Archive for February 9th, 2012
Why won’t Australia invest in renewables?
Posted by John, February 9th, 2012 - under Capitalism, Profits, Renewable energy.
Comments: 6
Research by the Melbourne Energy Institute has shown that a 200km by 200km square of solar panels – 0.05 percent of total land in Australia – would produce enough energy to power the whole of the country. Include the use of wind and hydroelectric power and the potential is enormous.
This is the sort of infrastructure that should be built, yet it is the mining companies and coal plant owners that have everything to lose from it. Let’s start with taxing Gina Rinehart’s $10b, and BHP’s record $22.5b profit and fund renewables that way. If the system is geared towards upholding the profits of these corporations to the detriment of the planet, then the system needs to go.