{"id":236283,"date":"2022-12-26T19:51:46","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T18:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=236283"},"modified":"2022-12-26T19:51:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T18:51:47","slug":"claim-aussie-renewables-could-have-prevented-higher-bills-and-blackouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=236283","title":{"rendered":"Claim: Aussie Renewables Could Have Prevented Higher Bills and Blackouts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Professor Liam Wagner<\/a>, if the Aussie government had encouraged more renewables 15 years ago, we wouldn\u2019t be in this situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Rolling blackouts and higher bills: The energy market is going to give Australians a Christmas present no one wants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Daniel Jeffrey<\/a> \u2013  2 days ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture this: it\u2019s the peak of summer<\/a>. Temperatures across Australia<\/a> have finally warmed up, and people around the country are reaching for their fans and air conditioners \u2013 only to be stymied by the threat of rolling blackouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might seem unlikely, but according to one energy<\/a> and environmental economics expert, it\u2019s a genuine threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re more than likely going to have a repeat of June,\u201d Liam Wagner, associate professor at the Centre for Food and Resources at Adelaide Univesity, told 9news.com.au.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA majority of (coal-fired generators) are far too old to be operating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut they are continuing to operate because we haven\u2019t had an energy policy in Australia that\u2019s conducive to replacing their capacity with something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou would see a significant drop in price on the wholesale market (by) injecting more renewables into the grid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not happening quickly enough. It should have happened 15 years ago. I\u2019ve been shouting at the top of my lungs, I\u2019ve been blue in the face for the last 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more:\u00a0https:\/\/amp.9news.com.au\/article\/5cfb151e-2b4c-4e50-b324-bb585d37ad92<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Liam Wagner believes renewables are cheaper than coal.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If renewables are so cheap, why is government policy even needed to encourage investment in renewables? Why don\u2019t people flock to building renewables of their own free will, to replace Australia\u2019s ailing coal plants, and address the shortfall of electricity which I agree is likely during this Southern Hemisphere Summer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genuine money driven energy revolutions don\u2019t require significant government policy support \u2013 the new energy source rapidly displaces the old energy source, as investors flock to the new opportunity to make money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2026 When a clean-burning kerosene lamp invented by Michael Dietz appeared on the market in 1857, its effect on the whaling industry was immediate. Kerosene, known in those days at \u201cCoal Oil\u201d, was easy to produce, cheap, smelled better than animal-based fuels when burned, and did not spoil on the shelf as whale oil did. <\/em>The public abandoned whale oil lamps almost overnight.<\/strong> By 1860, at least 30 kerosene plants were in production in the United States, and whale oil was ultimately driven off the market. When sperm oil dropped to 40 cents a gallon in 1895, due to lack of demand, refined petroleum, which was very much in demand, sold for less than 7 cents a gallon. \u2026<\/em>Read more: San Joaquin Valley Geology<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This rapid replacement of traditional energy sources is simply not happening with the green revolution, because green energy is too expensive. Regulatory hostility is destroying the old energy, coal and gas \u2013 but new energy production is not being built at sufficient scale to replace the destroyed fossil fuel plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other option to resolve blackouts would be to relax political pressure on coal plant operators, to restore enough market confidence to repair existing plants, and build new coal plants. Plenty of coal plant construction is happening around the world, because burning coal is cheap, even when it has to be imported from Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global coal consumption hit a historic record of eight billion tons this year<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But regulatory hostility in Australia is preventing this obvious resolution to our energy shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fixing this deadlock will require Aussie voters to wake up and elect different politicians. So long as Australian people keep electing politicians who support Net Zero, so long as the Australian people continue to swallow the mistruth that renewables are cheap, and will eventually bring down prices, the risk of blackouts and skyrocketing energy prices will continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Professor Liam Wagner, if the Aussie government had encouraged more renewables 15 years ago, we wouldn’t be in this\u00a0situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":236293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236283","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/00image-835-719x1024-1.webp?fit=719%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-Zt1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":310984,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=310984","url_meta":{"origin":236283,"position":0},"title":"Aussie Renewable Investment Slumped 80% in 2023","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/03\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Rooftop solar \/ battery installations were the exception. Perhaps Aussie households are preparing for the coming grid failure?","rel":"","context":"In \"Australia\"","block_context":{"text":"Australia","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0Renewable-energy-generates-enough-power-to-run-70-of-Australian-homes.