Wind, solar and storage can’t do it alone. Veteran engineers tend to agree, but many others are fearful – perhaps of missing out on a grant, being trolled or losing a job.
Australia’s current energy policies and plans are a recipe for triple failure: rising costs, falling reliability and growing environmental footprints. Wind and solar power plus battery and pumped-hydro storage have roles in a zero-emissions power system, but they cannot do it alone. A net-zero goal requires all options, including carbon capture and storage and nuclear energy. Many of our fellow engineers agree. If only they weren’t too afraid to say so.
Such a system would be very expensive, insecure and heavily weather-dependent. It would have vast land footprints and dangerously low energy diversity. And it would be profoundly inequitable. We find that we are far from alone in these judgments. Every net zero emissions plan needs some carbon capture and sequestration; like it or not, CCS provides the “net” in net zero. If Australia’s current nuclear energy bans and net zero pledges both remain, much larger and more extensive CCS will be demanded. Denying the technology to abate emissions from coal or gas is a contradictory policy.
Hydropower and nuclear have low or no operating emissions. Standard coal plants have the highest emissions, while gas-fired power is in between. By investing additional capital in CCS and accepting higher operating costs, carbon dioxide emissions from coal and gas plants can largely be removed. These and other generation technologies are potentially complementary, not merely competitive.
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