From a netfriend:

The Good Lord has blessed Australia with an abundance of sunlight and the good Lord has also seen fit to provide Australian researchers with the ability to create excellent and innovative technology relating to solar and other alternative power generation. The technology is also available to provide adequate power generation from the wind and waves.

Here’s an AAP news story that was released yesterday. The story which I have placed below this email quotes a number of experts who indicate that it is economically and environmentally better for this nation to look at alternative energy sources.

Some quotes of note in the article include the following

Leader of The Solar Thermal Group at ANU, Dr Keith Lovegrove, said Australia was a sunny nation that could capture enough solar resource to power the entire country.. Dr Tom Denniss of Oceanlinx Ltd, revealed that there is great possibilities for clean power via wave-power technology. “Between us (referring to other panelists’ technologies), I’m sure it will be possible to power not just this country but the whole world with the amount of renewable energy that is infinite upon our land and our oceans,” Dr Denniss said.As the representative body, Environment Business Australia (EBA) is calling on governments to match private sector innovation with an enabling framework that will help to commercialise and deploy technologies that will deliver energy without GHG emissions..”Making the economy smarter and more efficient, and increasing exports of clean technology to developing countries is good for GDP (gross domestic product), good for Australian jobs, and good for energy security,” EBA chief executive Fiona Wain said.

It is abundantly clear to me that this technology should be explored, by doing so we create an industry this Nation can be proud of, we can generate valuable export dollars, we provide employment and we provide a better solution for the environment.

The Prime Minister has announced that Australia will involve it self in research into nuclear energy. We have the technology available in this country now for alternative sources.

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Clean energy is the way forward: expert

Monday Apr 30 19:21 AEST

Some call it radical while others say it can’t be done, but an expert in energy solutions is calling for zero energy growth target by 2012.

Concerns deepen that rising greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions, rising temperatures and rising sea levels will prompt ‘positive-feedback loops’ that in turn accelerate global warming.

Several smart and efficient solutions were presented by the a panel at the Climate Change Forum in Sydney on Monday that aimed at reducing GHG while adding to the nation’s economy.

Energetics Pty Ltd founder Jon Jutsen is calling for zero energy growth target by 2012, saying it can be achieved.

“Energy waste is rife within the industry and that has to be eliminated to get anywhere near the sort of savings we want, but we also need to make very substantial investments, changes in technology and changes in controls and materials management,” he said.

Europe has just announced it will set a target of improving energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2020.

Mr Jutsen said this the target achievable in Australia as well.

“Not only is it achievable, it’s achievable by measures that entirely have a net positive return for the economy,” he said.

Mr Jutsen said the time to make a change to improving energy efficiency was when businesses were upgrading a factory or constructing a new commercial building.

“That means we got to start now and we have to put in the regulations and information, so people can make their decisions now,” he said.

Another panelist shed light on solar thermal energy and energy storage.

This is a technology for harnessing solar power for practical applications from solar heating to electrical power generation.

Leader of The Solar Thermal Group at ANU, Dr Keith Lovegrove, said Australia was a sunny nation that could capture enough solar resource to power the entire country.

Another speaker, Dr Tom Denniss of Oceanlinx Ltd, revealed that there is great possibilities for clean power via wave-power technology.

“Between us (referring to other panelists’ technologies), I’m sure it will be possible to power not just this country but the whole world with the amount of renewable energy that is infinite upon our land and our oceans,” Dr Denniss said.

As the representative body, Environment Business Australia (EBA) is calling on governments to match private sector innovation with an enabling framework that will help to commercialise and deploy technologies that will deliver energy without GHG emissions.

“Making the economy smarter and more efficient, and increasing exports of clean technology to developing countries is good for GDP (gross domestic product), good for Australian jobs, and good for energy security,” EBA chief executive Fiona Wain said.

 ©AAP 2007