I have recently been introduced to the phrase “brownout” – basically what it is is a blackout as a result of a lack of water. Ok, so coal is used is to heat the water, which turns the turbines, which creates electricity. But when there is no water… There is no electricity. The issue was first sparked in summer a few months back, where for a period of about a week (during a heatwave) Sydney kept having these “brownouts” because the system couldn’t handle everyone turning on their air conditioners. The Courier Mail reported yesterday that
“THE drought could soon start interrupting Queensland’s power supply, the Federal Government warned yesterday.
Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull said all coal-fired power stations risked running low on water and brownouts were possible.
“Coal-fired power stations use water for cooling,” he said.
“If you get a shortage of water, the power station has to curtail operations.” ” (The Courier Mail: Drought could put homes in the dark, 21 May 2007)
New South Wales it seems will also experience brownouts if there is no significant relief from the drought soon. Australian Associated Press sourced an interview with Greens senator Bob Brown, who said
“Greens leader Bob Brown said 30 per cent of the eastern seaboard’s energy need could be met with better efficiencies and renewable energies that don’t require water.
“What we are seeing here is that the very core of the climate change problem, burning coal, is now being hit itself by climate change,” Senator Brown said.
“It requires huge amounts of water, and yet both Labor and Liberal want to export more coal, and burn more coal in this country.”" (Australian Associated Press: NSW: Water shortages threaten power supply, 19 May 2007)
This got me thinking about about geothermal production of electricity again – hot rocks.
Hot rocks have been posed as the replacement for coal, as they are naturally heated, don’t consume many resources, and don’t pollute. But would they still be viable in a situation of drought? The Advertiser in South Australia seems to think so, but South Australia get more rain than here on the east coast. The Advertiser reported that gas and electric company Beach Petroleum “spent $10 million for a share of the Paralana hot rocks project north of the state with Petratherm.” (The Advertiser: Forward-thinking Beach in the market for hot rocks, 18 May 2007).
Then there’s the possibility of solar electricity, which, like wind energy, doesn’t rely on a water supply to generate power.
by Cathy Wilcox (The Sydney Morning Herald)
The Daily Telegraph however criticised solar power, saying it was still too expensive for most households to install.
“ENVIRONMENT Minister Malcolm Turnbull doesn’t need a state-wide survey showing him solar energy is unpopular — he already knows.
The Saturday Daily Telegraph can reveal the reason the Federal Government didn’t make its $150 million solar rebate scheme any bigger was because there was not enough demand for solar panels.
“If demand exceeds our expectations then obviously we’ll review [the scheme],” he said. “To date shortage of money has not been an issue. [Solar panels are] still pretty expensive.”
It costs the average Sydney-sider between $14,000 and $40,000 to install a solar system and link it to the electricity grid.” (The Daily Telegraph: Solar still too costly, 12 May 2007)
South Australia continues to be the leader in green energy, holding the largest number of wind energy farms, and investing the most in geothermal energy. Furthermore, According to The Advertiser, South Australia has the cheapest solar energy nation wide.
“INSTALLING solar panels has never been cheaper in Adelaide, with the Federal Government’s expanded solar rebate scheme cutting the cost to almost a third.
Solar energy stores have urged homeowners to “get in before they miss out”.
They have been inundated with inquiries since this week’s announcement that the rebate scheme would be doubled to $8000.
For a $13,000 system, to supply up to 2kW of power, the rebate will cut the out-of-pocket cost to $5000. The old rebate was $4000.” (The Advertiser: Rebate causes a solar stampede, 11 May 2007)
I found it amazing how the price of the solar panels affected media coverage so significantly. I guess it shows the value of currency, because of the global warming and brownout issue. The drought, global warming and electricity consumption are also issues of impact – quetions like “How will global warming affect me?” are raised pretty often. There is an aspect of hype surrounding it however. I’ll end this entry with a quick snippet from an article in The Sydney Morning Herald- I thought it demonstrated really clearly a lot of people’s attitude to the whole issue.
“It is 6pm, already dark, on a winter night. You arrive home from work and unlock the front door. You turn on the light switch. Nothing happens. The house remains in darkness. No switches are working. The fridge is off. So is the TV and the computer. You go into the street and see other homes are in darkness.
You curse yourself for not having bought candles. You curse the government that is supposed to maintain the basics of life. In an instant, everything that has been taken for granted is open to doubt.” (The Sydney Morning Herald: Powerless against mother nature, 21 May 2007)
Very dramatic.
