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?
A new rechargeable ‘proton battery’ - made chiefly from carbon and water - promises to outperform conventional lithium-ion batteries, while also being more environmentally friendly.
Evan Franklin, University of Tasmania and Frank Jotzo, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
‘Virtual power plants’ offer extra power to the grid by tweaking the operation of batteries and appliances right across the network. But even this might be too blunt a tool for our future energy needs.
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.
Two decades ago, the then SA premier, John Olsen, defied a campaign promise and announced plans to privatise the state’s electricity industry. It’s been a high-voltage issue ever since.
Solar windows would need to trap enough light to generate power, while letting through enough to keep buildings light. Thankfully, newly developed semitransparent cells offer to do just that.
Cities all over the world are facing growing challenges to provide clean, reliable water. And many of the fixes, such as desalination plants, have a huge carbon footprint.
Many Puerto Ricans are happy to see their broke power utility sold off to whoever can get the lights turned back on. But privatizing the island’s energy grid may bring more problems than relief.
Critical thinking is of paramount importance, especially as it applies to research on the internet – and to our energy future. Educators have a duty to ensure students avoid fake news on energy.
Fill a tank with water, sugar, and old mobile phones. Add bacteria and stir. Result? Rare earth metals. This is biomining, and it’s the way of the future.
What’s at stake as the Trump administration imposes trade sanctions on imported solar panels? A look at the US solar energy industry, which generates more than twice as many jobs as coal energy.
Its plan to stop lending money for oil and gas projects embraces the spirit of the Paris agreement at a time when the U.S. is going in a different direction.