Democrats back renewable energy

Border Watch
Friday 24/11/2006, Page: 19

THE Democrats have backed renewable energy to meet Australia's energy needs, rejecting the Howard Government's focus on the nuclear option.

"Green power" not only has the potential to boost the nation's power supplies, but continues to generate significant economic development in the South East, which is already home to major wind farm infrastructure and other potential projects, such as energy generation from biomass or "hot rock" technology.

"We need flexible energy that meets our peaks and troughs and renewable energy is the best option to do that," Democrat leader and energy spokesperson Senator Lyn Allison said this week, claiming the emphasis on base load power to provide Australia's energy needs was misleading.

"Nuclear power is actually a wasteful way to produce energy because it runs 24/7 and can't be ramped down when demand is low." She said solar power was a great source of energy production because it was at its peak when consumers used the most energy.

"On demand renewable energy sources such as hydro, geothermal and bio-energy can be used with gas to kick in when production from other renewable sources such as solar or wind are low," she said. "Wind power spread across a number of regions can provide reliable energy across the grid, because when the wind's not blowing in one area, it's blowing in another." She said the argument coal and nuclear power were needed to provide base load was an attempt to support the government's fossil fuel energy policy. "Nuclear power is a costly, dangerous and short-term response to climate change, whereas renewable energy is clean, reliable, long-term and sustainable," she said.

However, Industry and Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said the Prime Minister's draft nuclear energy review had confirmed nuclear power could be an important, safe and low cost part of Australia's "low emissions energy future". He said the taskforce's draft report was the most thorough analysis ever undertaken in Australia of the uranium industry and nuclear power.

"The report finds that while nuclear power faces hurdles of regulations and cost compared to conventional coal fired electricity, it is the least-cost low emission technology for baseload electricity in Australia," he said.

"In one scenario considered by the taskforce, nuclear power could eventually cut emissions from electricity generation by as much as 50pc." He said nuclear power could be part of the solution to lower greenhouse gas emissions, along with low emission coal technology and renewables. "We have to face the facts. Electricity generation accounts for one-third of our greenhouse emissions and demand for electricity in Australia is expected to more than double by 2050," he said.

However, Premier Mike Rann has already said he would consider introducing legislation to prevent a nuclear power plant being built in South Australia. "It seems clear to me that John Howard is on a crusade to introduce nuclear power into Australia," he said.

"For a country the size of ours, I think that would be ridiculous and is simply an excuse to stop the development of other and better forms of sustainable energy sources." He said South Australia was leading the way in sustainable energy use with installation of more wind power than the rest of the nation combined and the most solar power of any state.

"It would take at least 10 years to build a nuclear power plant at a huge cost in excess of one and a half billion dollars, and the high-volume, continuous and unalterable flow of energy would only be viable in very high density populations," he said. "And then Australia would have to build a high-level nuclear waste dump, which South Australia has already successfully fought long and hard against."