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The images below show some of the clean energy developments that have taken place, and continue to take place, in South Australia.
The future of energy is in renewables.
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Industrial solar PV power; clean solar energy
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| On a winery in the Clare Valley, 2016/01/17
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A utility-scale wind farm; clean wind energy
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| Wattle Point Wind Farm, 2007/08/25
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Solar thermal power; clean solar thermal energy
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| Sundrop Farms, Port Augusta, 2016/09/05
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Domestic solar PV; clean solar energy
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Armagh, 2014/02/18
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Utility-scale solar PV; Bungala Solar Farm, clean solar PV, under construction
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Port Augusta, 2018/05/10
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South Australia has become a
leader in the development of renewable energy in Australia with more wind and solar developments than any other Australian state.
Having an environmentally damaging and dangerous technology such as deep-sea oil exploration happening in South Australian waters is unnecessary and a betrayal, even a crime.
As illustrated by the images on the right, South Australia's (and
Australia's) energy futures could be, should be, and increasingly will be, in renewable energy.
The growth industries are:
- Utility scale solar PV;
- Industrial rooftop solar PV;
- Domestic rooftop solar PV;
- Wind power.
In the near future expect to see growth in:
- Battery energy storage;
- Pumped hydro energy storage;
- Production of clean hydrogen and ammonia from renewably generated electricity;
- Solar thermal energy generation and storage.
Australia's, and the world's, energy futures are with renewably generated electricity, not with fossil fuels.
While this is of great importance to my state, South Australia, it is also important to Western Australia, and indeed modelling has suggested that a bad oil spill could even pollute the coast of Victoria.
There are several risks and harms that are connected with deep-sea oil exploration, drilling and extraction:
- Harm caused by seismic blasting;
- Possible pollution caused by oil leaks;
- Release of greenhouse gasses when the oil is burned;
- Air pollution resulting from the burning of oil.
It would be a serious backward step, ethically and environmentally, for oil exploration and drilling to take place in South Australia; it has no part in
South Australia's energy future if we are to keep it clean.
Seismic blasting
Sarah Gibbens wrote a piece for the
National Geographic 2018/11/30 titled "How whales and dolphins may be harmed by new seismic airgun approval".
While it dealt with US President Trump's approval for seismic blasting in the North Atlantic it is also applicable to the Great Australian Bight.
The article states that blasts would not be allowed when whales were within 90 km of the oil exploration ships.
Will similar protection be available for the whales in the GAB?
Who will track all the whales?
Can everyone and everything involved by trusted?
Quoting from the National Geographic article:
"A study published last summer found the smallest members of the oceanic food chain can be killed by seismic air blasts. Zooplankton—tiny creatures like baby jellyfish, crustaceans, and larvae—were found to have declined by 64 percent within 4,000 feet [1,200 m] of the blast."
Rick Steiner wrote a piece for the
Guardian 2018/11/24.
Mr Steiner wrote of a credible worst case discharge being twice the size of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the coast of the USA in 2010.
The damage that can be, and has been, caused by oil spills is well covered on the Internet in articles such as the one by Mr Steiner.
There is not much point in me going into detail on this page.
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