The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand

Australia has brilliant renewable energy resources. A long wind-blown coastline, geothermal hot rocks and phenomenal solar capacity so there is definite possibility to produce all our power from these.

The problem is that Oz is such a highly urbanised society that most of these widely distributed power sources would face significant transmission losses to get to the urban centers through the current network. Wind is probably the nearest to where we live. The best geothermal and solar resources are deep in the outback. Ender had an interesting post about laying in a HVDC line across the outback to reach it.

http://stevegloor.typepad.com/sgloor/2007/06/superconductor_.html

For the time being we need to decommission our coal plants and start replacing them with gas, Can coal co-gen be retrofitted? If not I would suggest a better investment would be replacing them with gas and expanding windpower. Solar hot water should be a no-brainer and more money needs to be invesetd in solar thermal development and geothermal exploration.

Solar thermal has a lot of potential IMHO and I will be keeping a close eye on Cloncurry to see how their system performs.

Hi Gail,
There is a site that has been mooted for a trial hot rock pilot plant, and it near Muswellbrook, which is relatively close to coal power plants, their supporting lakes and of course the distribution system.
Politically, methinks the pilot plant would be a geothermal fox among the coal-fired chickens - hence no real progress yet, bar some preliminary bores.
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/renewable/recp/hotdryrock/one.html

The first example and ready to go is a big wind farm near Broken Hill, proposed by a German company.

ANDREW DURRAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EPURON: Silverton wind farm will be one of the largest in the world once it's operating, with potential for almost 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity. That's enough power for about 400,000 homes in New South Wales, or about 4.5 per cent of the State's electricity needs.

But read here that the NSW Government isn't interested:

IAN MACDONALD, NSW MINISTER FOR PRIMARY INDUSTRIES: New South Wales isn't a high wind State where you could reliably guarantee, efficiently, wind power into the grid to meet both economic and target needs.

Red tape threatens proposed Broken Hill wind farm
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2054169.htm

The private energy company has certainly done its homework. So that sort of Government response really demonstrates what kind of drama is now unfolding. Peak oil knocking at the door, triggering - together with global warming - an unprecedented clean energy crisis and the Government isn't picking up on this proposal.

That's why I am saying Ministers need to first attend a training course on peak oil and global warming