New energy is the answer

Adelaide Advertiser
Saturday 17/2/2007 Page: 54

RENEWABLE energy on a large scale has been rejected by critics who claim that it can never supply more than 10 per cent of Australia's power needs.

They insist renewable energy can never supply base load power. They also claim that it is too expensive. But these assumptions are being challenged by new ways of using renewable energy and the new economy of carbon trading.

Because we have some of the hottest and most suitable rock formations accessible in the Earth's crust, we are natural leaders in geothermal energy through companies such as Petratherm at Paralana and Geodynamics near Moomba.

Geothermal energy - drilling 4km-deep shafts and preparing the 200C hot rocks to be massive steam generators - has the potential to supply abundant baseload energy.

Like many new technologies, it takes a certain amount of bravura to be involved. But the rewards, both natural and economic, could be huge for SA.

The more immediate sources of renewable energy are solar and wind. Solar is criticised for being diurnal, but this does have some natural advantages. For example, solar panels can be set to match late afternoon air-conditioner use, when summer power demand peaks.

Wind is also regarded as intermittent. But wind power is available in such abundance that if required, it can be matched to jobs that don't need continuous power - such as pumping water or running a desalination plant.

But the more we think about it, the more subtle the ways have become. For example, solar concentrators in NSW work alongside a coal-burning power station to produce steam to top up its power generation.

There are myriad developments: clever ways of storing energy, passive designs that radically cut power use and a new generation of tide and wave power generators. The point is SA is ideally situated to lead the field in generating renewable energy, and how best to use it. Economic benefits can far outweigh the extra cost, if any, of renewable energy.