and new storage technologies making clean energy ever more attainable.