By Erik Gawel, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and Sebastian Strunz, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
When the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan was hit by a tsunami in March 2011, the disaster had a profound effect on German energy policy. Chancellor Angela Merkel reasoned that “Fukushima…
Ocean power can be harnessed for electricity generation using both wave energy and the tide.
Scottish Government
Renewable ocean energy harnesses the power of the oceans to produce electricity. This can be done in several ways, but the resources that have the most immediate potential in terms of energy production…
From the plate to the power station.
Flickr/tomylees
The amount of scrap food thrown away worldwide is staggering. WRAP, a government-funded non-profit set up to encourage recycling and clamp down on waste, reports that in the UK we discard more than 7.2m…
Chapelcross, Scotland: decisions over our future sources of energy won’t wait until the cows come home.
Magnox Sites Ltd
Providing power to the nation is no small task. It requires considerable forward planning, involves huge costs and considerable risks. More risk and cost, in fact, than most energy providers can stomach…
The Federal Budget has attempted to fill a A$6 billion revenue hole left by the collapse of the EU carbon price – but has cut into renewables as a consequence.
John Goodridge
The decision to link the Australia’s carbon price to the European Union emissions trading scheme has wiped A$6 billion from the federal budget. Treasurer Wayne Swan has dealt with that loss of revenue…
Electrifying stuff: your clothes could power your gadgets – and soon.
Stephen Poff
Imagine having a wafer-thin touchscreen on your sleeve which, like a scene out of a Philip K. Dick novel, gives you all the functionality of a smartphone without the awkwardness of a cumbersome battery…
The Australian Energy Market Operator’s latest report lays out what it will cost to switch on to renewable power.
To avoid 2 degrees of climate change, global carbon emissions will need to be reduced by at least 50% by 2050. For developed countries such as Australia with higher carbon emissions this will mean cuts…
Putting panels on your roof reduces your power bill, but it also reduces the risk of price rises for everyone on the network.
murphyz/Flickr
How much would you pay to avoid another $250 a year hike in your electricity bill? Does $15 a year sound like too much to reduce that risk?
We’ve heard a lot lately about rising electricity prices. That…
With improvements in enhanced geothermal systems technology the earth’s heat could become a major electricity generator.
Flickr/xavierbt
Geothermal means, literally, “earth heat”. The temperature of the earth increases as we drill deeper towards its core. We can use that heat for energy by circulating water through hot subterranean reservoirs…
Australia has so many energy sources to choose from: which way will we go?
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Running a business in Australia’s energy sector is difficult. Proprietors have to contend with intense competition, rapid technological change, climate change, natural disasters…even complaints about rising…
Hydropower stations such as the Three Gorges in China are able to produce large amounts of electricity but they can also alter ecosystems and displace communities.
EPA
Hydroelectricity is an established power-generation technology with over 100 years of commercial operation. Hydroelectricity is produced when moving water rotates a turbine shaft; this movement is converted…
Wind power now contributes 3.8% to the electricity market.
Flickr/Bush Philosopher - Dave Clarke
Let’s be honest: the relationship between renewable energy and the electricity market is complex. So what does the latest report from Australian energy research firm RepuTex tell us?
Well, for a start…
It doesn’t matter that wind and solar power are intermittent: the need for base-load power is a myth.
Flickr/Eidoloon
The future of civilisation and much biodiversity hangs to a large degree on whether we can replace fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – with clean, safe and affordable energy within several decades. The…
There are two main types of solar energy technology: photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal. Solar PV is the rooftop solar you see on homes and businesses – it produces electricity from solar energy directly…
A change in Premier should be Victoria’s chance to re-embrace wind power.
Instinia/Flickr
Earlier this month, Victorians woke to the news that they had a new premier: Dennis Napthine, member for the South-West Coast District, would take over from Ted Baillieu to lead the state. As climate change…
The writing may be on the wall for Labor’s carbon policy, but that doesn’t mean the states should give up.
Flickr/bk2204
In a survey last year of 22,812 people across 22 countries (including Australia), the polling organisation GlobeScan found that environmental concerns had fallen worldwide since 2009, and fewer than one…
When comparing power sources, we have to take the costs of system effects into account.
