Australia may lose $45 billion amid green steel rush, report says
Australia accounts for 56% of seaborne iron ore trade.
Looking at all the costs to construct and run power plants, it will be cheaper to build a wind or solar power plant within 18 years rather than one using nuclear or fossil fuel, says a research unit within the Australian Government.
“The results indicate that Australia’s energy future is likely to be very different to the present,” writes the authors of the Australian Energy Technology Assessment, which was released today.
However, non-renewable technologies, like gas and nuclear power, will have the lowest electricity cost over the short-term and still stay cost competitive with wind and solar out to 2050.
Authors note that the rapid global production of solar photovoltaic over the past two to three years has dropped prices dramatically.
Business Insider’s Gregor MacDonald noted the same. Renewables are currently the fastest growing energy source and could portend a breakout, while traditional power sources are hobbled by cost, regulation and uncertainty.
In determining future costs, the report assumes the Australian dollar will weaken and drop from its historic highs increasing the cost of imported power plant components.
Power from biomass also gets a mention.
“Biogas and biomass electricity generation technologies in 2012 are some of the most cost competitive forms of electricity generation and are projected to remain cost competitive out to 2050.”
6 Comments
marty
I believe we will all come to the realization that we need to extract and contain all of our nuclear resources it is so dangerous just sitting in the ground near water tables and in the air from wind blown surfaces the natural ore is the most radioactive element a human comes in contact with.I say mine it out get rid of it use it up.Liberals please look at it like you are getting rid of the most dangerous bio hazard known to man Put your EPA to work make them earn their money! Put another feather in your caps! Oh I forgot it is a matter of national security also being as it will boost our economy providing jobs from exploration to clean up see it will be like creating the Epa’s own job security Why screw up the landscape yet dumasses!
truthseeker616
I think that Mr. McCrae should go back to writing for the Vancouver Sun where accountability is unneccesary.
Ed Walsh333
This article content obviously does not represent true fact. Everybody is blinded as far as the eye can see. The problem with journalism today is that all of these writers are looking for one liners without presenting both sides of the picture. A few years back we had the so called experts( mostly those liberal professors) predicting fuel had reached its peak point and we should shortly run out of this valuable source. If you had taken them to heart you could have almost predicted to the day when this source would run out. Those beautiful charts have not come to pass and that camp has suddenly gone silent. What is the real story? Check it out because we have been handed bogus documents along with a huge increase in costs to go along with our great experiments for alternative energy. Talk to the clean coal energy to find out what is really happening. It looks to me that the real winners are those close to government who always seem to manage to make huge dollars at the expense of the taxpayer who is the ultimate payer for these political blundering taxpayer expense moves. Why is it that all of those governments who have embraced alternative energy are going financially broke? If you think wind and solar is the long term fix then I have a new bridge to the USA to sell you. Go over to the PIGGS countries and see where there huge investments in alternative energy have led them done to a crumbling society with no choice but to abandon those expensive experiments where the tax payer will ultimately be held hostage. Now you have journalism painting over bad decisions as if it were a piece of art created by Michelangelo. No,I cannot predict the future but my guess is that I would be more informed by going to a fortune teller than reading this crap unsubstantiated by solid fact.
Jack Gardner
Michael does not address the need to have generting capacity (or energy storage) to provide grid consumption when there is no wind or sun. Providing this instant capacity from say peak loping aero derivative gas turbines (most likely choice) will always make his assertion fail on capital cost. He needs to look further for a better solution than open cycle solar or wind
Andre
What a misleading article, I wish the Author: Michael McCrae would actually read the Australian Government report before misleading everyone.
The article should read “Fossil Fuels will be more expensive to produce than renewables, if the carbon price rises to $140 / ton”
Given we know that :
1. we are moving to a free market system and the price is around $6 /ton and not moving.
2. the Liberal Government will be in government a year and scrap the whole crazy carbon tax, thus this idea that renewables will be cheaper is rubbish.
Don’t promote propaganda – look at the facts!
Ir
Definitely agree with Andre on all points