Clean energy entrepreneur claimed that Australia could be the first continent running on 100 percent clean energy.
Yosef Abramowitz, known as ‘Captain Sunshine’, also said that Australia’s entrenched fossil fuel industry is blocking the nation’s renewable potential.
As the CEO of Israeli-American clean energy company Energiya Global, Abramowitz is ranked in the top six of the world’s leading clean energy pioneers by CNN.
He’s also highlighting Australia’s failure to optimize the country’s extraordinary solar potential. He says that it’s drastically under-utilized because solar energy accounts for just over 5 percent of Australia’s total power generation.
The CEO told WA Today that stronger political support and policy frameworks will strengthen Australia’s solar markets. The government should consider phasing out coal-fired power plants and using Australia’s vast gas resources during the transition to renewables because investors need commitment.
According to Abramowitz, Australia has the world’s highest average solar radiation, equaling to 58 million petajoules of energy or around 10,000 times the national annual energy consumption.
He also pointed out that the country has vast tracts of land available for solar farms. The size of farm needed to power the whole country, however, is surprisingly small. It comes to 6,270 square kilometers or about 0.1 percent of Australia’s land surface.
“Given Australia’s ‘amazing’ land, solar and wind resources, the government should, therefore, commit to a goal of 100 percent renewable energy,” said Abramowitz.
The solar power revolution is also facing multiple challenges, even with the numerous benefits of off grid solar PV, including the intermittency of wind and solar power generation. But the increase of battery storage uptake means users can draw on solar storage batteries when the sun isn’t shining. This then boosts the reliability of the grid.
Increasing uptake of home solar battery storage systems like Sonnen and Tesla Powerwall also means consumers are not paying large electricity bills. Because electricity bills pay for the distribution network, costs may fall disproportionately on those without solar power.