A few years ago it was common to hear “Grids Can’t Handle More Than 20% Renewables”. South Australia (among others) would beg to differ.

I was talking to Finn on Sunday — electronically because computer viruses are less of a threat than biological ones these days — and I mentioned South Australia was producing much more electricity from renewables than it was consuming and that the surplus was being exported to Victoria.  There’s nothing unusual about this, especially on weekends, but it prompted Finn to ask… [Read more…]

The coronavirus, or COVID-19 as all the cool epidemiologists are calling it these days, has at time of writing killed over 2,600 people in China and quarantine measures taken to slow its spread have led to the greatest economic downturn that country has seen since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.

But in the wake of all this suffering and disruption, there is a silver lining saving many more lives than the virus is taking.  With power stations consuming half the coal they were at this time last year and road travel way down, lives saved from reduced air pollution should easily exceed those lost to the virus. [Read more…]

Lately, Australia has been having a bit of a problem with bushfires.  You may have noticed.  It’s been on the telly.  Also, there’s a good chance you’ve been spluttering on vast clouds of smoke blowing across the country.  Smoke and fine ash from the fires can travel thousands of kilometers before settling and most of us now have a fine layer of soot on our solar panels, while those nearer to fires may have a thick layer of ash. [Read more…]

Wagga Wagga yesterday. So smokey you can’t even make out a single Wagga.

According to UQ Economics Professor, John Quiggin, Australia is likely to suffer 1,000 or more excess deaths due to smoke pollution from the current disastrous bushfire season. [Read more…]

The conventional response to criticism of solar waste is panels can simply be recycled. But is that the greenest option?

Recycling is a good thing.  Most of the time.  Humans have been reusing material for thousands of years, probably beginning on a large scale when early agriculturalists noticed poo is good for plants.  Ancient Greeks didn’t let pieces of broken pottery go to waste and used them like notepaper, while my father would collect (steal?) rubber bands because a dozen were worth a few cents back in 1950. [Read more…]

I was chilling in the batcave yesterday when I was startled by the jangling of an alarm bell.

“It’s the internet alarm, Batboy!” I cried. [Read more…]

Upgrading or replacing your solar panels? Here’s 7 options for disposing of the old ones.

An unfortunate fact is solar panels eventually die.  While good quality panels can survive over 30 years exposure to the elements, a crap one might fail after only two months because it was damaged when it left the factory.  But whether your panels are the cream of the crop or scum off the top of a pot full of rot, they will die.  It will just happen a lot sooner to the crap ones. [Read more…]

Small Protestors Take To Streets In A Big Way

On Friday I took to the streets as part of the Climate Strike protest.  It was something I had to do.  Something I owed to my children.  Something I owed quite literally, as they had paid me 60 cents to attend. [Read more…]

(Video Credit: Kevin Warner via LinkedIn)

By now, it won’t surprise readers to know Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel’s enthusiasm for hydrogen continues unabated. At the end of July, he took to the stage at the Clean Energy Summit with the message that without it, the world will have trouble replacing fossil fuels in the accelerating timetable we face. [Read more…]

And they are talking real dollars – not Zimbabwe dollars.

Attention, fellow capitalists!  Our god, the Moody’s rating agency, has put out a report on the economic effects of climate change and — in return for a small fee — I will tell you all about it.  Just put $50 in an envelope and mail it to me and then keep reading.  I trust you. [Read more…]