23rd March 2023 - "Can a country run entirely on renewable energy"?

 

Can a country run entirely on renewable energy?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-22/fact-check-dick-smith-renewables-entire-country/103617364

Businessman Dick Smith has thrown his support behind calls to introduce nuclear-generated power to Australia, rejecting renewable-led electricity generation in the process.

Appearing on Sydney radio station 2GB earlier this week, Mr Smith said Australia "should be making a decision to go nuclear now", pouring cold water on suggestions that wind and solar — and renewables more generally — could instead lead the nation's energy transition.

"Look, I can tell you, this claim by the CSIRO that you can run a whole country on solar and wind is simply a lie," Mr Smith said.

"It is not true. They are telling lies. No country has ever been able to run entirely on renewables — that's impossible."

But experts consulted by RMIT ABC Fact Check suggested Mr Smith's statement doesn't hold up.

Mark Diesendorf, an expert on sustainable energy and energy policy from the University of New South Wales, labelled Mr Smith's assertions as "incorrect".

"Several countries (and Tasmania) already run their electricity systems on 100 per cent renewables," he said in an email, noting that such places relied heavily on hydro power.

Even when focusing on wind and solar-generated power alone, experts rejected Mr Smith's claim that it would be "impossible" for it to power an entire country.

Andrew Blakers, a professor of engineering at the Australian National University's Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster solutions, told Fact Check: 

"Several detailed studies show that [getting to] 100 per cent renewables based mostly on solar and wind is quite straightforward, provided that enough transmission and storage is built."

Professor Blakers pointed to studies conducted by his research group investigating the feasibility of 100 per cent renewables in a number of countries, including Australia.

"[Solar] and wind [would] allow Australia to reach 100 per cent renewable electricity rapidly at low cost," concluded one such study, co-authored by Professor Blakers and published in 2017.

As for the countries putting renewable power to the test, Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University in the US, and director of its Atmosphere/Energy Program, pointed Fact Check to a detailed list of countries at or near the 100 per cent renewable energy mark.

"There are four countries running on 100 per cent wind-water-solar (WWS) alone for their grid electricity," he said in an email, noting that a further three countries relied on WWS for 99.78 per cent to 99.99 per cent of their electricity generation, while 45 countries were above 50 per cent.

According to a document produced and supplied by Professor Jacobson, the four countries running on 100 per cent WWS in 2021 were Albania, Bhutan, Nepal and Paraguay.

When it came to regions with a comparable or greater population size to that of Australia, Professor Jacobson pointed to the US state of California, which has a population of around 39 million.

As of Tuesday this week, he said, the state, which is aiming for 100 per cent carbon-free electricity by 2045, had "been running on more than 100 per cent WWS for 10 out of the last 11 days for between 0.25 and 6 hours per day".

While it is not entirely clear what Mr Smith was referring to when he suggested the CSIRO had claimed Australia could run entirely on wind and solar, the national science agency's latest annual GenCost report, released in July 2023, found that wind and solar remained the cheapest form of new-build electricity generation.

An updated draft of the report, released last month after factoring in feedback related to integration costs prior to 2030, also found renewables to be the cheapest form of new-build energy.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has forecast that renewables will be able to meet the entire demand of the national electricity market (NEM) by 2025, albeit for short periods of time (for example, 30 minutes).

Introducing AEMO's 2022 Engineering Roadmap to 100 per cent Renewables, CEO Daniel Westermen wrote that "the power system will require additional engineering solutions to provide essential system services to maintain a stable electrical voltage and frequency and ensure a secure state of operation".

"Proven technologies such as synchronous condensers will play a role, alongside newer technologies such as grid-forming inverters. The human dimensions of this transition are as important as the technical requirements."

In addition, a 2021 report from the Grattan Institute noted that "getting to 100 per cent renewable energy [in Australia] over the next two decades would be expensive unless there are major technological advances to backup renewable supply through rare winter wind droughts".

"That's why Australia should commit only to net zero emissions in the NEM by the 2040s, not absolute zero emissions or 100 per cent renewable energy."

As the institute's James Ha explained at the time, net zero emissions doesn't "require that all electricity people use within the jurisdiction come from renewable sources".

"Some might come from coal or gas-fired generation, but the government offsets this amount by making or buying an equivalent amount of renewable electricity."

Dec 2023 - Yvonne's power bills are less than $80 a month. Here's how she did it.

 

Yvonne's power bills are less than $80 a month. Here's how she did it.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-07/power-bills-renewable-energy-efficient-home/103192374

Key points:

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• Power bills have risen by 45 per cent in two years

• Experts warn the capital costs of clean energy transition will flow through to consumers

• The transition to renewables is estimated to cost $383 billion by 2050.

