<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/dec/22/gina-rinehart-says-renewable-energy-could-use-one-third-of-australias-prime-agricultural-land-is-she-right>
"Wind and solar farms are popping up in renewable energy zones and designated
development areas around Australia. Within those zones, it can feel as though
new projects are everywhere: on your property or your neighbour’s, on the hills
into town.
Fuelling this narrative is Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, who said
at an event naming her as the
Australian Financial Review’s 2024 business
person of the year that one-third of Australia’s “prime agricultural land”
could be “taken over” by renewable energy projects, particularly solar.
That figure comes from a report released this month by the Institute of Public
Affairs. The report by the rightwing thinktank, which has consistently
advocated against emissions reductions policies and called for Australia to
pull out of the Paris agreement, claims that one-third of Australia’s
agricultural land would “have to be sacrificed” to renewable energy
developments to meet Australia’s energy needs with a 50:50 mix of wind and
solar by 2050.
According to the Australia Institute, the Clean Energy Council and projections
by the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo), both the IPA’s prediction on
the amount of area required and the demand assumptions it is based on are
incorrect.
“I can’t overstate how ridiculous the extrapolations in this report are,” says
Australia Insitute principal adviser Mark Ogge."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
