‘The future’: Elon Musk hails huge Aussie milestone
Elon Musk has highlighted a groundbreaking milestone in Australia — proclaiming that it could provide a major insight into the future.
Environment
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The world richest man and Donald Trump’s powerful new efficiency tsar Elon Musk has highlighted a groundbreaking milestone in Australia — proclaiming that it could provide a major insight into where our energy will come from in the future.
The Tesla CEO shared a post on his platform X about the rapid growth of rooftop solar in Western Australia, which now accounts for a whopping 80.5 per cent of the state’s electricity generation on Monday.
At 1.30pm that day, solar output mainly from rooftop installations generated a total of 2.12 gigawatts across the state, according to data from the Australian Energy Market Operator.
The amount of electricity generated by fossil fuels in WA at that moment in time paled in comparison. Natural gas and coal powered only 8.6 per cent and 8.3 per cent of homes, respectively.
“Solar power will be the vast majority of power generation in the future,” Mr Musk wrote.
WA has made no secret of championing solar power. Recently the market operator and state government have signed contracts with battery developers to capture excess rooftop solar power during the day and release it back into the grid for peak demand — usually in the evening.
Mr Musk has been an influential advocate for solar energy, positioning it as central to the future of global power generation.
Through his companies, notably Tesla and SolarCity (which Tesla acquired in 2016), the 53 year old has helped advance solar technology and energy storage, with the aim of making renewable energy a practical choice for millions.
Last year, he claimed that if solar energy was harnessed more efficiently, it could power a civilisation 100 times larger than the current global population.
He said that because wind and solar power are not always consistent, it’s becoming increasingly important to use stationary battery packs at renewable energy sites to store energy for when it’s needed.
Rooftop solar power — like that seen commonly in WA and other parts of Australia — is also a cornerstone of Mr Musk’s vision of the future, allowing individuals to generate their own clean energy and even contribute back to the grid.
He has moved into this space with Tesla’s Solar Roof, which replaces traditional roofing materials with solar-generating tiles. The billionaire aims to make sustainable energy both functional and aesthetically appealing.
Solar Roof allows homeowners to install solar technology seamlessly into the design of their homes, thereby encouraging those who might be resistant to installing solar panels to take the plunge.
Mr Musk made the comments on WA just hours after he was officially called on by President-elect Mr Trump to “dismantle” the $6.5 trillion from the US government.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump appointed Mr Musk and another billionaire, former Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy, to a new “Department of Government Efficiency” tasked with trimming down Washington bureaucracy.
Mr Musk, who sacked 80 per cent of Twitter’s workforce when he bought it and rechristened it as X, vowed in an announcement to “send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste.”
It is not yet clear how much influence Mr Musk’s strong views on green energy will have on the new Trump regime.
It appears it could be a point of difference between the duo with the President elect promising to “drill, baby drill!” throughout his campaign — as well as increasing fossil fuel production and withdrawing the US from the Paris climate deal.
Mr Trump highlighted the need for a massive increase in reliable energy going into the future — particularly given the colossal amount of electricity needed to power AI and cryptocurrency.
The need is so urgent that tech giants are taking matters into their own hands. Microsoft for example is reopening the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the US. The tech giant said it had signed a 20-year deal to purchase power from the Pennsylvania plant, which would reopen in 2028 after improvements.
During the campaign trail, Mr Musk spoke to Mr Trump about his love of solar.
“I think we should just generally lean in the direction of sustainability,” Musk told Trump during a two-hour, livestreamed chat the two men held on the social platform X in August.
“And I actually think solar is going to be a majority of Earth’s energy generation in the future.”
However, Mr Musk said there was no urgent rush to push through major solar reforms at this point in time.
“I think we want to just move over and if I don’t know, 50 to 100 years from now we’re mostly sustainable, I think that’ll probably be OK,” Mr Musk said.
“It’s not like the house is on fire immediately.”
Mr Musk has also been a fan of nuclear power, which does not produce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Nuclear electricity generation is underrated,” Mr Musk said during the chat.
“People have this fear of nuclear electricity generation, but it’s actually one of the safest forms of generation.”
Mr Trump meanwhile has often been described as a climate skeptic. During his presidency, he questioned the validity of climate science, voiced doubts about human-driven climate change, and promoted policies that supported fossil fuel production.
He has also made a habit of turning on people he appointed to powerful positions during his first presidency — with a record-setting turnover rate in the first year of the Trump Administration.
Several Trump appointees, including National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price have had the shortest service tenures in the history of their respective offices.
Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience shortly before the election, Mr Trump said his biggest mistake was surrounding himself with the wrong people in his first term.
Whether he will live to regret appointing arguably the biggest name in green energy to such a powerful position — given his own stance on climate change — remains to be seen.
Originally published as ‘The future’: Elon Musk hails huge Aussie milestone
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