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0Renewable-energy-generates-enough-power-to-run-70-of-Australian-homes.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0Renewable-energy-generates-enough-power-to-run-70-of-Australian-homes.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0Renewable-energy-generates-enough-power-to-run-70-of-Australian-homes.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0Renewable-energy-generates-enough-power-to-run-70-of-Australian-homes.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":159649,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=159649","url_meta":{"origin":236283,"position":1},"title":"Renewable Energy Fury at the New Aussie Government Physical Retailer Reliability Obligation","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/08\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Guest essay by Eric Worrall Subsidies for everyone \u2013 the Aussie Federal Government is pushing to make electricity retailers responsible for continuity of supply, which will likely force them to pay for fossil fuel generators to maintain reserve capacity to cover gaps in the renewable energy supply. States push back\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/0climate-cash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/0climate-cash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/0climate-cash.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":384075,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=384075","url_meta":{"origin":236283,"position":2},"title":"Claim: Australia\u2019s Renewable Energy Future Requires Realignment With China","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cAustralia must ditch its distrust and collaborate\u201d \u2013 and not purchase any US nuclear submarines.","rel":"","context":"In \"Australia\"","block_context":{"text":"Australia","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Juni-2025-19_28_15.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Juni-2025-19_28_15.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Juni-2025-19_28_15.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-21.-Juni-2025-19_28_15.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":173194,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=173194","url_meta":{"origin":236283,"position":3},"title":"Aussie ABC: \u201cA renewable energy revolution is powering Australia\u2019s $720bn mining and resources industry\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/11\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Except when it isn\u2019t: \u201cfossil fuels \u2014 particularly gas \u2014 would still be needed at many remote resources projects for some time yet.\u201d A renewable energy revolution is powering Australia\u2019s $720bn mining and resources industryABC Rural\u00a0\/\u00a0By\u00a0Daniel Mercer\u00a0and\u00a0Tom EdwardsOn a remote mine site in the desert of central Western Australia, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/0climate-cash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":388982,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=388982","url_meta":{"origin":236283,"position":4},"title":"\u201cChina is Building the [Renewable] Future \u2026 building coal-fired power stations, \u2026 because it has to \u2026\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/07\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Building communist coal power stations is apparently OK and necessary, but it is very wrong when President Trump does it.","rel":"","context":"In \"AI (artificial intelligence)\"","block_context":{"text":"AI (artificial intelligence)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ai-artificial-intelligence-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQO71MWX6AWFmVdXXPeTLgqfTwg0NFiY7LN-IrhI68oba61X68N5Pc3MJsknOQU_6gkc4vKIgDNJetXwWuM3qclRwoo4AX5Qsm6ug5aYHXVaWV3VjjH3Ry0W0pKafmF6LQU7rcEfKNLBHDbA2faXWDoHGEUL-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQO71MWX6AWFmVdXXPeTLgqfTwg0NFiY7LN-IrhI68oba61X68N5Pc3MJsknOQU_6gkc4vKIgDNJetXwWuM3qclRwoo4AX5Qsm6ug5aYHXVaWV3VjjH3Ry0W0pKafmF6LQU7rcEfKNLBHDbA2faXWDoHGEUL-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQO71MWX6AWFmVdXXPeTLgqfTwg0NFiY7LN-IrhI68oba61X68N5Pc3MJsknOQU_6gkc4vKIgDNJetXwWuM3qclRwoo4AX5Qsm6ug5aYHXVaWV3VjjH3Ry0W0pKafmF6LQU7rcEfKNLBHDbA2faXWDoHGEUL-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQO71MWX6AWFmVdXXPeTLgqfTwg0NFiY7LN-IrhI68oba61X68N5Pc3MJsknOQU_6gkc4vKIgDNJetXwWuM3qclRwoo4AX5Qsm6ug5aYHXVaWV3VjjH3Ry0W0pKafmF6LQU7rcEfKNLBHDbA2faXWDoHGEUL-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0AQO71MWX6AWFmVdXXPeTLgqfTwg0NFiY7LN-IrhI68oba61X68N5Pc3MJsknOQU_6gkc4vKIgDNJetXwWuM3qclRwoo4AX5Qsm6ug5aYHXVaWV3VjjH3Ry0W0pKafmF6LQU7rcEfKNLBHDbA2faXWDoHGEUL-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":177690,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=177690","url_meta":{"origin":236283,"position":5},"title":"Aussie Eco-Warrior Fury over Wind Farm Wilderness Devastation","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/12\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Guest essay by Eric Worrall Green supporters of renewable energy are horrified at the devastation construction has wrought on pristine Cairns wilderness. The wind farms angering renewable energy fansIn the ranges behind Cairns, bushland is being cleared in the name of climate action. It\u2019s pitting\u00a0eco warriors\u00a0against green energy projects.Investigation by\u00a0Mayeta\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/0wind-turbine-devastation.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/0wind-turbine-devastation.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/0wind-turbine-devastation.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/0wind-turbine-devastation.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=236283"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236294,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236283\/revisions\/236294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/236293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=236283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=236283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=236283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}