Australia can meet energy needs with solar power

(Photo of solar station in Australia from Flickr and photographer Richard Gifford)


News Update 2: Australia can harness enough energy from the sun to meet all its energy needs, a respected Australian National University scientist told a climate conference last week. All that is needed is the political will and ability to overcome entrenched interests, said physicist Mike Rapauch. Australia must cut its emissions 80-90% by 2050, he said. A second scientist, who agreed, said he sees a growing gap between what scientists say is necessary to avoid climate change calamity and what economists say is feasible. "It is a damning indictment of our collective vacillation, inaction and deliberate stalling to date," said Barry Brook, director of the University of Adelaide’s climate research program, "that in facing up to this problem -- with Australia and the United States being two prominent curmudgeons -- we are facing the stark choice between a bad situation, a catastrophic situation and a civilization-terminating situation." (Source: Canberra Times)