Solutions – effective and ineffective

Schellnhuber, Potsdam Institute, 2009

Quit Coal! Adaptation vs. prevention

“Coal fired power stations are factories of death” James Hansen 2008

David Spratt – climate policy of major parties “delusional”

Political party positions Liberals: “Climate change is crap” – Tony Abbott (2009) Labor: 5% carbon cut by 2020 – 75% to 95% too little to prevent 2 degrees warming (Brook, Meinshausen) Greens: 25-40% cut by 2020 – at best, 40% too little. Last SA election, “Solar on every roof” slogan – woefully inadequate.

The carbon tax A carbon price, it is claimed, will make things produced using a lot of CO2 more expensive. This would over time encourage the production of goods and services using clean renewable energy, like wind or solar power.

I tonne produced using coal-fired power station electricity: $ If the carbon price was $40 per tonne, and it took 16 tonnes of CO2 to produce 1 tonne of aluminium, then: I tonne produced using wind or solar- produced electricity: $0.00 …which one would you buy?

.. But what sort of price would we need?

Dr Mark Diesendorf says at least $40.00 per tonne

– otherwise we will just encourage GAS.

The great Artesian basin – the water is a million years old

Gas is not much better than coal in terms of CO2, after leaks are taken into account…

… so after encouraging an entire new industry, we will have to do the whole thing over again in order to move to truly renewable energies…

Beyond Zero Emissions say $70.00 per tonne, in order to stimulate the wind industry, and not gas.

Labor will almost certainly announce a price of $20.00 per tonne of carbon. Greg Combet said on radio news 6/6/11 that "the carbon price will deliver substantial amounts of gas and some renewable energy."

They have already announced that the money collected will go to compensate the low income households, and to businesses.

None will go towards encouraging renewable energies….

… so what is the real solution?

We need massive roll-out of renewable energy infrastructure – like Spain

Beyond Zero Emissions.org 100% renewables by 2020 – movement demand

Mark Jacobson: Scientific American November 09: Shifting the world to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2030 – here are the numbers * Supplies of wind and solar energy on accessible land dwarf the energy consumed by people around the globe. * The authors’ plan calls for 3.8 million large wind turbines, 90,000 solar plants, and numerous geothermal, tidal and rooftop photovoltaic installations worldwide. * The cost of generating and transmitting power would be less than the projected cost per kilowatt- hour for fossil-fuel and nuclear power. * Shortages of a few speciality materials, along with lack of political will, loom as the greatest obstacles.

Baseload Solar Thermal Power 24 hour Dispatchable power Andosol 1,2 and Extrasol 3 Spain, operating now, 7.5 hours energy storage Torresol Gemesolar Spain, on line 2010,16 hours energy storagee

Central receiver tower technology