We want reliable, cheap electricity now. For Australia, nuclear power stations are the single most expensive option, and they will not be available for decades — end of argument. A connected grid and a mix of solar, wind, hydro and battery storage can meet all of Australia’s electricity needs, and indeed, a private venture is already pursuing an export option.
The world needs to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, and Sam has only mentioned the 2050 target. He has omitted the essential milestone targets set for 2030 and beyond because adopting a nuclear strategy would mean many years of additional pollution being pumped into our atmosphere from declining and increasingly unreliable coal-fired power stations. This pollution contributes not only to global warming but also to the death and suffering of many of our citizens each year from respiratory diseases.
“Base load power” is not a requirement of our electricity distribution network, it is relevant only to the operation of coal and nuclear power stations because they cannot be switched off or respond quickly to changes in demand. With batteries and the mix of renewable, zero to peak demand is attainable in seconds.
The downside of renewables is that it occupies some land, a resource that Australia has a lot of. What Sam and his Coalition partners do not mention is that coal and nuclear power generation require water, lots of it (gigalitres), a resource that is limiting in Australia and a resource that rural communities can harness to generate wealth.
Unlike nuclear, all the components of the renewable energy sector are recyclable and as the scale of this demand increases, there are opportunities for regional businesses to develop or expand. There are also many regional jobs in the construction, operation and maintenance of renewable energy projects.
The Coalition nuclear plan to use existing poles and wires from decommissioned coal-fired power plants also does not stack up. The owners of those sites are already implementing plans for renewable energy generation that would absorb half of the capacity of those transmission lines. We can expect that more renewable energy projects will emerge in the next decade to utilise that infrastructure unless the Coalition is successful in its disruptive tactics for a clean and prosperous future.
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