No place for rational thought in Bowen’s energy nirvana

Like Bob Hawke, Jennie George has undergone a transformation from union boss to inspirational advocate for sound nation-building policies, setting aside her former party-political affiliations and loyalties. Her commentary in The Weekend Australian about the looming disaster of the Albanese government’s blinkered commitment to renewable energy should sound alarm bells throughout Labor’s ranks (“ALP’s renewables obsession a model of self-harm”, 30/11-1/12). As she writes, the little-discussed flaw with Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s transition plans for Australia’s energy future is not just the inherent unreliability of the wind, solar and hydro mix of baseload power generation to which we are lurching headlong, but also the unresolved problems of the associated transmission and storage infrastructure that must accompany it. With more than 30 nations now embracing nuclear power generation, few could argue with her assertion that there is “no rational reason for maintaining a ban on nuclear energy”. Let the market, not Labor’s partyroom, decide.

Peter Austin, Mount Victoria, NSW

The reality is that Energy Minister Chris Bowen cannot be pro net-zero emissions but anti zero-emissions nuclear power. It’s that simple. So it’s not only the mission-critical issues of energy reliability, affordability and sovereignty that are not getting respect from Bowen, neither are Australian voters. Indeed, for every Labor MP, along with its Greens-teal boosters, Bowen’s absurd weather-dependent energy rollout puts them on a unity ticket when it comes to dereliction of duty. It’s unacceptable in a country such as ours, with abundant coal, gas and uranium reserves. Nothing Australia does to reduce emissions will make the slightest difference to the climate.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW

Energy Minister Chris Bowen argues that coal-fired power is the least reliable part of our energy grid. “That’s just a statement of fact,” he says (“Bowen plan threatens to leave us in the dark”, 30/11-1/12).

As Chris Uhlmann writes in The Weekend Australian, “across the past year the Australian Energy Market Operator’s data dashboard records that brown and black coal supplied 64 per cent of the eastern grid’s electricity and gas 6 per cent. So 70 per cent fossil fuel then.

“Wind delivered 15 per cent generation across the same time and grid-scale solar 8 per cent. So coal is far and away the most reliable generator on the eastern national electricity market.”

The problem we’ve got with renewables is they show up to work only when the weather is in their favour. When it isn’t, you won’t see them for dust. Not to worry, says Bowen, there’ll be batteries and pumped hydro to cover for renewables whenever they walk off the job. But as Uhlmann explains, “batteries and hydro are not energy sources, they are energy storers. If wind and solar don’t generate excess power, there will be no battery storage to call on.”

Dale Ellis, Innisfail, Qld

Chris Uhlmann provides an excellent summary of the problems we face with the Bowen energy plan. As someone who worked in electricity generation, I find it difficult to believe Bowen and his advisers can be so misguided. Even without practical experience, common sense should be telling them we’re on the wrong track. We are seeing the Covid-19 management plans being rightly mocked for the excessive measures imposed on society. It’s only a matter of time, with the advent of more calls to restrict electricity usage, and blackouts, that Bowen will face similar mockery.

R. Watson, Sunnybank Hills, Qld

Jennie George’s and Chris Uhlmann’s contributions in The Weekend Australian have laid bare the insanity of Labor’s energy transition plans. Uhlmann writes that Chris Bowen’s claim that energy prices had dropped in the most significant reduction in Australian history in the ABS statistics was somewhat misleading. A later Uhlmann fact check revealed that this occurred only because taxpayers paid for the reduction through massive federal and state government rebates.

George explains the total futility of our net-zero plans. They have zero chance of succeeding, and even if they did succeed they would have zero effect on global emissions. Yet the sad reality is that nothing will change Labor’s emissions reduction plans.

Peter Tredenick, Laidley, Qld