100% Renewable Energy - Very Doable

Last night was the Brisbane Launch of the Zero Carbon Australia plan to get to 100% renewable energy in 10 years. I've read about the plan previously - and written about it (here, here and here) but was still very impressed.


And it's not really that expensive. Yes, any number quoted in billions sounds big, but over the ten years it works out to $8 per household per week - or about a dollar per day. I've seen car insurance more expensive than that!

But the benefits are so much greater. We can protect a planet (not just a car) and we protect our economy by building a system that is free from rising fuel costs.

[Download: Full Report | Synopsis ]

David Suzuki's Green Guide

"What can I do?". We want to do the right thing by the environment, but we don't all have the time and knowedge to examine all the options. But David Suzuki did.


His Green Guide offers advice on the decisions and actions in 6 areas of our lives; including the home, our transport, our food choices and the waste we produce. Apart from the positive environmental effects, he also suggests that by making better choices we will
- improve our health
- save money
- feel less helpless
- enhance our quality of life.

Back Of The Pack (Price Tags)

Regular readers know of my amusement at the ostrich-like politicans who pretend as if Australia is the only country acting on climate change. You can spot them by phrases like "no point acting alone" and "wait for the world", and references to "our major trading partners".


Now the Climate Institute have settled this once and for all. They commissioned a report by Vivid Economics to analyse the economies of the UK, USA, China Japan and South Korea. Mathematically combining taxes, incentives, investment etc, they calculated the implicit price on carbon.

Australia's was $1.70. Japan's was double that, the USA 3 times, China 8 times and the UK 17 times (at $29.30). The result is best summed up by the report's key author Dr Cameron Hepburn:

Clearly Australia has some distance to travel in order to catch up to where the rest of the world is here. There's clearly no risk Australia will be leading the world on this issue. If anything we're running the race at the back of the pack.

He also added that "if you want to reduce your emissions, the cheapest way of doing it is a broad carbon price."

Asia Getting Ahead

An Australian company has won a contract to build a solar power station in Thailand. The Thai government has a similar renewable energy target to Australia, but has also introduced tax and investment incentives to make sure it happens.

Also, the Indian government has decided to bring electrification to 2000 villages. The exciting part is that they are 'leapfrogging' past fossil-fuel powered electricity, and going straight to 100% renewables.

And still there are Australian politicians worried about us "going it alone".