Flick/a_whisper_of_unremitting_demand
A recent Bloomberg press release got wide coverage with its claim that wind power is now cheaper than coal. But a new report from the OECD shows that when you cover the full cost to the grid, variable…
It is not currently possible to find the energy source sold by any of the licensed electricity retailers in Australia.
Flickr/dereckGavey
In Europe and America, electricity retailers let their customers know whether their electricity is coming from renewable energy or fossil fuels. In Australia, your retailer has no such obligation.
The…
Australia’s hydro energy storage systems are getting long in the tooth: maybe it’s time to look at liquid air.
Michael Mazengarb
In visiting Australia regularly for the last two decades I have never quite understood why greater value is not placed on the nation’s latent solar and nuclear energy assets. Perhaps it is because Australia…
Focusing on Australian electricity competitiveness will drive valuable investment in electricity-intensive industry.
Jake Trussell
Electricity-intensive investment isn’t coming Australia’s way. We use our many natural resources to underpin our productivity and prosperity and we are extracting increasing amounts of metal from the ground…
To stop some countries doing all the renewable energy work and others doing none, we need incentives to cooperate.
Stefan Svensson
The UN has set out its ambition for an international policy on sustainable energy. But is the UN’s lead enough? What will it take to make nations follow?
Creating and harnessing incentives to participate…
Scientists let the climate change debate get by them. It’s not too late to own energy.
David Reeves
Climate change no longer attracts the headlines it once did, as the recent conference in Doha showed. Global media attention since its 2009 peak during the Copenhagen summit has fallen off a cliff – according…
It’s time to take solar transport fuels a lot more seriously.
National Renewable Energy Lab
Many times in human history governments have tried to write policies based around future technologies and missed identifying the transformational keys. In the 1970s, for example, few if any horizon-scanning…
As the Indian delegate said, ‘If we don’t get cheap technology we will never be able to adapt to climate change’. But Doha was reluctant to discuss the matter.
Danish Wind Industry Association.
In November 2001, Doha hosted trade talks over intellectual property and public health. The discussions resulted in the landmark Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health. The Doha Declaration…
Several countries have backed away from nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/environmentblog
Market-distorting fossil fuel subsidies rose 30% from 2010 to 2011, stymying efforts to boost the renewables sector and reduce greenhouse emissions worldwide, a new global report has found.
The 2012 World…
Australia could soon have millions of small electricity generators.
absentmindedprof/Flickr
The 2012 Energy White Paper has much to commend it. In particular, the far greater acknowledgement of the need to shift to clean energy sources is a fundamental shift from previous White Papers.
The emphasis…
Do you value this? The Energy White Paper doesn’t.
Green MPs
Burn it all. That is the plan in Australia’s new Energy White Paper.
Released yesterday by Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson, it talks about responding to climate change while planning the…
Wind and solar power appears to have been behind a drop in wholesale power prices in South Australia, leading to a proposal to reduce retail prices for consumers.
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power appear to be the impetus behind a South Australian proposal to substantially drop electricity prices, just as other states are hiking theirs.
The…
In the aftermath of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, Japan is phasing out nuclear power.
EPA/Julien Warnand
On 14 September 2012, the Japanese Government considered a new policy that excited many self-proclaimed environmentalists and anti-nuclear power protestors. Following intense political wrangling, they…
AEMO is modelling the path to 100% renewables.
Stefan Gara
The Federal Government (presumably under pressure from the Greens) has given the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) the job of coming up with a 100% renewable energy scenario for 2030 and 2050…
Could waves and ocean currents hold a key to a renewable energy future?
Sunova Surfboards
CSIRO recently announced that energy from the ocean could supply 11% of Australia’s demand by 2050. That is enough to power a city the size of Melbourne.
It is a bold claim, but it’s time for Australia…
In the year to June 2012, 26% of SA’s electricity came from wind: how do they do it?
Dave Clarke
The integration of wind energy generation into the electricity grid in South Australia is a success story.
