<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/16/coalition-nuclear-plan-will-hit-earth-with-1bn-extra-tonnes-of-co2-before-2050-experts-warn>
"Australia would emit far more climate pollution – more than 1.7bn extra tonnes
of carbon dioxide – between now and 2050 under the Coalition’s nuclear-focused
plan than under Labor’s renewable energy dominated policy, analysts say.
The opposition last week released modelling of its “coal-to-nuclear” plan that
would slow the rollout of renewable energy and batteries and instead rely on
more fossil fuel generation until a nuclear industry could be developed, mostly
after 2040.
Experts have questioned whether that would be possible while maintaining a
reliable grid, given the country’s ageing coal plants have suffered regular
planned and unplanned outages.
Using the modelling report relied on by the Coalition – which was formulated by
the consultancy Frontier Economics – experts have also calculated the emissions
that would result from extending the life of coal plants beyond what is
expected under Labor.
Under a “step change” scenario in transforming the source of electricity, which
is roughly in line with Labor’s plan to have 82% of electricity from renewable
energy by 2030, it is forecast about 90% of the country’s remaining coal-fired
capacity would shut by 2035. The Coalition assumes about a third of existing
coal capacity would shut by that date.
Dylan McConnell, an energy systems expert at the University of New South Wales,
said this would lead to more than 1bn tonnes of CO₂ being pumped into the
atmosphere by 2051 under the Coalition’s preferred path. A separate analysis by
economist Steven Hamilton, published in the
Australian Financial Review,
produced a similar result."
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
