Australia, the Land Down Under, is a very interesting and exciting place for renewable energy. The high levels of irradiance it receives makes it a great place for solar power to flourish. Australia has also seen its fair share of natural disasters caused at least in part by a warming planet. A transition to clean energy can help fight against climate change and it makes sense financially. As Australia continues on its journey to a clean energy economy, the rest of the world can observe what works and what causes challenges.
Image: Weather Service International
This picture shows the temperature (in Fahrenheit) departure from normal during this recent cold snap.
Late Sunday night, extraordinarily cold temperatures made their way into Texas. As the temperature dropped, the people of Texas switched on the heat, with much of it being electric, in an effort to stay warm. Unfortunately, people weren't the only ones to feel the cold grip of mother nature. Extremely low temperatures, ice, and snow caused power plants to go offline. As the demand for power rapidly shot up, supply drastically fell.
The Drax Power Station near Selby, North Yorkshire, is the single largest CO2 emitter in the U.K. Its owner plans to replace the coal-fired units with gas power and a 200 MW battery.
The road to renewable energy is paved with impediments of techno-financial evolution and policy paralysis. Renewables not only face technical challenges, they have big Goliaths betting against them, so what does the future hold for David?
