Renewables are getting cheaper all the time – here’s why

The stars are aligning for Australia to transition to 100% renewable electricity. Our fossil fuel infrastructure is ageing, which means we will soon need to invest in new power generators. New technologies such as battery storage could revolutionise long-standing business models. With care, the transitions away from fossil fuels could offer greater job opportunities. Our latest research, which corroborates previous work, shows the technology already exists to solve many of the remaining questions around technological capability. For instance, the fact that wind and solar don’t generate electricity when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining can be dealt with by …

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Why sharing may be future of energy

Two years ago, NSW solar installer Geoff Bragg had a vision. “Imagine a system where one customer could sell energy to another customer, via the Distribution Network Service Provider, who ‘clips the ticket’ for transferring the energy,” he wrote in an article published on RenewEconomy in March 2014. “Anyone with a smart meter could join the market as a buyer or seller,” Bragg wrote. “…If that sounds difficult to do, remember this is an IT and accounting exercise (the physics is sorted already). Think about peer-to-peer file sharing… It would be a piece of cake for a handful of the right …

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In time, all cars will be electric, driverless and running on renewables

Speculation about the future of transportation, like common flu, appears to be contagious. Not a week goes by without another celebrity, business guru or executive predicting that future of transportation is electric. That, you may say, is probable and not newsworthy. What is newsworthy is that many of the same people are predicting that the transition is likely to be at a pace much faster than many had expected. In July 2016, for example, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson was quoted as saying that he suspected that 15 years from now every car on the road would be electric. Chances …

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People power is the secret to reliable, clean energy.

Australia’s energy watchdog, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), has issued a stark warning: more wind and solar power will demand new approaches to avoid interruptions to electricity supply. In its annual Electricity Statement of Opportunities, released this week, AEMO indicated that the overall outlook for reliability has improved. So far, so good. However, South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales are potentially at greater risk of interruptions within ten years if the current trend of shutting down old coal-fired power stations accelerates, as we can expect from Australia’s efforts to meet national and international climate targets. The threat of power blackouts is reliable …

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Renewable energy fund: QIC, Future Fund back AGL

Renewable energy fund: Queensland Investment Corporation and the Future Fund are set to become major players in the race to meet the renewable energy target, backing a $2 billion-$3bn fund with diversified energy group AGL that will build up to a fifth of the new capacity needed. QIC and the Future Fund will tip $800 million into a fund that plans to build 1000MW of new wind and solar farms along the east coast in a deal that breaks a long-running deadlock between investors and energy retailers. AGL chief executive Andy Vesey said the fund, to be announced today, will …

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Boost to renewable energy target

Renewable Energy: Ross Israel from QIC and Andy Vesey from AGL Energy are the new breed of renewable energy evangelists. They view Australia’s renewable energy target as an opportunity to generate a mainstream discussion about decarbonisation of Australia’s power generation, while at the same time pioneering new methods of financing for large scale solar and wind projects as reported by the Financial Review. Vesey, who is chief executive of AGL, believes Australia is yet to seriously address the fundamental question of how to solve the problem of an oversupplied energy generation market. He takes every opportunity in public forums to …

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Developing reliable renewable energy sources

As the world’s population continues to grow, so does our consumption of natural resources. Many of these resources are non-renewable, so research into renewable sources of energy is vital. Research led by Bournemouth University’s Dr Zulfiqar Khan is tackling this issue through reducing corrosion, improving heat transfer and fluid dynamics, and using nano coatings to enhance surface effiencies in renewable energy systems as reported by Science News. The European Union’s (EU’s) Renewable Energy Directive states that the EU should be producing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020; a challenging target for any country. Dr Khan’s research is …

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Victoria’s largest wind farm approved

Victoria has approved a new $650 million, 96-turbine wind farm as the state bids to become the nation’s renewable energy leader. But that could be hard to do if nothing is done to phase out coal-fired energy, the Greens say. The wind farm, in Dundonnell in the state’s southwest, will save an estimated 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year – equivalent to removing 170,000 cars from Victorian roads. The approval of the project means 300 direct and indirect jobs will be created during construction, and the turbines will generate 1000Gwh of clean energy each year. It’s enough to …

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SA Liberals pushing for all new wind farms to be assessed for their impact on the electricity market

All new wind farm projects would have to undergo an assessment to see how they would affect the electricity market before being approved, if changes proposed by the Opposition were adopted as reported by Lauren Novak. The move comes in response to concerns raised last week after major employers warned the State Government they were considering shutdowns because of wild fluctuations in energy prices. The instability was blamed in part on wild storms, demand interstate and delays in upgrading an interconnector with Victoria. Opposition Leader Steven Marshall added that South Australia’s “massive abundance” of renewable energy, such as wind and …

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Australia’s Largest Solar Crowdfunding Campaign a Success

For-purpose business, The People’s Solar has helped iconic Melbourne Not for Profit, the Abbotsford Convent raise $120,000 for its renewable energy project in the biggest crowdfunding project of its kind in Australia. The People’s Solar, part of Energy for the People, is a platform for delivering community-owned solar power to schools and Not for Profits as reported by Probono Australia. Director and co-founder Tosh Szatow told Pro Bono Australia News this was the biggest solar crowdfunding project of its kind in Australia to date. It was also the largest project his business has been involved in. “It’s really exciting. We’ve …

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