Thursday, April 5, 2007

Wind, wave and solar renewable energy options to reducing CO2 emissions actually are more efficient and cheaper than fossil fuel or nuclear power simply because they don’t produce any carbon at all! That the Australian government’s insistence that coal and nuclear are the only ones that will be provide base power grunt is totally flawed. And that to wait for another fifteen or more years to research, develop, build and have resultant proof that geosequestration actually works or to build nuclear reactors that will increase nuclear proliferation and terrorism targets, a legacy for our children, will drive us to our peril with irreversible climate change. Vast amounts of energy from the sun alone in one day falling on Australia is enough to provide half the whole world’s annual energy. And the other renewable sources like wind, wave, tidal, and geothermal are equally large. Using the sun alone, an area 50kmx50km in the desert areas of Australia would supply all of Australia’s power including base power for industry and the free energy will be delivered forever. And this is not counting geothermal power or the new five times cheaper slither solar cells with a pay back of four years are just as affective in cloud as they are in sun and should be on every roof.There are also solar cells being made of new plastic materials which are many times cheaper. Many ways are now possible to store the sun’s energy enabling 24/7 base power production! Even distributed wind generators using vanadium redox batteries along Australia’s grid system from north Queensland to east of Adelaide will provide base power. All systems are based on mature proven technology and are in operation in many parts of the world. And there are many ways to provide renewable base power production in very cold cloud covered and windless climates as well as in hot sunny climates like the solar heat pump electrical generation system, the bi-directional solar tower, to low boiling point fluids for any low level heat source. Politicians and business people fossilized in a past century do not realize the potential, the power and wealth that can be had from clean free renewable energy. Renewable energy our greatest and cleanest resource is where jobs for Australians will be and we must move immediately in this direction. The oceanographer Dr Tony Haymet asks for innovators. Well for innovators, there’s certainly plenty of scope here.

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