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One thing that surprises me, which became more obvious as a result of the pandemic, and screamingly obvious as a result of Russia invading Ukraine, is the natio

One thing that surprises me, which became more obvious as a result of the pandemic, and screamingly obvious as a result of Russia invading Ukraine, is the national security implications of fuel and energy security. What blows my mind is the chasm between national security paranoia due to terrorism and absolute inaction and denial on national security around energy. It may be more obvious since I'm in Australia, where we have boundless open spaces and abundant sunshine as well as some of the highest electricity costs in the world (despite also having an abundance of coal), in combination with being remote and dependent upon external sources of petrol / fuel; Australia has been in breach of the IEA obligations on fuel security for years[0][1]. Australia should be exemplary for the use of electric vehicles and solar power, and yet it lags behind much of the developed world. In addition to the current Australian government being rabidly anti-renewables, such as rolling back the carbon price policy in 2014[2][3] after it was put in place in 2011 that looked as if it made a measurable difference to Australia's carbon emissions[4]. I'm an angry motherfucker about it, and it's my primary vote-deciding issue. [0]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-23/government-accused-of-doing-little-to-improve-fuel-security/10732978 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-23/government-accused-of... [1]: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Australias-Fuel-Security-Crisis-Is-Growing-Increasingly-Dire.html https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Australias-Fuel-S... [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/17/australia-kills-off-carbon-tax https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/17/australi... [3]: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28339663 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28339663 [4]: https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/ccep_crawford_anu_edu_au/2014-07/ccep1411.pdf https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publica... (table, page 9 - page number 7)

calvinmorrison 5y ago
"The sudden rise in Solar PV installations in Australia since 2018 dramatically propelled the country from being considered a relative laggard to a strong leader in Solar PV development by mid 2019. With an installed photovoltaic capacity of 16.3 GW at the end of 2019, Australia has the highest per capita solar capacity"
- wingworks 5y ago
  There is also this https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-23/nt-sun-cable-project-solar-farm-cost-size-increase/100487452 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-23/nt-sun-cable-project-... Huge solar farm in the works for NT, Australia.. though it's to help power Singapore... But at least it'll bring some work/income to Australia. It's kinda what you'd expect the Australian Govt to be working on though, for its citizens, and to export.
  - ehnto 5y ago
    South Australia went a full week on renewables recently, and regularly does full days. You could probably nitpick technicalities but that any portion of any day could be served entirely on solar and wind is a massive achievement and one I don't see rolling backward any time soon.
    - wingworks 5y ago
      Wow, that's an amazing achievement, especially considering SA was having major power issues not so long ago.
  - BLKNSLVR 5y ago
    The State Governments have been surprisingly good at filling the vacuum left by the federal government.
- BLKNSLVR 5y ago
  Residents have been doing their bit, no doubt, but it hasn't "trickled up". Additionally, State Governments have been implementing their own policies due to the federal policy vacuum. The absence of Government policy and support for industrial-scale solar and wind installations has driven away a fair bit of investment (according to a number of articles I've read over the years). And there's not just lack of Government support, but overt negativity: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/sas-big-battery-just-another-big-thing/an0m6ynvb https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/sas-big-battery-just-ano... (Scott Morrison, treasurer at the time, is now Australia's prime minister) Amusing follow-up: https://reneweconomy.com.au/on-first-day-as-pm-morrison-learns-difference-between-big-battery-and-big-banana-84075/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/on-first-day-as-pm-morrison-lear...

calvinmorrison 5y ago

"The sudden rise in Solar PV installations in Australia since 2018 dramatically propelled the country from being considered a relative laggard to a strong leader in Solar PV development by mid 2019. With an installed photovoltaic capacity of 16.3 GW at the end of 2019, Australia has the highest per capita solar capacity"

wingworks 5y ago
There is also this https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-23/nt-sun-cable-project-solar-farm-cost-size-increase/100487452 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-23/nt-sun-cable-project-... Huge solar farm in the works for NT, Australia.. though it's to help power Singapore... But at least it'll bring some work/income to Australia. It's kinda what you'd expect the Australian Govt to be working on though, for its citizens, and to export.
- ehnto 5y ago
  South Australia went a full week on renewables recently, and regularly does full days. You could probably nitpick technicalities but that any portion of any day could be served entirely on solar and wind is a massive achievement and one I don't see rolling backward any time soon.
  - wingworks 5y ago
    Wow, that's an amazing achievement, especially considering SA was having major power issues not so long ago.
- BLKNSLVR 5y ago
  The State Governments have been surprisingly good at filling the vacuum left by the federal government.
BLKNSLVR 5y ago
Residents have been doing their bit, no doubt, but it hasn't "trickled up". Additionally, State Governments have been implementing their own policies due to the federal policy vacuum. The absence of Government policy and support for industrial-scale solar and wind installations has driven away a fair bit of investment (according to a number of articles I've read over the years). And there's not just lack of Government support, but overt negativity: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/sas-big-battery-just-another-big-thing/an0m6ynvb https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/sas-big-battery-just-ano... (Scott Morrison, treasurer at the time, is now Australia's prime minister) Amusing follow-up: https://reneweconomy.com.au/on-first-day-as-pm-morrison-learns-difference-between-big-battery-and-big-banana-84075/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/on-first-day-as-pm-morrison-lear...