Australia 100 pc renewable in 10 years – it’s possible

Uterne solar in Alice Springs. Australia has some of the best solar resources in the world

Australia has the potential to create and use 100 per cent renewable energy within ten years, according to a report from the Melbbourne Energy Research Institute.
The Insitute’s ‘Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan’ (ZCA) sets out a blueprint to create self-sufficient energy supplies for the country with an investment of only $8 per household per week.
The plan suggests that the ten year time frame is achievable with the current technologies available. Our reliance on fossil fuels for baseload power would be replaced by solar thermal with molten salt storage.
Australia’s solar resources are amongst the best in the world, and under the ZCA plan, solar thermal power would supply 60 per cent of Australia’s electricity needs.
Also under the plan, wind farms would supply 40 per cent of the nation’s electricity. Currently, Denmark has a goal to achieve 50 per cent of their electricity from wind by 2025, and Spain’s target is to achieve 25 per cent wind energy by 2020. China’s wind industry has been growing by 100 per cent per year for the last four years.
The ZCA plan details the resource and labour requirements required for the transition, and demonstrates changes would create four times more permanent jobs than the domestic fossil fuel sector currently provides.
Australia is one of the largest exporters of coal in the world