The gross statistic often quoted is the total electricity produced as a percentage of the supply…
New research has uncovered significant environmental benefits in converting to a water-based battery.
oakridgelabnews/Flickr
Energy storage will be critically important as we work towards sustainable living. Developing cost-effective ways to store large amounts of electricity from wind turbines and solar farms will be essential…
Malaysia’s biofuel policies — which will be delivered by large multinational corporations — are contributing to a global food crisis.
Rainforest Action Network/Flikr
According to their 2005 Energy Policy Act, the US was supposed to have reached a 7.5% target for renewable fuel by 2012. While this may be good for the environment, there is growing concern that national…
The internet of the future could consume 10% of the world’s electricity supply.
rachel_titiriga
Despite its new economy sheen, the internet represents a surprisingly large old economy drain on energy resources. Industry and academia must work together to ensure the internet is a positive contributor…
Victoria’s planning laws pose a barrier to achieving national renewable energy goals.
Hepburn Wind
It’s been just over one year since the Baillieu government introduced the second part of its far-reaching planning law reforms to restrict the development of wind farms in Victoria. The results are an…
US development of wind energy is lowering emissions without reducing economic growth.
Sam Beebe
Ninety countries representing 90% of the global economy are committed to reducing their greenhouse emissions and are taking action to do so.
This is one of the take-home messages from the Climate Commission…
No such thing as a free lunch: nuclear power can do what many renewable energy systems have not yet done on a large scale – deliver.
Flickr/Gretchen Mahan
To paraphrase George Orwell: “All electricity is created equal, but some of its generating technologies are more equal than others”. This is a crucial point – emphasised but typically overlooked – in the…
Sign of things to come: a depleted Lake Hume in 2007, when the big dry still had a couple years to run.
Flickr/Tim J Keegan
Victoria has entered a critical decade in the race to adapt for the stresses of climate change, according to a new report from the Climate Commission.
Following the release of Victorian climate impacts…
Green innovation: the upper compression ring of the Olympic Stadium main roof truss is made from 2,600 tonnes of surplus gas pipes.
London 2012
For seven years, the London Olympics Organising Committee has been striving to live up to the sustainability vision it set itself. It’s been a long, honest fight. On the eve of the Games, how well have…
Battery research is improving renewable energy’s ability to provide power around the clock.
Argonne National Laboratory
Storage is one of the highest technological barriers to the spread of renewable energy. When the sun is shining, the tide turning or the wind howling, how do we collect that energy and keep it to use when…
We’re banking on business as usual to solve our environmental problems, but we’re likely to be disappointed.
Tony.../Flickr
Australia will introduce a carbon tax on Sunday at A$23 per tonne of carbon. In 2015, an emissions trading scheme (ETS) will replace the tax.
The aim is to cut Australian greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions…
Countries overseas are creating renewable energy funders just like the CEFC.
Walmart Stores
The $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has just passed the Senate and is now law. For all the attention it has received you may not have noticed, but a new industrial revolution is afoot…
A cleaner, more efficient Australia will blend smart grids and meters with renewable power’s growing capacity. Pictured: Spain’s Gemasolar concentrated solar thermal power plant.
Gemasolar
In part 13 of our multi-disciplinary Millennium Project series, Mark Diesendorf argues that it is high time we got smart about power: how we generate it and how we deliver it.
Global challenge 13: How…
Do you see the light? Solar costs are comparable to fossil fuels, and are falling 45% annually.
Flickr/MyEye85
By John Mathews, Macquarie Graduate School of Management
Recent postings to The Conversation have enlivened the debate over the “Great Transition” that is underway all around the world from the fossil-fuelled energy systems of the 20th century to the renewably…
The ones on the left are on their way out.
Richard Brand
In our Conversation article, King Coal dethroned, we suggested that renewable energy investment was now outstripping fossil fuel power investment.
Many welcomed the news that the future was arriving sooner…
Lack of political will is holding back Australia’s solar innovation: here, AREVA Solar’s CLFR technology.
Solar Dawn
By John Mathews, Macquarie Graduate School of Management
Australia knows how to provide public leadership in the complex coordination of public events. Just look at the recent staging of the opera La Traviata on Sydney Harbour. It was a one-off event that required…
Australia is trying to decarbonise by 2050. The technology is there, but we need an economic revolution.
