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The renewable energy debate we had to have

July 14, 2014 2014-07-14T11:39:38 by 3 Comments
solar debate

Tony Abbott and Clive Palmer. Mass Debaters?

For me, the words that best summed up a remarkable week for renewable energy came from SolarQuotes Facebook reader Anthony Fogarty. A veteran of the solar industry, Anthony made the point that the current debate raging in the Australian Senate has seen clean energy being discussed in the mainstream like never before. The unexpected (if flaky) support for green energy by unlikely characters in the Palmer United Party and Ricky Muir — the motoring enthusiast turned senator — has seen the focus put squarely on our clean energy future. Are we now seeing the renewable energy debate we had to have? More importantly, where to from here? [Continue reading…]

Australia’s future vs Abbott lies on renewable energy

July 7, 2014 2014-07-07T10:05:54 by 14 Comments
abbott

Spreading blatant mistruths.

There are three schools of thought to explain the Abbott lies on renewable energy. One is that our PM is under the influence of the fossil fuel energy companies and is happy to repeat their propaganda; two is that is he has been ill-advised by dodgy minders and three (to put it politely) he may have temporarily taken leave of his senses.

How else can you explain Mr Abbott’s statement this week that the Renewable Energy Target was responsible for energy price rises? The Prime Minister said the RET was making Australia “ the unaffordable energy capital of the world” and was somehow “…very significantly driving up power prices”.

What? [Continue reading…]

Are those cheap solar panels grey imports?

July 3, 2014 2014-07-03T17:22:10 by 3 Comments
solar panels in a box

Recently, a number of people have asked me about parallel or ‘grey’ imports of solar panels. Parallel imports are defined as products (in our case, solar panels) that are imported unofficially by someone other than the manufacturer or their official Australian distributors. Interestingly, in this day and age with so much online and internet based […]

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Clive Palmer: renewable energy hero? Or a publicity-seeking miner/politician?

June 30, 2014 2014-06-30T12:44:36 by 16 Comments
clive palmers head on a green heroes body

So Big Clive Palmer is suddenly a renewable energy hero? And wants to be revered as the saviour of the clean energy sector? According to some press coverage, the Queensland fossil fuel mining superstar has single handedly changed the climate change debate in our country. Not for me. Let’s be very careful before we anoint […]

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Fossil Fuel Subsidies are a Joke

June 24, 2014 2014-06-24T20:28:27 by 3 Comments

I’m getting a lot of comments on Facebook at the moment along the lines of: “Solar needs to stand on its own two feet without subsidies of any kind”. What these commenters (and our government) seem to miss is that fossil fuels in Australia – and around the world – are massively more subsidised than […]

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A common sense way to combine photovoltaics and biofuel crops

June 23, 2014 2014-06-23T14:11:56 by 2 Comments

Every now and then we like to take a look at what’s happening in solar energy research, weigh the pros and cons and see how it will play out in our wide, brown land. This week we’ve got a beauty. We’ll look at a novel way to combine (the word is co-locate) two forms of […]

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How the IPA poisons renewable energy policy in Australia

June 16, 2014 2014-06-16T16:10:01 by 8 Comments
The hardcore right-wing IPA hates renewables.

Ever wondered why our government is so quick to destroy clean energy initiatives? Why the great work of agencies such as ARENA is ignored? How the green sector rarely gets a look in when it comes to energy policy? One clue as to the source of this ‘slash-and-burn’ mentality may lie in the influence of a […]

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Tindo Solar’s Support For An Anti-Dumping Investigation Is Bad For The Australian Solar Industry And The Environment

June 11, 2014 2014-06-12T21:06:04 by 7 Comments
boxing kangaroo

  Today I’d like to welcome a new contributor to the SolarQuotes blog – Ronald Brakels. Ronald is a electrical engineer who has a lot of passion for the Australian renewable energy industry, and is not afraid to put his opinion forth. I’m not always going agree with every opinion Ronald holds – but I always enjoy how he […]

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Major CSIRO solar breakthrough underlines ARENA’s worth

June 10, 2014 2014-06-10T13:46:24 by 12 Comments
CSIRO solar tower with mirror array.

Further evidence emerged this week from the CSIRO of the value of the embattled Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to the nation. ARENA, you may well recall, is at the centre of the current government’s ideological campaign against renewable energy with its very existence now in doubt through savage proposed budget cuts. The breakthrough was the successful […]

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Liberal moderates in NSW stand up over RET review

June 2, 2014 2014-06-02T18:23:03 by 15 Comments
nsw blues badge

Will clean energy be the blade that slices apart the ruling Coalition party? Will the fossil-fuel-stacked renewable energy target review panel fall on its dark arts? This week saw the potential for a factional clash of almighty proportions with the NSW government announcing their full support for the renewable energy target (RET) of 20 percent […]

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