Jennifer McKay has written an article for the ABC news website which begins:
A Melbourne University report says all of Australia’s energy could come from renewable sources by 2020 as opposed to the Federal Government’s target of 20 per cent.
Imagine that. An environmentally sustainable nation the size of Australia. Undoubtedly it would be the first in the world. That is an immensely inspirational vision, and the notion that it is achievable should ignite excitement and wonder.
The same sort of wonder that would have us reach for the stars, to create art and technology, and to truly advance society. It’s the sort of inspiration that once planted, should be nurtured by leaders, and grown into a brighter future.
Unfortunately, we don’t have leaders. We have politicians.
While it’s an interesting thought, these reports tend to be impractical at best. A quick read of the article raises the following concerns;
The plan would “depend on a $92 billion upgrade” to the national grid, not counting the cost of the generators and equipment themselves (they even say that ‘cost should not be an issue’ which leads me to believe the actual cost of equipment is astronomical);
That the report assumes energy use will HALF by 2020, while data here (http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/324/index.html) shows that energy use has trended upwards for years;
And finally that he states ‘To do it in 10 years is in many ways akin to a infrastructure roll out of a wartime-like operation’.
Obviously it would be nice to just ‘switch’ to greener energy, but whenever I look deeper into a lot of ‘green’ initiatives or plans, they’re often very optimistic at best and don’t take into consideration the amount of money or organisation they would require.
$92 billion over 10 years is the equivalent of around $1000 per household per year.