Beyond Zero Emissions has officially launched its "Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan".

The is a detailed and costed blueprint for transitioning our stationary energy sector to 100% renewable energy in ten years. The technologies utilised in this plan, which are predominantly concentrated solar thermal with molten salt storage, are commercially available now.

To download the full 200-page Plan click here (8.4MB). For a 16-page synopsis of the Plan click here (2.2MB). Hard copies can be purchased from the Melbourne Energy Institute.

Several eminent scientists, including Professor Robin Batterham, President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and formerly Chief Scientist of Australia, have attested to the technical feasibility of the plan.

Professor Batterham went on to say "With our natural advantage Australia can and should be positioning itself as a global renewable super power for future prosperity. This report will help shift the climate debate to focus on energy; security; affordability; export and of course opportunity. Beyond Zero Emissions offers a new and invigorating message that is much needed”
 

Changes to renewable energy target legislation designed to provide greater investment certainty for large projects has been put before the Senate.

The legislation has two parts. The first supports households using solar panels and solar hot water systems. Separate targets, designed to encourage the development of wind farms, commercial solar and geothermal projects will deliver the majority of the target of 20% renewable energy by 2020. The amendments include temporarily increasing the target in 2012 and 2013 and adjusting it in later years, regulatory powers to adjust credits for solar panels and reviewing the price of renewable energy certificates.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said that “The amendments will ensure the long-term, sustainable growth of both the small-scale and large-scale renewable energy sector and will support new jobs and investment.

UPDATE:

The new legislation has been passed by the Senate and will take effect on 1 January 2011.

Despite Australia’s enormous potential for renewable energy (see "100% Renewable Energy by 2020"), six months after Australia’s introduction of  legislation supposed to encourage the development of renewable energy, not a single major wind or solar project has commenced.

The failure of the scheme has been blamed on poor design of the legislation which promotes domestic solar hot water systems and rooftop solar panels at the expense of large projects.

Clean Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said ”What we have is the retail market stymieing the commercial market. It needs to be addressed quickly or we have no large-scale clean generation capacity in three years.”

Projects that have stalled since the scheme was passed include AGL Energy’s 174-turbine wind farm planned for Macarthur in western Victoria

Wind turbine maker Keppel Prince Engineering said it had to decide this week whether to sack up to 150 workers at its plant at Portland in Victoria’s south-west. Managing Director, Steve Garner, said that "We’re finishing off our last project and we don’t have another wind farm to continue on with.”

Beyond Zero Emissions has issued a summary of a report which shows how Australia could use solar and wind power technologies, which are available now, to produce 100 percent of its electricity within 10 years. The full report will be released in coming months.

Australia now gets nearly 80 percent of its electricity from coal with only 1 percent coming from wind power and less than half of 1 percent from solar energy.

The report says that 40 percent of Australia’s electricity could come from wind turbines. Concentrating solar power plants, with molten salt energy storage, could provide 60 percent of total electricity.

Worldwide, some thirty utility-scale concentrating solar power plants are under construction. None of the concentrating solar power plants are in Australia, although Australia has some of the world’s best potential sites. Solar researchers from Melbourne University and Australian National University have already identified 12 sites with a capacity of 3,500 megawatts each.

The report claims that suffiecient concentrating solar power plants could be installed in just four years, from 2011 to 2015, to provide 20 percent of the Australia’s electricity.

The report says that biomass co-firing would be needed to back up solar plants in winter and that new transmission lines between the solar- and wind-intensive areas and population centres would be needed. However, all coal and gas fired power plants could be eliminated and nuclear power would no be needed.

The cost of quitting carbon entirely is estimated at around $36 billion per year – about 3.5 percent of Australia’s annual GDP.

Australia has joined the International Renewable Energy Agency – an organisation that aims to speed up the global renewable industry.

More than 80 other countries are already members of the organisation which was established in January this year.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that participating in the agency "underlines Australia’s commitment to tackling climate change by taking a global leadership role in reducing carbon pollution and supporting innovation".