The experience of being snowbound is a magical one as I
related in an earlier post. I can be swept along by the romance of the snow as
well as the next person, but the power outage that came with the beautiful
snowfall gave me cause to stop and think about my reliance upon electricity for
everyday life.
As a kid growing up and even into adulthood, a blackout was
always a bit of an adventure. I love storms, so the prospect of losing power
between the lighting’s flash and the thunder’s deafening follow up always got
the adrenaline pumping with excitement. Any excuse to break out the candles and
experience a world so completely removed from the everyday was welcome!
It wasn’t too many summers ago when there were regular news
reports about brown-outs in South Australia. It was hard to fathom how in this
day and age there wasn’t enough power to cope with the needs of an Australian
state, and I couldn’t understand why there seemed a need to ‘borrow’ from
Victoria’s electricity supply. Why didn’t they have enough of their own?
If I fast forward to the present day, it is astounding to
consider how much our media is now consumed by calls for renewable energy
targets, and the banning of coal-fired power stations. I hear these calls, and if
we can make it happen and improve the various technologies that supply us with
greener alternatives, then I’m all for it. Instead, all I hear is get rid of
coal fired power stations by whatever year, with no one apparently brave enough
to voice the truth – the load they currently bear (which of course will only
increase as population grows) cannot currently be replaced by renewables and
provide us with the same product at an affordable price. If you have spent any
time at all as a low income earner, this will concern you. If you haven’t, then
spare a thought for those who have to think twice about their budgets before
flicking on a switch.
I am a big fan of solar, which makes complete sense in a
sunburnt country like Australia, and if I had the money, I’d install it
tomorrow. However, my understanding is that in order for solar power to be
usable when the sun isn’t shining – for example, at night or during overcast weather
– you have to either go back to the coal fired power grid, or have a way to store what you collect from the sun. Batteries are the current storage solution. Solar panels are really just the first step, and that in itself
is a big financial investment. To add battery storage to the cost takes solar out
of the reach of a great chunk of the population.
I realise that coal fired power stations are out of fashion
and climate change is in, and never the twain shall apparently meet. Yet coal
fired power currently provides the only reliable way to serve electricity en
masse to the Australian population. If other countries can produce power
stations based on clean coal technology (as we are often told that other first
world nations such as Japan are doing, if the advertising we see is to be
believed), then why can’t we? (And apparently I'm a 'soft converter', part of the demographic this advertising was aimed at reaching, according to the ABC).
If we close all our coal fired power stations without reliable alternatives up,
running and meeting the need, how can we not end up with a nation of haves and
have-nots when it comes to affording a basic of life such as electricity? The subject
of affordability seems to be regularly overlooked in all of the political spin.
Even before climate change began to dominate our media landscape, there would
often be stories of escalating electricity prices forcing people at the poorer
end of the income scale to make some hard decisions. Have you ever had to weigh
up whether you could afford to turn on your heating when you were cold? Have
you had to buy candles because your electric lights cost too much to run? Have
you had to give up hot showers, or watching the television or being connected
to the Internet because you can’t afford the electricity? For those on low incomes, these questions become all too
real, and before climate change, the implications for those on lower incomes made regular appearances on our television news and current affairs programs. It's called 'energy poverty'. Is it just my imagination that we don't hear so much about it in our current context?
We need massive infrastructure investment to either improve
our coal fired technologies, or move to renewables, or a combination of both. I
haven’t heard of any plans for this from either side of the political fence. If
successive governments haven’t seen the votes in making the necessary spend to
put in pipelines to ease our drought, what hope is there when major
infrastructure is required to achieve affordable power for all?
What I would like to see is a prototype town, run entirely on
renewables. Not a few homes here and there, or a business or two. An entire
town, with all the infrastructure that requires. Think of what you have in your
town, or at least the basics that every town needs - hospital, schools, aged
care, childcare, shopping centre, sport and leisure activities, industrial
area, transport, fuel stations, cafes, water supply and homes for everyone to
live in. These are just the basics. I
would love to see that up and operating and affordable for everyone that lives
there, to demonstrate it is achievable and that we have technology that can provide it on a national scale. This is
what I think the renewables target should look like. If we can’t supply a town,
how can we hope to supply a city - or the nation?
Instead of the cries for closing down what’s currently
working without thought for what comes after, let’s create an affordable,
achievable ‘after’, and work towards it. Invest in it. If we can’t achieve that
for just one town, then all the protesting in the world over coal-fired power
is pointless. If we can’t do it in just one town, or can’t provide it without
only those with the deepest pockets being able to afford to use it, we say
goodbye to the egalitarian Australia we pride ourselves in, where everyone gets
a fair go.
The song for this post is John Lennon's Power to the People. Is power to all the people too much to ask?
Tracey 💡
Lots of links to thank for this post:
Tracey 💡
Lots of links to thank for this post:
Australian Coal advertising campaign:
TV advertisement 'delivering affordable, reliable power'
'Coal lobby hoping to make Australians proud'
Australian Coal
Minerals Council of Australia
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