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Australia Can be a Green Super Power

October 2, 2008 @ 07:45 By Gavin Webber 5 Comments

Al Gore recently threw down the gauntlet and issued a challenge to all Americans. It was as simple as this;

“I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100% of its electricity from clean energy within 10 years” – Al Gore, 17 July 2008

You can see what he had to say below, in this remixed video of his speech from the We Can Solve It Campaign.

Now, I know that with some good leadership, they could achieve this goal and go a long way to averting peak oil, and making a big impact on climate change. Hey, they sent lots of men to the moon for goodness sake, just because President Kennedy asked them to!

If the current administration can come up with U$700 billion to bail out greedy investment banks who created their own downfall and wreaked the US financial system, the administration should have no trouble whatsoever producing the funds to meet Al’s challenge. It just takes the political will to do so.

So, if the US can do it, why couldn’t Australia. Once again it takes political will and strong leadership to make it a reality. In the past, we built the Snowy Mountain scheme, the Overland Telegraph, fought courageously in two world wars and many other conflicts, so why can we produce all of our energy needs from clean, renewable energy in 10 years time, just as we met these lofty challenges. We have built massive cities where none stood 200 years ago, so 100% renewable energy should be a breeze!

Just have a look at our interior. We have so much sunshine in inland Australia, that we could power the entire energy needs of the country with a combination of solar thermal and solar PV power stations. Just look at places like Mildura and outback South Australia which all have many hours of uninterrupted sunshine per year, and are close to transmission lines of the national power grid.

We also have some of the best geothermal potential in the world, with hot rock discoveries around Innaminka in South Australia. Geothermal electricity can replace our night time baseload that is currently provided by coal, and can be generated 24/7. The potential is unlimited, we just need to do it.

In southern Australia, the potential of wind power on the west coast of Tasmania is another untapped energy resource, and with the Basslink undersea power cable connecting Victoria to Tasmania, the apple isle has the potential to feed the national grid. Even wave and tidal power are an untapped resource waiting in the wings. If we can connect Tasmania to the mainland, why wouldn’t we think of connecting Queensland to PNG or Indonesia and selling the excess renewable energy? Surely someone must have thought of that before me!

Peak Sun and Peak Geothermal are billions of years away, unlike Peak Oil and Peak Coal, which are just around the corner. These two rapidly closing events have the potential to devastate our economy, our country, and human civilisation as we now know it. We must start to harness the renewable energy potential this great brown land offers us every single day of the year.

Instead of waiting for these peaks to pounce upon us like a crouching tiger, lets act, and urge the government to fund these projects via any funds coming out of the up and coming Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme proposed to begin in 2010. By utilising part of the available funds, we too, can become a green super power. Both the Australian Conservation Foundation and GetUp! have active campaigns to urge the Australian Government to act now. Please add your voice to the groundswell.

Lets not miss a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a bright future for this country and lead the world in renewable energy technology.

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Filed Under: activisim, Al Gore, Peak Oil, Photovoltaic, renewable energy, Solar Power

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Teena says

    October 2, 2008 at 10:56

    GAV FOR PM !!!!!! There’s the answer to Australia’s environmental problems.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    October 2, 2008 at 15:54

    I agree with Teena, GAV for PM !!!

    I have always thought that if the Aisians were here that they would have some of the biggest vegie gardens in the world OUTBACK They would find a way WHY cant we??? Love MUM

    Reply
  3. greenerme says

    October 2, 2008 at 16:15

    My very wise husband said to me years ago “The environmental issues will not improve until someone can make money from improving it”.

    He is right and yes I think that time has come and we are witnessing it now.

    I read that ‘climate change’ is a huge growing industry. Business is now making money from suppling green products and services, more than they have ever in the past.

    What bugs me though Gav is the lack of funding the Australian government appers to offer.

    How many times have we heard the story of a ‘green’ brilliant Australian idea not been able to get funding and hence gone overseas to the USA. There are cases where the USA has then even sold the technology back to Australia.

    I think the way forward for the world’s economy and enviroment is to embrace and support green ideas and green business.

    Yes I love Australia and yes I am a proud Australian. Why can’t we aim to be the world leaders in ‘green’ technology, industry and power.

    Bring it on I say!!!

    Just my ranting for today Gav 🙂

    Sarhn

    Reply
  4. wombat064 says

    October 2, 2008 at 20:39

    Gav, for Environmental Minister..

    Kick “Baldy” out and let some fresh blood in…

    Mate, when you make a post you carry a big stick. Is Pete on your auto mail list …He should be

    Reply
  5. Gavin says

    October 2, 2008 at 21:51

    @ Sis & Mum. Prime Minister, I don’t think so, though, I am flattered.

    Now if Kevin ’07 gets a bit more motivated, he might just become the leader I am talking about. However, I am not holding my breath. Lets make our elected official here our collective voices loud and clear that we don’t want the typical short term thinking that politicians seam to worry about during their 4 year term.

    @ Sarhn. You are absolutely right. If it becomes more economical to produce energy from renewable sources than it does from fossil fools then everyone will jump on the bandwagon so quick, if you blink you will miss it. If you can make a profit, then why not, if it is going to enable us to live in harmony with the rest of the species on the planet, it can only be a great outcome. As long as we can keep the greenwash to a bearable minimum, I am all for companies touting their green creds. All the government needs to do is inject some of that surplus into renewable energy and away from the coal & mining industries.

    @ Phil. Environment Minister I will consider. Can’t be any worse than PG. Big sticks are required, when our elected officials only carry toothpicks that break at the first sign of an industry lobbyist!

    Reply

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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