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24
Jun

Power to the people: how communities can help meet our renewable energy goals

The federal election campaign has highlighted the very different visions of Australia’s renewable energy future held by the major parties. The Coalition government supports the present Renewable Energy Target (RET) of 33,000 gigawatt-hours from large-scale projects in 2020, which it negotiated with the Labor opposition in 2015. It’s expected to deliver just over a 23% contribution of renewables to the Australian electricity sector in 2020. There is, most likely, only…

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23
Jun

Solar To See Twice As Much Investment As Fossil Fuels By 2040

The wind and solar industry are set to attract substantially higher investment than fossil fuels over the next several decades, according to a new assessment from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Between now and 2040, an estimated $7.8 trillion in investment will pour into the renewable energy industry, more than double the $3.2 trillion that BNEF expects to be invested into the coal, natural gas and oil industries. More staggering is…

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23
Jun

Solar Power Is Freeing Rural Africa From the “Poverty Trap”

A Conversation With Azuri CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth on Energy Poverty and Building the Knowledge Economy Think about this for a minute: Your pocket probably holds the sum total of human knowledge. (That’s assuming your smartphone is in there. If you’re using it to read this, 10,000 libraries of Alexandria are at your fingertips.) There is practically no limit to what one can achieve with just a smartphone and a Wi-Fi…

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23
Jun

Renewable energy target of 50 per cent would create 28,000 jobs, says Climate Council report

If Australia's renewable energy target was changed to 50 per cent by 2030, 28,000 jobs would be created, according to a report released today by the Climate Council. CEO Amanda McKenzie said the report looked at economic modelling and compared Australia's current trajectory of 34 per cent renewable energy by 2030, to a future where 50 per cent of the nation's energy came from renewable sources. "So nationwide if we…

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23
Jun

Solar panels to reach saturation point by 2030

The introduction of rooftop solar panels will reach saturation point in Queensland and South Australia in the next decade, with solar power predicted to account for 14 per cent of Australia's total energy consumption by 2035, according to a new report by the national energy forecaster. But the Australian Energy Market Operator has warned that by the time solar power really hits its straps most of the solar panels will be outdated…

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23
Jun

Competition clouds prospects for solar power

Elon Musk’s Tesla is looking to buy SolarCity at a moment when sector returns are under pressure. Solar power is a paradox. It is the world’s fastest-growing energy source, but it has been anything but a one-way ticket for investors. Tesla’s proposed takeover of SolarCity, the largest residential solar company in the US, is the latest warning that bright prospects for the industry will not necessarily be reflected in shareholder…

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