20% Renewable Energy for South Australia, 10 Years Ahead of Schedule
by Warren McLaren, Sydney 
on 11.11.08
South Australia's ninth wind farm just opened on the Barunga Ranges near Snowtown. Its 47 turbines, installed by Trust Power of New Zealand, (who already operate that countries largest wind farm at Tararua), are said to have the capacity to deliver over 98MW of electricity. The company reckon this output should provide sufficient power for around 70,000 Australian households.
Not only was this project completed ahead of schedule, but it allows the state of South Australia to claim that they now produce almost 60% of Australia’s wind power. Additionally it means that South Australia is poised to meet Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s target for all states to produce 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.
[After the fold we look at related issues of clean energy, such as efficiency and pricing.]
Energy Efficiency
One method to make renewable energy more viable for mainstream consumption is simply to reduce demand. In developed countries like Australia, this is a difficult ask, as people are loathed to forgo any perceived standard of living. The Climate Institute wants the Australian Government to adopt tougher energy efficiency standards for consumer and commercial electronic appliances, “to make sure we're not buying and locking ourselves into inefficient appliances and locking ourselves into energy hungry appliances over a long term."
One issue they’d like to see addressed is a move away from the current demand side (customer) focus, where purchasers themselves have to compare the relative efficiency of appliances. Rather, the Climate Institute prefer the Japanese Top Runner model, where the emphasis is on the supplier. A government approved panel selects the best performer on the market and decrees that all other appliances within that category have several years to reach the same standard. This ensures that customers are buying the most efficient goods available whilst encouraging marketplace competition amongst manufacturers. (Read an evaluation of Japan’s Top Runner [NB: PDF] scheme.)
Energy Pricing
Although Australia has some quite progressive renewable energy rebates, many feel that the real way to ramp up demand for the likes of wind and solar power generation is to pay people for the energy they themselves produce and feed back to the grid, via 'Feed-in Tariffs'.
According to the Australian Greens, a recent study by the International Energy Agency and Ernst & Young found that, “feed-in tariffs are more effective and cheaper than quota systems such as Australia's Mandatory Renewable Energy Target.” The Greens are aware that Several Australian States and Territories have active feed-in tariffs or are proposing them, but they believe many are flawed, because they are all different and some limit payments to the likes of solar power instead of all power generated. They are pushing from a fairer scheme that would be nationally regulated.
Via various reports on ABC News one, two, three, and four.
More Renewable Energy in Australia on TreeHugger
Australian Military Go Solar in The Northern Territory
Zero Carbon Hot Rock Energy for Tasmania. Maybe.
SeaPower Promises Emission-Free Power and Water
Turbine photo from ABC, Power strip photo from Climate Institute.
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If they can do it so can we. Energy Independence needs to be included in the realm of our economic issues. Our dependence on foreign oil impacts every aspect of our society and economy. This past year is a testimony to that fact. We were slammed by high prices at the pump that drained our wallets. The cost of food and every consumer product has risen because of increased production and shipping costs. The average family had no money left over to spend, save or invest. So we tighten our belts, we spend less because we have less and sadly that results in more job losses. We have so much available in the way of FREE energy, solar and wind that can be utilized to replace oil. Hybrid and electric plug in cars would replace another huge percentage of our dependence on foreign oil. Our government bails out to the tune of trillions of dollars. The last stimulus checks cost our government 168 BILLION DOLLARS. It did zip for our economy. That money could have gone a long way towards getting America started on the path to energy independence. The returns from that would be infinite. Jeff Wilson has a great new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in seeing our country become more energy independent and our economy being freed from OPEC's whims. www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
I don't know if this post will be allowed, but I've searched all over this site for someone to contact and cannot figure out how to make anyone aware of numerous errors on this very page.
What is additionally infuriating is that I continue to apply for jobs - specifically content and editorial - and never receive a response. Meanwhile, this site lauds itself and the high praise other "media" have given it recently, and yet, given the enormous number of grammatical and copy errors in this article, the editorial standards are far from spectacular.
I love the Discovery brand, and the vast majority of its channels, broadcasts, websites, etc. However, if Discovery wants _this_ particular brand to, at the very least, have comparable standards in production and editorial excellence, someone over there needs to crack some heads.
There are quite a few great "green" sites on the Internet, and more in production, I'm sure. No matter how much money Discovery pours into this one, and no matter how much attention it may get in the short-term, no one is going to take TreeHugger seriously if they continue with this level of shoddy editorial production.
Bradley