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I'm sure it could, but maybe before building a 4500km undersea cable, we could try and decarbonise the energy grid of Australia itself, currently the number two

by morsch 6y ago

I'm sure it could, but maybe before building a 4500km undersea cable, we could try and decarbonise the energy grid of Australia itself, currently the number two per capita emitter of CO2 in the world.

toomuchtodo 6y ago
Australia has 150GW of renewables projects in their development pipeline, versus the 15GW of fossil generation on the continent. You can work on transmission and generation in parallel.
- viraptor 6y ago
  I agree with the general point, but I'm still anxious about it. The mining lobby/industry is huge. If extra demand could justify opening a new mine or prevent closing one, I fully expect that to be abused.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    I assure you, it’s not a concern. South Australia has so much rooftop solar coming online, the grid operator has real concerns they’ll see net zero demand on the grid for substantial periods of time. Renewables deployment is in full swing, and still accelerating. I don’t see coal ever being cost competitive enough to keep digging out of the ground ever again once we make more headway. The words “tipping point” are bandied about, but it looks like we’re there. That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods, but it does mean it’ll be harder and harder to justify non renewables continued use. We just need to push the throttle down on more renewables.
    - nix23 6y ago
      >I assure you, it’s not a concern. Its not the coal you burn in Australia...it's the Coal you export, remember we live under one Atmosphere: In 2016, Australia was the biggest net exporter of coal, with 32% of global exports https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_in_Australia
      - morsch 6y ago
        No, it is the coal they burn in Australia -- currently >2/3 of electricity generation --, it's just also the coal other people burn elsewhere.
        nix23 6y ago
        >No, it is the coal they burn in Australia Yeah ok that too then :)
    - viraptor 6y ago
      It's all correct in theory. Yet we're approving new coal mines and expansions to existing ones. It doesn't make sense, but it happens. As long as a politician brings a lump of coal to the Parliament with a straight face to argue we should not be afraid of it, it definitely will be a concern. The decisions being made are just not rational.
      - toomuchtodo 6y ago
        Don’t let stupid get in the way of progress. Keep pushing forward regardless of decisions that are going to leave trillions of dollars in assets stranded (oil and gas extraction and generation). Lots of wind and solar potential left to capture.
- morsch 6y ago
  That's great!

by morsch 6y ago

toomuchtodo 6y ago

Australia has 150GW of renewables projects in their development pipeline, versus the 15GW of fossil generation on the continent. You can work on transmission and generation in parallel.

viraptor 6y ago
I agree with the general point, but I'm still anxious about it. The mining lobby/industry is huge. If extra demand could justify opening a new mine or prevent closing one, I fully expect that to be abused.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  I assure you, it’s not a concern. South Australia has so much rooftop solar coming online, the grid operator has real concerns they’ll see net zero demand on the grid for substantial periods of time. Renewables deployment is in full swing, and still accelerating. I don’t see coal ever being cost competitive enough to keep digging out of the ground ever again once we make more headway. The words “tipping point” are bandied about, but it looks like we’re there. That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods, but it does mean it’ll be harder and harder to justify non renewables continued use. We just need to push the throttle down on more renewables.
  - nix23 6y ago
    >I assure you, it’s not a concern. Its not the coal you burn in Australia...it's the Coal you export, remember we live under one Atmosphere: In 2016, Australia was the biggest net exporter of coal, with 32% of global exports https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_in_Australia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_in_Australia
    - morsch 6y ago
      No, it is the coal they burn in Australia -- currently >2/3 of electricity generation --, it's just also the coal other people burn elsewhere.
      - nix23 6y ago
        >No, it is the coal they burn in Australia Yeah ok that too then :)
  - viraptor 6y ago
    It's all correct in theory. Yet we're approving new coal mines and expansions to existing ones. It doesn't make sense, but it happens. As long as a politician brings a lump of coal to the Parliament with a straight face to argue we should not be afraid of it, it definitely will be a concern. The decisions being made are just not rational.
    - toomuchtodo 6y ago
      Don’t let stupid get in the way of progress. Keep pushing forward regardless of decisions that are going to leave trillions of dollars in assets stranded (oil and gas extraction and generation). Lots of wind and solar potential left to capture.
morsch 6y ago
That's great!