Owen James
The recent announcement that Australia is on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol target for greenhouse gas emissions is an indication of satisfactory performance, not an exemplary outcome. The target is 108…
The Big Dish, developed in Canberra, could be a renewable energy winner if the government focussed funding.
WizardPower
Let’s start with a question: why has Denmark been so successful in renewable energy creation and uptake?
It can’t be that Denmark is a windy place (although that helped) or that it was a social democratic…
ANU’s “big dish” solar is the envy of Asia, but the Australian Government has turned its back.
AAP
By John Mathews, Macquarie Graduate School of Management
I am here in Seoul, the burgeoning and confident capital of a burgeoning and confident Korea, to investigate the country’s formidable “Green Growth” strategy.
Back in August 2008, the Korean government…
Campbell Newman says Queensland’s carbon-reduction policies aren’t needed under a carbon price, but what does he mean?
AAP
In justifying their recent abandonment of state-based climate schemes, the governments of Queensland and Victoria have both claimed that the schemes will be redundant under the federal emissions trading…
Emissions spiked, thanks to more intensive energy use.
Louis Vest
Recessions are not the way to permanently cut greenhouse gas emissions. Global emissions surged during 2010, cancelling out the reductions from the global financial crisis (GFC).
Emissions took off in…
A behind-the-scenes subsidy is likely to stick around longer than a cash subsidy.
bicyclemark/Flickr
The sudden cessation of the Federal Government’s subsidies to solar hot water installations illustrates why subsidy-seekers mostly prefer industry assistance to come in hidden forms, rather than cash…
Most forms of energy generation are a blight on the landscape: why single out wind?
eidlog42/Flickr
Wind farms make noise. Coal fired power stations pollute the air and atmosphere. Coal-seam gas mines pollute underground water aquifers. All electricity generating sources, to some people, pollute the…
Companies too often replace genuine innovation with regulatory shenanigans.
eMagineArt.com
IDEAS AND OWNERSHIP: The concept of protecting ideas and innovation by legal means dates back to antiquity. But many of our existing laws are under strain, their suitability and ultimate purpose called…
US-China competition could lead to a brighter clean energy future, or a trade war.
whitehouse.gov
There is a trade war brewing between the United States and China over intellectual property relating to clean technologies – particularly solar power.
Steven Chu, a scientist, Nobel Laureate in Physics…
Running an economy on oil is a risky business.
behang/Flickr
When you’re complaining about the price at the bowser next time, consider this. Australia’s oil imports amount to a little over 1% of GDP. In Fiji, the oil import bill was around 14% in 2010. It’s probably…
There are dark days ahead for Australian forests if renewable energy plan gets the nod.
jwbenwell/Flickr
We are poised at a pivotal moment for native forests, the wood products industry and climate change. Australia is moving away from a damaging native forestry industry – and a damaging conflict over its…
With so many barriers to large-scale solar, roof-top panels may still be the way to go.
murphyz/Flickr
The “collapse” of the Solar Flagship Program has recently hit the news. With Minister Ferguson re-opening the bidding for the photovoltaic (PV) component of the program, and extending the deadline for…
Domestic solar panel use has risen dramatically in recent years; commercial uptake can’t be far behind.
EPA/Patrick Pleul
A recent report by the Clean Energy Council claims that the capacity of domestic solar panels in Australia has increased 35-fold in the past three years. This (among other factors) means we are well on…
The Federal Government’s draft energy white paper outlines a future where Australia still depends on fossil fuels.
AAP
The release of Australia’s draft energy white paper has outlined a future where Australia continues to be largely dependent on fossil fuels, embraces uranium and expands existing deregulation and privatisation…
India’s power needs are growing at a staggering rate and coal won’t do the job.
NASA
As the Australian Labor Party changes its stance on trading uranium with India, a pertinent question arises: why is India so keen to buy this controversial fuel? And what do India’s energy resources look…
Protesters have a point: big polluters' approach to patents isn’t helping developing nations clean up.
