News in this week is that Goldwind are going ahead with constructing a 75-turbine, 175 megawatt wind farm at White Rock near Glen Innes in northern NSW. This will be the northernmost large wind farm in Australia (there are no … Continue reading Wind farms moving north could smooth overall output
Under a new plan by the NSW Greens, consumers of electricity will get a chance to buy and sell clean energy in an attempt to hasten the transition to renewables. The launch of the plan came as the NSW Premier stated … Continue reading Households to trade renewable energy in NSW Greens plan
This article originally posted at Clean Technica. View the original post here. While Australia’s carbon policy seems to have hit a dead-end, good news from the renewable energy sector continues to pour in. The country will soon see construction begin … Continue reading Construction Set To Begin At Australia’s First Single-Axis Tracking Solar PV Project
By Vassilis Agelidis Professor of Power Engineering and Director of the Australian Energy Research Institute at the University of NSW. Original article published by The Conversation on 14th March 2014.
The recent start of construction on the first of two large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in outback New South Wales shows the importance of renewable energy targets and funding. Continue reading “Big solar could boost Australia’s power, if renewables funding stays”
NSW Planning and Infrastructure Minister Brad Hazzard has directed that nine wind farm projects now be considered as State Significant Developments instead of being dealt with under the Part 3A transitional provisions that are a legacy from Labor’s time in office. This decision effectively places them back in the planning system.
The wind farms affected by the NSW government’s reactionary decision are:
It seems that NSW has joined the Victorian government in privileging a minority of vocal anti-wind campaigners over the majority of the community, who continue to support renewable energy. The previous planning system struck a sensible balance in decision making.
“The NSW government has sown the seeds of community division by reopening the planning process for these wind farms,” Yes 2 Renewables told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“A noisy minority refuse to accept wind energy and make unsubstantiated claims the technology has health impacts. This decision looks like a capitulation to those elements.” Continue reading “Policy Watch: NSW govt imposes ‘red tape’ on wind farms”
Originally posted at The Conversation. View the original post here.
The recent start of construction on the first of two large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in outback New South Wales shows the importance of renewable energy targets and funding.
The first, currently being built at Nyngan, will be the largest solar PV farm in the southern hemisphere, producing 103 megawatts at peak capacity. This will be enough to power more than 33,000 average New South Wales homes, roughly equivalent to taking 53,000 cars off the road. Both projects have received federal and state funding, and have benefited from theRenewable Energy Target.
The Solar Flagships Program, of which the Nyngan plant is the major part, will also deliver a further 50 megawatt plant at Broken Hill, providing a combined solar power output 10 times larger than anything else ever built in Australia.
Continue reading “Big solar could boost Australia’s power, if renewables funding stays”
New South Wales MP John Barilaro (Nationals) has called for a moratorium on wind farm developments in the state.
Mr Barilaro says the state government shouldn’t allow wind farms to go ahead while the Renewable Energy Target is reviewed.
Wind energy is now cheaper than gas and coal, and an important source of local job growth and drought-proof income for regional Australia. Barilaro’s reactionary moratorium would put these benefits at risk.
According to the ABC, Barilaro is “against new wind farm developments in principle because he doesn’t like to see government subsidies used to support projects that lack community support.”
Mr Barilaro’s reasoning for a moratorium doesn’t stack up.
All available polling shows Australians support the Renewable Energy Target and want more wind farms.
One poll by Essential Research, for example, showed 71 per cent of voters supporting more wind energy, while a more recent found that 39 per cent of Australians think the current Renewable Energy Target is “about right” (with a further 25 per cent saying it is “too low”).
A credible CSIRO study on the perceptions of wind farms in regional areas concluded: Continue reading “Pollie Watch: Member for Monaro is wrong on wind, RET”
On November 16, BEAM-Mitchell Environment Group and Yes 2 Renewables will present a Energy Futures Forum in Seymour. The event is already sparking interest. The following article appeared in The Seymour Telegraph. BEAM President Richard Telford points to the potential community-owned solar in the Mitchell Shire region. View original article.
Imagine 1000 solar panels on a large rooftop in Mitchell Shire, community owned and run.
BEAM Mitchell Environment Group will be hosting an Energy Futures Forum in Seymour on November 16 where a grand idea like this will be featured.
One of the key speakers will be David Robinson, from the group LIVE — Locals Into Victoria’s Environment.
Mr Robinson is spearheading a push to install up to 1000 solar panels on the roof of the South Melbourne Market, adding to about 150 already in place there.
The sharp decline in the cost in panels, as much as 80 per cent cheaper in recent years, has made community-owned solar economically viable. Continue reading “Solar future for Seymour?”
Published in Renew Economy. View original article.
By Ketan Joshi, Research and Communications Officer at Infigen Energy, interested in scientific, technical and community issues surrounding renewable energy development. The views expressed above are his own, and not those of his employer.
You have three apples on your kitchen counter, nestled amongst various other fruit. Two are red, and one is green. Can we safely conclude that 66% of all apples are red? If you answered yes, then you’ll relish this article in the Australian Financial Review:
“Rural landholders across Australia may face a disappearing pool of buyers and plummeting values of up to 60 per cent because of neighbouring wind farms, a new, independent report has established.”
The article references a mysterious report, which seems impossible to find anywhere online. I asked the author of the article where the report is published, but haven’t had a response. Reports that claim to demonstrate a reduction in property values from wind farms crop up a few times a year, and they invariably feature strong conclusions drawn from extremely weak evidence. Continue reading “Whipping up fear about wind farms: The property value stigma”
Published by The Conversation. View original article.
Coal-fired electricity may have little or no economic future in Australia, a new analysis has found. While the new government seems determined to turn its back on renewable energy, our study shows that even without a carbon price, and even with the assumption that carbon capture and storage will eventually become commercially available, coal may not be able to compete with renewable electricity.
Carbon capture and storage captures CO2 emitted by fossil-fuelled power stations, compressing and transporting it by pipeline, and burying it in repositories deep underground. We modelled a range of fossil fuel scenarios with CCS, and then compared their economics with that of our previously published 100% renewable electricity scenario based on commercially available wind, solar and biomass technologies. Continue reading “Even under a conservative government, coal-fired electricity has no future”
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