Where are the visionary leaders that can make Australia (and the world) 90% renewable?

October 9, 2013 2013-10-09T21:20:08 by 39 Comments
JFK at rice uni

JFK talking about the space effort at Rice University in 1962 Pic: jfklibrary.org

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American to the moon and back before the end of the decade. No one had any idea if it was even possible. The technology needed had yet to be invented. Now that’s what I call visionary leadership.

Next month will be the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination.  What a stark contrast JFK is to the current crop of pollies in Australia (and most of the world for that matter).

If we are to have any hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change in our children’s lifetimes we desperately need a politician or two with JFK’s vision to take charge. [Read more…]

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Will the Coalition’s $500 Solar Rebate do more harm than good?

September 23, 2013 2017-10-25T10:11:46 by 3 Comments
Greg Hunt's new solar rebate scheme may really stuff up the solar industry...

Greg Hunt’s new solar rebate scheme may really stuff up the solar industry…

Nothing more we like at SQHQ that a good old fashioned brouhaha. After all a bit of air clearing is needed after the uncertainty (and dare I say disappointment) of the way solar policy was gleefully trashed following the election. This of course included the change in government policy on solar rebates, war declared on renewable energy agencies and indeed anything that looked like it could be called progressive energy policy from the previous government. As such our very own Finn Peacock, took the baseball bat to the new solar rebate policy announced by Greg “The Smiling Assassin” Hunt (By the way does anyone else think that Mr Hunt and David Potter from ABC’s “Rake” look worryingly familiar?) [Read more…]

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Any positives for solar power under the new Coalition government?

September 9, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:07 by 9 Comments
How will solar fare under Abbott and the Coalition?

How will solar fare under Abbott and the Coalition?

Here at SQHQ — as with all of those supporting alternative energy — we’re surveying the damage after the Coalition’s expected yet stunning landslide win on Saturday night. Both the Liberals and Nationals took a slash and burn approach to solar power in Australia and the whole renewable energy sector during the campaign. This approach included policy announcements such as the gutting of ARENA and the end of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and “Sloppy” Joe and his finance mates have given no inkling of changing their minds on this all important issue. See last week’s article for more details. [Read more…]

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Taking the politics out of solar power policy

September 2, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:17 by 4 Comments
Renewable energy is too important to be trusted to pollies.

Renewable energy is too important to be trusted to pollies.

At the end of a depressing week for renewables, talk over the SQHQ water cooler has been centred along the lines of: is it time to keep pollies out of solar power policy?

First we had the shrill and frankly rather desperate tactic of Kevin “The Queensland Kid” Rudd bucketing on the carbon tax introduced by his predecessor Julia “Who?” Gillard. The Kid seemed to aiming to appease the fossil fuel lobby (or was it Murdoch?) when he said his previous government had “got it wrong” on the carbon tax. [Read more…]

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Community solar lights up the Blue Mountains

August 20, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:45 by 2 Comments
The beautiful blue mountains. Photo flickr/10uta02

The beautiful blue mountains. Photo flickr/10uta02

Shameless plug to start this week’s column readers. August has seen community solar take off in a big way in my region of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. This may be due to a combination of the upcoming election and a very strong grassroots realisation of the need for solar energy at a community level.

This remote SQHQ regional outpost has been a flurry of community solar activity as more residents become aware of the need to mitigate high electricity prices, as well as help preserve the beautiful Blue Mountains environment. [Read more…]

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Solar power users left fuming at betrayal in the West

August 12, 2013 2017-10-25T10:12:53 by 9 Comments
WA premier ripping up contract

This numpty thinks he can rip up 75,000 commercial contracts!

It was a grim atmosphere here at the SQHQ bunker earlier this week as Finn popped his head around the corner to deliver the news of the solar power betrayal in the West.

He was talking of course of Premier Colin “The Backstabber” Barnett and his chair sniffing mate “Two-up” Troy Buswell to slash the feed-in tariff in Western Australia from 40c to 20c in the next year. The decision, which (call me cynical) coincides with attempts to bend over backwards for the state’s fossil fuel giants, will affect 75,000 WA households that installed solar from mid 2010 to 2011 on the promise of the 40c level. The cuts renege on a 10-year agreement to maintain solar feed-in tariffs in WA. [Read more…]

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Solar policy being forced by people power?

July 31, 2013 2017-10-25T10:13:16 by 8 Comments
people cheering for solar

I’ll tell you what we want, what we really, really want. Solar!

As solar policy gets pushed around from pillar to post in Canberra and the state capitals, it’s good to know the real decision makers — the Australian people — support the concept in a big way.

This week saw the release of a CSIRO study — funded by the Australian Solar Institute for the Australian Photovoltaic Association — which indicated huge support from Aussies for domestic solar electricity despite almost nationwide cuts to feed-in tariff incentives for rooftop solar. [Read more…]

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What does the Rudd return mean for solar power?

July 1, 2013 2017-10-25T10:14:08 by Leave a Comment

The big news in Australian politics during the week was of course the return of the Queensland kid, aka The Ruddster, The Nerdy One etc. The Machiavellian machinations of the Australian Labor Party which allowed the regurgitation of Kevin Rudd has done wonders to kick start a moribund election campaign, but what effect will this have on the party’s solar power policy?

At the time of writing Heavy Kevvy had just announced his new front bench. [Read more…]

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Is community solar a way forward for the Australian solar industry?

June 17, 2013 2024-07-03T11:18:12 by 2 Comments
community owned solar system

Why not pitch in and buy a community solar system with your mates?

While our recent articles on big Aussie banks and respected mining services companies picking up the solar baton have been a huge encouragement for solar fans, news has been not as good lately in what passes for government (and alternative government) policy. Should we therefore be thinking of the burgeoning grass roots community solar movement as another way forward to the Promised Land of a renewable energy Australia?

[Read more…]

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Solar and the dreaded budget (Part 2)

May 19, 2013 2017-10-25T10:15:30 by 1 Comment
House_of_Reps_Doorway.Credit. SimonEast

Will solar suffer in the Battle for Bums on Seats?

All solar fans’ eyes were turned to the budget this week as Treasurer Wayne “The Knife” Swan brought down his sixth budget (gee doesn’t time fly Swanny?). So how did solar energy (and renewables in general) fare in the Budget? Did we do OK ? Or was it a case of solar energy being once again the target as cuts are made? [Read more…]

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