Tck, Tck, Tck
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: In a global day of action for climate justice, thousands of protestors complained about the slow progress in international debates on climate change at the United Nations…
New climate institutions are finally putting Australia on track to meet its Kyoto obligations.
amandabhslater
By Bill Hare, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: Australia’s new climate legislation is a historic breakthrough reform for the nation. Putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions ranks alongside any of the “big” reforms…
Passing the carbon price through the Senate is a victory, but there is plenty yet to be done.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
At long last, the Gillard Government’s carbon price is law. On July 1 next year, approximately 500 of our biggest companies will start paying the government $23 for every tonne of greenhouse gas they emit…
The CEFC isn’t the be-all and end-all of green power, but scrapping it would be a mistake.
Truthout.org/Flickr
Last week the Coalition announced it would scrap the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) if it forms government.
As the main renewable energy investment measure included in the Clean Energy Future…
Project: Quantify the benefits of decentralised, renewable energy production Cost: $3 million Timeframe: Three years
Burning fossil fuel causes CO₂ pollution. But organisations making profits from selling…
Could offshore be a new dawn for wind power in Australia?
Vattenfall
The Victorian Government is severely limiting areas where onshore wind farms can be built. The New South Wales Government might soon attempt to follow.
So, if Australia is to cut its greenhouse gas emissions…
Responses to climate change are becoming a crucial part of business strategy.
AAP/Google
By Paul Brown, University of Technology, Sydney and Suzanne Benn, University of Technology, Sydney
In early September, Google publicly disclosed details of its carbon footprint for the first time, launching the Google Green website in the process.
The search giant revealed a carbon footprint of 1.5…
Climate and weather are vital in planning energy generation.
AAP
Billions of energy-investment dollars are exposed to the vagaries of climate. Those billions include dollars committed to or planned for renewable energy generation in this country.
Now a new branch of…
There are several options for future energy generation. We just need to get there.
waldopepper
In news today, the Greens are calling for an end to federal funding for a proposed coal- and gas-fuelled power plant in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. Others have suggested the plant provides a source of…
Victorian planning amendments treat wind farms as a menace on the horizon.
greenery/Flickr
Wind farms, like much new technology, have generated both strong community support and vocal opposition. Victoria has recently amended its planning laws and regulations to restrict locations for wind farms…
Everyone has an opinion on how best to fund renewable energy.
kincuri/Flickr
With the anticipated introduction of an Australia-wide carbon pricing scheme, there have been some calls to rationalise or scrap targeted climate policies, such as renewable energy support schemes, both…
Which way is the wind blowing for NSW’s renewable energy policy?
Auntie K
Not so long ago, Victoria was the poster child for renewable energy policy in Australia.
It had a Climate Change Act put in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% between 2000 and 2020. It had…
Taking on climate change can put us on the path to a green industrial revolution.
Matt de Neef
Despite the poor outlook for the Earth’s climate, putting in place acceptable solutions is proving difficult. Mired in economic uncertainty, some countries are scaling back climate change efforts. But…
To meet the energy challenge we have to think big.
AAP Image/Snowy Hydro Limited
Today’s carbon navel-gazing by politicians, business leaders and media scribes seems determined to constrain Australia to the stone age of industrial competence, workforce skills and international environmental…
The debate about coal seam gas drilling in Australia is intensifying, amid calls from The Greens to further investigate its emissions profile.
So what is the emissions profile of coal seam gas? How does…
Solar is now a viable industry that should be taken seriously.
AFP Photo/Sakis Mitrolidis
A solar energy revolution is brewing that will put the coal and nuclear industries out of business. Solar is already reaching price parity with coal in many parts of Australia. In contrast to coal and…
To harness the full power of renewable energy, we need to develop better storage methods.
Roger Lovell/AAPImage
Project: To develop better batteries for renewable energy Cost: Around $1.2 million per year (for a team of eight people across several disciplines)Timeframe: First generation technology within three years…
A renewables boom is on the horizon for Australia.
Adrian S Jones/flickr
Last week, Griffith University’s Vlado Vivoda argued that renewable energy “makes no economic or political sense” for Australia.
