No immediate solution to energy woes

I note in Issue 491 that Future Sooner wants all coal-fired power stations closed immediately.  Their reasons for wanting them gone are understandable but we need a reality check on this.

A ‘’rapid transition to clean energy’’ as Future Sooner wants is easier said than done.

Even though this inconvenient truth is blissfully ignored by the enthusiasts of  ‘clean energy’, the unpalatable fact for them is that 100% ‘clean energy’ has never been achieved anywhere for a length of time corresponding to covering the weather-dependent intermittency of ‘clean’ energy sources. 

They are not so clean either. 

The mining of materials required to make photovoltaic cells (solar panels) and their manufacture with mainly fossil fuel energy, produce a very unhealthy environment for the workers in poor countries who make them – far more unhealthy than our standards would allow.

But, of course, that is not in our backyard, so not our concern and certainly not clean.

The world is still dependent on fossil fuels; atmospheric CO2 is increasing at an ever-increasing rate.

Before we shut down all coal-fired power stations we need a dispatchable energy substitute.

The only alternatives at the moment are gas (lower emissions that coal for same electricity) or emission-free nuclear. 

The concept that the ‘clean’ energy transition is inevitable and will make electricity cheap for everyone is a delusion.

There is no evidence of this supposed inevitability, just wishful thinking, and there is no immaculate solution, at the moment at least, to our energy needs.

It is ruinously costly as well.

Email, June 21
Charles Hemmings, Woy Woy

2 Comments on "No immediate solution to energy woes"

  1. Well, we had a good opportunity for gas. Then we decided to export it for free instead…. gotta love Woodside, don’t we?

    Poor working conditions in other countries are no reason not to keep producing solar panels. Do we ban imports from all factories using slave labour? No. Has our broader society boycotted mobile phones produced by child labour, either for mining or assembly? No. All are great tragedies, but we have it both ways.

    Also, you’re right that we need a dispatchable substitute. That’s why Snowy 2.0 is being built – granted, it’s been a hot mess, but it will make a huge difference. Addimproved battery technology on top of that, plus some gas for emergencies, and NSW very plausibly has the ability to close every coal plant within the next decade (if not before, which would be ideal). Even if this isn’t enough in the long term, preliminary studies on hydroelectric plans have identified over 20 other locations where more dams could be built, and with the collective knowledge we’ll gain from Snowy 2.0, a steady pipeline of these would make hydroelectric dams very cheap to build.

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