$4.5 Billion for ‘clean energy’

The Rudd Government has revealed plans to invest $4.5 billion to support clean energy, made up of $2.4 billion for new coal technologies, $1.6 billion in solar technologies, and $465 million to establish a new organisation called ‘Renewables Australia’.
The $1.6 billion anted-up for solar represents a ten-fold increase in government funding. This new ‘Solar Flagship Program’ plans to have four new solar plants feeding the national grid, with a total capacity of 1000 MW (equal to one of Australia’s 30 giant coal-fired plants). In a joint media release with Martin Ferguson and Climate Change Minister Wong, Environment Minister Peter Garrett claimed that this ‘ambitious’ target will be three times the size of any solar project currently operating anywhere in the world. But the full capacity will not be on-line until 2017, by which time the world’s solar leaders (USA and Spain notably) are expected to have installed as much as 20 000 MW of solar plant. In fact in the same week that the government announced it’s plans, the Californian giant BrightSource Energy signed contracts to complete 14 plants generating a total of 2600 MW over the next four years while Spain plans to have another 730 MW on line by 2010, according to an article on RenewableEnergyWorld.com.
Mark Diesendorf from the University of NSW told ABC Radio National on May 13: “The kind of resources that are being directed to renewable energy here are the resources that you give if you only want to keep doing one-off demonstration projects. What renewable energy needs now is the incentives to expand the market on an on-going basis to build commercial solar power stations and large scale commercial wind farms.”
Minister Garrett claims “The Government’s commitment to establish the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute will ensure that Australia continues to be a world leader in the development of low emissions coal technology.” But many people think the government is putting it’s money into unproven technologies rather than into renewables, in a desperate attempt to green-wash Australia’s position as the world’s biggest coal exporter.

Coal exploration off coast

Alarm bells have been ringing in the conservation movement since late last year when East Coast Minerals (ECM) applied for licenses to explore 6000 square kilometres of ocean for coal reserves close to the NSW coast between Wollongong and Newcastle. The company is waiting for federal government approval with a decision expected later this year.
ECM proposes to use the underground coal gasification (UCG) process, an untested “green” technology based on controlled burning of coal in the underground seam. Air is forced down a pipe into the coal bed where it combines with ignited coal to produce syngas which is returned to the surface via a second pipe. Syngas – 12 per cent hydrogen, 30 per cent carbon monoxide and 50 per cent nitrogen – will then be used to create diesel fuel, according to ECM managing director Richard Sealey. He said NSW Government estimates indicate there are about 28 billion tonnes of coal in the exploration zone.
Anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd member Vanessa Pearce said work prior to extraction of Syngas creates problems for whales and dolphins because of the use of seismic and sonic exploration techniques. “There have been cases of whale beachings associated with offshore explorations for oil and gas,” she said. “The continental shelf off Australia’s east coast is a major migratory route for humpback whales, the mainstay of the valuable and growing whale watching industry.” Pearce said the drilling rigs would be clearly visible from the coast, and major industrial sites with potential for pollution, traffic and safety issues would have to be built at every point where the pipelines meet the shore. “Most of the adjacent coastal area is either developed or national park so it’s hard to know where the output from the offshore rigs will come ashore,” she said.
The Green’s recent submission to the NSW Department of Primary Industries argues that at a time of peak oil and climate change, NSW should be looking to renewable sources of energy rather than continuing its dependence on coal. And according to website ‘theoildrum.com’, exploration of coal reserves is becoming frantic as available oil diminishes. At the same time, heavily polluting conventional coal-fired electricity plants are becoming unfeasible worldwide as environmental regulations tighten.
The Economist magazine reported that new ‘clean air’ rules in the USA have led to cancellation of dozens of coal-fired plants – in Nevada a $5 billion 1500 MW plant was scrapped and the company is now investing in solar and wind generation. But more than 500 new coal-fired plants are planned to go online in China by 2012.