While we welcome Vivoda’s contribution to the national energy policy debate…
Winds of change: Julia Gillard’s comparison is politically convenient, but doesn’t make sense.
AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard last week used the example of Spain to indicate how Australia’s energy mix could be transformed.
The potential for this transformation is nothing more than wishful thinking…
We can use renewable energy even when the sun doesn’t shine.
Martin Cathrae/flickr
The myth that renewable energy sources can’t meet baseload (24-hour per day) demand has become widespread. After all, the wind doesn’t blow all the time, and there’s no sunlight at night.
But detailed…
Four times Australia’s GDP could be hiding in here.
AAP
Rare earth elements (REEs), for so long ignored by big mining companies, have recently become incredibly popular. But, contrary to what their names suggests, they are not particularly rare. They do, however…
The process of extracting REE from the ocean floor presents a Catch 22.
STR/AFP
News outlets recently reported a new paper in Nature Geoscience from a Japanese team documenting very large amounts of Rare Earth Elements (REE) in the mud at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
REE are…
Has this package got what it takes to get renewables off the ground?
Torresol Energy
In the lead-up to release of the carbon tax package, the government signaled a desire to end renewable energy support measures and rely solely on a carbon price to transform the Australian energy sector…
Direct geothermal energy provides more than half this Vienna building’s heating and cooling requirements.
Energietecknik GmbH & Co, Vienna
While direct geothermal energy is extensively used in other countries, it is rarely encountered in Australia.
This might be because we have cheap sources of energy (although, regrettably, not the cleanest…
Supporting renewable energy is just the first step to a level playing field.
AAP
There is much hypocrisy in the statements of those who wish to terminate subsidies to renewable sources of energy through the certificate scheme associated with the federal Renewable Energy Target and…
Plants are expert photosynthesisers, but humans are catching up.
Galactic Circus Diplodocus/Flickr
Plants have been making fuel and food from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide for billions of years. Oil, coal, wood and natural gas can be called “old-photosynthesis” fuels.
As the human population approaches…
Europe is leading the world in renewable technology.
AAP
This week, unpublished estimates from the International Energy Institute showed that 2010 was the most carbon-intensive year in human history.
Chief Economist of the IEA Dr Fatih Birol responded to the…
Renewables or fossil fuels, we’ll send them offshore when it makes sense.
Flickr/nosha
Australia is a major energy exporter. Are we going to continue to increase our contribution to Asia’s energy mix? Will it be clean energy? And is it possible that our best renewable energy resources will…
We need quieter wind farms that don’t annoy the neighbours.
AAP
Wind turbines are often billed as one of the world’s best solutions to climate change.
And why not?
They are a mature and effective means of generating large amounts of electricity with next to zero…
Large-scale solar could be Australia’s dominant renewable technology by 2030.
AAP
Australia has a huge solar energy resource.
Solar collectors spread out over a square 50 km could generate all of Australia’s current electricity demand.
Of course in practice, we would need a mix of…
The future is renewable. Do we want to live in the past?
AAP
This week’s budget, with its withdrawal of subsidies for renewable energy, has left many commentators wondering if we’ve turned our back on carbon-neutral power. They should focus on the main game – the…
The government has walked away from some of its solar commitments.
AAP
Sadly, the major environmental policy announced in the Federal Budget yesterday was not an environmental policy at all but the change to the Fringe Benefits Tax.
The government announced changes to the…
Battery-operated cars can plug a quickly emerging gap in the market.
Thomas Bräunl
With global warming, carbon trading and record-high petrol prices in the news, not to mention the ever-looming spectre of peak oil, we need to find an environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable…
An accident in a nuclear station is much more worrying than an accident at a wind turbine.
Flickr/Jaako
Before the Fukushima reactor was swamped by a tsunami, there had been a wave of enthusiasm for nuclear power. The problems in Japan have probably ended the risk of Australia going down the nuclear path…
Is Australia waiting for other countries to do all the hard work on renewables?
Torresol Energy
If Australia is truly serious about avoiding climate catastrophe we are going to need to move towards a zero-emissions economy.
A price on carbon emissions is an important component of climate protection…
