Australia is far from having the highest carbon price, but will there be an international market for it to trade in; solar energy is actually cheap; the cost of wind is coming down; the cost of nuclear is going up; but all of that won’t halt the nonsense, or the clean energy culture wars.
It’s time to drop the idea that solar energy is expensive. A new report says Solar PV is already cost competitive with fossil fuels, including in Australia, but metrics such as ‘grid parity’ have only served to mislead and confuse customers, politicians, and even the energy industry itself.
A US House vote to impose a ban on the US Defense Department from making or buying alternative fuels more costly than ‘traditional fossil fuels’ would not only scuttle one of the Navy’s top priorities, it could mortally wound the struggling biofuel industry, which was looking to the Pentagon to help it survive.
A leading US utility chief predicts that solar PV will have as big an impact on electricity grids as the mobile phone did on the fixed line telephone business. Throw in smart meters and electric vehicles, and there are big changes afoot.
The nuclear industry in the UK is reeling from reports of more cost blow-outs and delays. A leading analyst says the cost of new-build nuclear may end up being three to four times the current cost of energy in the UK and may be ‘impossible’ to finance. In the US, cost increases are causing similar concerns.
A new report highlights the sensitivity of AGL’s proposed new asset, the Loy Yang A coal-fired generator, to weak wholesale electricity prices. So how will AGL position itself in the energy policy debate? Meanwhile, the company says it sells Hallett 5 wind farm in South Australia to Eurus Energy of Japan.
A CSIRO project will use solar thermal energy to provide the heat needed to capture CO2 from coal-fired generators, and reduce the costs of CCS.
The state government push to show the carbon tax as a separate item on electricity bills paints a deliberately misleading picture about rising power prices.
Carnegie Wave Energy says it may build a 20MW project to provide electricity and desalinated water to island of Bermuda.
Earth Institute director dishes some carbon home truths; big renewables plans for Japan, Mongolia and Korea; and the trouble with MIGA.
MIT signals a major new milestone in the development of the artificial leaf, mimicking photosynthesis with much cheaper materials.
A handful of Pacific Islands are looking to source their entire electricity requirements from renewables by 2020.
Saudi Arabia kicks off 41GW of solar thermal and PV deployment with competitive tenders; IEA says China solar market will beat 10GW/year faster than expected.
A new Australian project aims to reduce the levellised cost of solar thermal energy to around $100/MWh – the sweet spot that will enable renewable technologies to deliver cost-effective clean energy. Can it be done? The good news is that storage may reduce costs rather than add to them.
Contrary to the claims of the Danish protagonist and other vested interests, the IEA argues that deployment is the key to combating climate change and ensuring energy security. It says it is time to ‘rethink’ the global energy system, and opportunities abound. What is Australia waiting for?
How to produce cost competitive transport oil from algae. It's the fuel of the future.
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