Yvonne Parker remembers having to sleep outside in the front yard of her housing commission home as a child when the temperature inside reached 50 degrees Celsius in summer.

This memory of living in a "terrible" uninsulated brick and concrete house inspired her, decades later, to create an energy-efficient home on Victoria's picturesque coastline that's cool in summer, warm in winter and, importantly, immune from rising power prices.

"We find it so utterly liveable, that we just love it," she said, brimming with pride.

The retired social scientist and her daughter spent about $10,400 out of their own pocket and took advantage of $6,500 worth of state government subsidies to install solar panels, a battery, an inverter and heat pump – an investment they predict will take about six years to recoup.

Their power bill is now sitting at around $80 a month, which Ms Parker reckons "is pretty hard to match".

As prices climb, Australians are taking control of their power bills: more than 3.4 million households and businesses have rooftop solar and about 185,000 of them are backed by batteries.

According to the competition watchdog, which analysed retail market offers, the median annual household bill is now sitting around $1,926 across the National Energy Market — a 45 per cent increase in two years.

Politically this figure is problematic for a federal government that was elected on a promise to cut household power bills by an average of $275 a year by 2025.

Instead, prices have gone in the opposite direction, rising by about $600 since that pledge was made.

By 2030 the government wants 82 per cent of Australia's electricity to come from wind, solar and hydro, up from about 32 per cent now, backed by a vast new network of high-voltage transmission lines to connect these far-flung renewables to consumers.

Shifting from fossil fuels to renewables in just seven years is an "economic transformation on the scale of the industrial revolution", according to Ms McNamara, who warns "it's not costless".

A price tag can be found in the Australian Energy Market Operator's own figures, buried deep in its Integrated System Plan, mapping the decades-long clean energy transition.

The total of all costs of phasing out coal and gas-fired power stations and replacing them with wind, solar, hydro and batteries on an industrial scale between now and 2050 is estimated to be about $383 billion.

The UN COP28 Climate Conference Dec 2023

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-07/andrew-forrest-fossil-fuel-heads-on-spikes-un-cop28-climate/103198354

Andrew Forrest calls for fossil fuel bosses' 'heads on spikes' in extraordinary outburst on sidelines of UN COP28 climate conference

• Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest is attending the COP28 climate conference in the United Arab Emirates
• He says energy bosses should have their heads "put up on spikes" for not committing to phase out fossil fuels
• It comes as some companies, including the national oil company of the UAE, defy calls for a wind-down of fossil fuel use.

• There have been a flurry of announcements and commitments aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions during the first week of COP28.

  Chief among these was a pledge by more than 100 countries — championed by conference host the United Arab Emirates — to triple the amount of renewable energy across the globe by 2030.

  Mr Forrest said none of the announcements made so far would be enough to ensure the success of this year's conference without a definite commitment to ending the use of fossil fuels.

  He said there was already strong evidence the world was on track to breach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

  And he took particular aim at the oil and gas bosses who were dismissing the calls, describing them as "selfish beyond belief".

  He said their actions were jeopardising the lives of millions of people in overwhelmingly poor countries who were at risk of "lethal humidity", or an inability to cool themselves down.

• On Monday, Australia's biggest fossil fuel player Woodside joined a host of other major producers in signing up to the COP28 oil and gas decarbonisation charter.

  Under the charter, signatories have agreed to end routine flaring and "near-zero upstream methane emissions" by 2030.

  Woodside chief Meg O'Neill said the charter was historic.

• Mr Forrest's business empire includes Fortescue, which is Australia's third biggest iron ore miner and a massive polluter in its own right.

  This seeming contradiction has been acknowledged by Mr Forrest, who has described himself as a climate "culprit" while stressing his commitment to spending $6 billion cleaning up Fortescue's operations.

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20th July 2023 - Kimberley Electric Vehicle Chargers

  Horizon Power launch the first rapid electric vehicle charger in the Kimberley, which has been installed at Broome's Guwarri Town Beach. That station features a 150kW DC charger capable of providing battery electric vehicles 200km worth of charge in about 20 minutes, which is just enough time to stretch your legs, grab a bite from a food van and enjoy the wonderful views of Roebuck Bay.

There is also an 11kW AC charger suitable for vehicles with smaller batteries including plug-in hybrid vehicles with smaller batteries.

The Broome EV Charging Station will be a link in the WA Coastal EV Charging network. It will feature 49 stations and 92 chargers and will make it more convenient to travel emissions-free up and down the state from Eucla to Kununurra.

