<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/csiro-says-australia-can-and-must-build-its-own-silicon-and-solar-cell-supply-chain/>
"A major new report from the CSIRO has mapped out how Australia can – and must
– develop a domestic silicon and solar cell supply chain, from mining through
to manufacturing, to support and de-risk its rapid shift to renewables.
The report, authored by PwC for the national science agency, finds that despite
Australia’s world-leading role in solar research and development, and its world
leading uptake of rooftop PV, its reliance on overseas supply chains remains a
major weak spot.
That’s because, as federal energy minister Chris Bowen continues to remind us,
Australia has a huge task ahead of it to reach its renewable energy target of
82 per cent renewables in the electricity grid by 2030 – in just 80-odd months.
On the solar side of this equation, alone, Bowen says that will require the
installation of some 22,000, 500W solar panels every day for the next eight
years, or 60 million by 2030.
Simply getting our hands on this amount of stock will be a tall order. And if
we don’t – quite apart from missing our renewable energy and climate targets –
Australia is in danger of missing out on major economic and social benefits.
“Australia already has the highest per capita deployment of rooftop solar in
the world, and there are several mega-projects in the solar development
pipeline,” says CSIRO senior principal research scientist Chris Vernon.
“But one of the greatest risks to Australia’s solar ambitions and energy future
is our reliance on overseas supply chains for solar cell technology.”
The report says production of silicon in Australia is the first step to
breaking this dependence on overseas markets, and creating a buffer against the
sort of supply chain disruption seen during the Covid pandemic."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
