Australian Alternative Energy Issues
Hi and welcome.
To fully detail and exhaustively study the current issues involved with the coming "Electron-Economy" is well beyond the scope and intent of this website.
Australia is one of the world's best placed countries to be able to fully explore and adapt to the new ways of powering our society. We have the opportunity to both become an electron based society with little pain and to help other countries along the pathway to clean, green energy, that will provide much needed environmental benefits, lower energy expenditure and savings that will accrue over time.
My vision for Australia includes our geothermal resources being used to provide the bulk of Australia's electricity requirements, our Rare Earths and Lithium to "translate" the electron flows and our super-abundant coal resources to be used for the production of liquid fuels for export. I also believe that Australia should establish a "cradle to grave" uranium export industry.
A Clean Energy Revolution
Australia is part of a worldwide "green energy" revolution. In some areas we are the world's leaders in the development of new technologies and in others we are leading the world due to Australia's resources. The topics that are of great interest at the moment include: Geothermal, UCG-GTL, UCG, Syngas, Biodiesel, LNG, CSM, Fuel Cells, Nuclear, Biosequestration, Carbon Capture and the "renewables" including Solar, Wind, Tidal, Wave and Hydroelectric. Additionally the "enablers" and the substrates/materials that are vital to their functions present interesting and complex geo-political issues.
Alternative Energy Postulated Timelines
Diagram from World Business Council for Sustainable Development....Read more
Underground Coal Gasification - Gas To Liquids (UCG-GTL)
Australia is leading the world's renewal of interest in the conversion of underground coal to an energy rich gas named SYNGAS. SYNGAS can be used as high quality feedstock for gas fired power stations and excitingly the production of HydroCarbon liquids as well as a range of other products.
The conversion of Syngas to Liquids is loosely encapsulated in the term "Gas To Liquids", where Syngas is fed into a chemical reactor and a range of liquids including ultra clean Diesel is produced. The combination of UGC and GTL to produce Diesel and other energy rich fluids has been successfully trialed by Linc Energy (ASX Code: LNC) an Australian company with an early demonstration plant at Chinchilla, Queensland that is currently building a 20,000 barrel a day production facility.
The successful combination of UGC and GTL by Linc is said to be a world first and could lead to Australia becoming one of the world's major suppliers of liquid hydrocarbons based on Australia's vast coal resources that were previously regarded as being "stranded".
UCG-GTL is said to be the cleanest, commercially viable, use of coal to produce energy.
Please visit our UCG-GTL website at www.UCG-GTL.com for more information
Uranium
For a wide range of Uranium Information please visit our sister site: www.AustralianUranium.com.au
If they didn't make massive bombs from it uranium probably wouldn't be such a contentious element, although nuclear power station accidents like those at Chernobyl in the former USSR and Three Mile Island in the USA certainly haven't helped the cause.
The safety of nuclear power technologies has improved substantially in recent decades, to the point where politicians are starting to consider the viability of nuclear power in Australia. Nuclear power has no direct greenhouse emissions, unlike coal or other fuels which are burnt, but the environmental concerns are valid and a nuclear accident in Australia would likely be disastrous.
Over recent years there has been a rapid and pervasive recognition that Nuclear energy is a viable and relatively safe means of electricity generation and this has caused a re-examination of the issue that surround Australian mining and export of uranium to countries that seem to have few alternatives. Moreover with literally hundreds of nuclear power plants either planned or being built there is a powerful economic incentive and some would also argue a "green" imperative for Australia to increase its' uranium exports. Some would also argue that Australia should assume its' full responsibilities and establish a "cradle to grave" nuclear industry, where we mine our uranium, process it into fuel rods for export and then import and reprocess and store the resulting waste.
Gas
Please visit www.Australian-Gas.com to access a wide range of information about Australian gas.
Australia has vast gas reserves that are used to power Australian industry, power stations and homes as well as supporting a burgeoning range of exports as Liquid Natural Gas (LNG).
"Australia is the third largest LNG producer in the Asia-Pacific region and the fifth largest LNG producer in the world, exporting 15.2 million tonnes in 2006-07 with a value of around $5.2 billion."
Whilst burning gas isn't carbon neutral coal fired power stations are much heavier emmitters of Co2 and other greenhouse gases than gas fired stations. In Australia and much of SE ASIA and Asia gas is seen as a viable bridging option, between so called "dirty" coal and the new (yet to be implimented) greener methods of power generation and as such is much sort after. Indeed Australia has seen an investment boom in gas over the last few years based on this reality.
Rare Earth Metals
Please visit www.AustralianRareEarths.com for information regarding Australia's Rare Earth Elements industry
A battle is looming between China and Australia over a group of relatively unknown metals... the so called Rare Earth Elements. The rare earth elements are vital to the 21st Century's new electrification technologies.
China owns over 90% of the world's known deposits.
In
the last fifteen years there has been a power shift from a US-dominated
REE industry to a Chinese dominated one. This supremacy now extends to
most of the vertical market — from production to innovation to end
product. Read more
Australia compnaies have four known relatively high grade deposits:
- Lynas Corp's (ASX Code: LYC) Mt Weld Deposits which is recognised as the world's richest Rare Earths body, said to be easily capable of supplying 20% of the world's market for 30 years. Read more
- Arufura Resources' (ASX Code: ARU) Nolans Bore with a REO, Uranium and phosphate mix. Read more
- Navigator Resources' (ASX Code: NAV) Cummins Range with a REE, phosphate, uranium, niobium and tantalum mix. Read more
- Greenland Energy and Minerals (ASX Code:GGG) with the world's largest REE deposit outside of China. Read more
Due to the very small market caps of of our three companies with REE a very real danger exists that one or all may fall to an overseas investor. Of note this almost occurred in October 2009 with China's CNMC attempt to take 51% of LYC that was rejected by our Australian Foreign Investment Board (FIRB).
The image below shows the Impact of Supply Disruption (Y axis) against the Percieved Risk (X axis) of this occurring for what can be regarded as strategic metals for the 21st Century's electron based economy.