For more information, visit https://www.horizonpower.com.au/.../electrical-vehicle.../

6th July 2023 Plug-in hybrids once dominated EV sales. Now their market share is tanking

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-07-06/how-clean-are-plug-in-hybrid-electric-vehicles-phev/102555428

The age of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) that can charge from a power point and fill up at the service station appears to be drawing to an end, at least in Australia.

The latest industry figures show EVs accounted for a record 9.4 per cent of new car sales in June, up from 1.7 per cent a year earlier.

A diminishing fraction of these EVs are plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), which switch to burning petrol or diesel when their battery's charge is nearly depleted.

PHEVs once dominated EV sales, but are now being rapidly displaced by fully battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

So, what killed the PHEV?

The answer to this question wades into a long-running debate that's shaping the types of cars available in Australia, and how much they cost.

The rise and fall of the plug-in hybrid

When they arrived in Australia about 10 years ago, PHEVs were marketed as a cleaner form of an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV).

They also side-stepped some of the perceived problems with BEVs, such as driving range and charging infrastructure.

• Plug-in hybrids once dominated EV sales, but have now slipped to 6 per cent of the total
• A series of studies has shown they're not as clean as previously thought
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4th May 2023 Buru Energy investigates potential for floating liquefied natural gas facility in the Kimberley

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-04/buru-investigate-floating-liquefied-natural-gas-kimberley/102292354

Ten years after a conflict between traditional owner groups and an international mining company in the Kimberley, an oil and gas giant is looking into establishing a floating liquefied natural gas facility in the region.

Buru Energy found sizeable oil and gas deposits in the Canning Basin in 2019, around 80 kilometres south-east of Broome, later acquiring 100 per cent ownership of the discovery dubbed "Rafael".

A pre-feasibility study has since found a floating liquefied natural gas facility anchored off the Kimberley coast could be a timely and cost-effective way to process and export the resource from the Canning Basin.

Martin Pritchard, director of strategy at conservation group Environs Kimberley, said the plan could re-ignite protests in the region following the recent ten-year anniversary of the Woodside stoush.

"People in the past have felt strong enough to protest against this kind of development," he said.

"More people would be getting involved and standing up to protest against this kind of industrialisation."

Western Australia makes up 63 per cent of the national mineral exploration expenditure and in 2022 LNG production was valued at a record-breaking $51 billion, almost $24 billion more than the previous year.

Mr Pritchard said he was concerned the tourism industry would take a hit if the development went ahead. 

"What we're talking about here is a project that could mean industrialising the Kimberley coast," he said.

"It's a really special place, it's globally renowned and what we should be doing is looking after it.

"We don't think that this is the kind of development that fits in with the world-class landscapes of the Kimberley and the million-dollar tourism industry."

April 28th 2023 - Drop in wholesale power prices as renewable energy generation from wind and solar grows

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-28/wholesale-power-prices-drop-amid-renewable-energy-growth/102273350

Key points:

• The amount of electricity produced by rooftop solar panels jumped 23 per cent on average compared with the same period in 2022
• Generation from large-scale wind and solar farms also surged, up 11 per cent, as new projects came online
• Gas-fired generation dipped to its lowest level in almost 20 years

Surging renewable energy output has pushed fossil fuel-fired generation down to record low levels in Australia's biggest electricity grid, triggering another big fall in wholesale prices.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which runs the national electricity market covering the eastern states, said power prices had tumbled in the three months to the end of March.

Average prices were $83 a megawatt hour for the period, a 10.5 per cent decrease compared with the previous three months, and a whopping 62 per cent lower than the September quarter last year.

The findings were outlined in AEMO's latest quarterly report, which also showed the extraordinary growth of output from green energy sources such as wind and solar.

AEMO said the amount of electricity produced by Australia's vast array of rooftop solar panels jumped by 23 per cent on average compared with the same period in 2022.

Generation from large-scale wind and solar farms also surged, up 11 per cent, as new projects came online.

At the same time as renewable energy soared, the agency said coal- and gas-fired power fell away to historically low levels, despite AEMO reporting that price caps imposed by the federal government had lowered their costs.

According to AEMO, gas-fired generation dipped to its lowest level in almost 20 years, while the steady decline of both black and brown coal power showed few signs of slowing.

There are more than 3 million Australian homes with solar panels, which typically pump any excess power they produce back into the grid in an uncontrolled way, pushing out other generators such as coal-fired plants.

Hunter Valley's Liddell Power Station closes in end of an era for Australia's oldest coal-fired plant. (April 2023)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-28/hunter-valleys-liddell-power-station-closures-after-52-years/102129426

The coal-fired generator leaves behind a 52-year legacy of creating electricity for the country and creating employment for thousands of people in the NSW Hunter Valley.

The final turbine will go offline today but experts have said the closure will have little impact on the grid.