Power plays behind the battle for right energy mix

Fortescue Metals chairman Andrew Forrest’s call to ban new gas and coal developments may be irresponsible as there is no evidence it will have a positive effect on climate change and can inflict poverty on the poor (“Forrest backs Greens’ call for ban on new fossil fuel”, 5/9).

Europe is now more reliant on Russian gas imports, especially Germany by restricting developing local gas assets. Imported natural gas has a higher carbon footprint than if produced locally. Hydrogen as a substitute has not been proven viable. Historically attempts have been a failure and generating hydrogen from water requires more energy than it can generate plus transportation methodology is still in its infancy. Australia is an energy exporter and any restrictions may have adverse effects on poorer nations, resulting in higher global emissions and widespread poverty.

Don McMillan, Paddington, Qld

When Angela Merkel stepped down as chancellor last year, she was lauded. But l bet a lot of Germans, when they are sitting in the cold this winter, will ponder on the wisdom of her progressive climate policies and allowing Germany to become heavily dependent upon Putin’s oil and gas.

Dennis Walker, North Melbourne, Vic

The call by Fortescue Metals Group founder and chairman Andrew Forrest for Australia to abandon fossil fuels and adopt “green” policies, projects and operations is right on the money.

Forrest and like-minded colleague Mike Cannon-Brookes already have under way their Australia-Asia Powerlink project that will transmit energy from a huge solar array in the Northern Territory to Darwin, then to Singapore via Suncable. A project to make green hydrogen for export may be on the cards for an area near Broome, WA.

Fortescue Future Industries is also working towards normalising the use of green hydrogen (made using renewable energy) to replace metallurgical coal to make “green” steel.

Forrest should be heeded and encouraged by Australia’s governments. Australia could, indeed, be a green energy and green hydrogen “superpower”.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin, ACT

One thing that you have to admire about Andrew Forrest is his great flexibility. A few short years ago, when his company needed gas, he was railing against petroleum companies that had undeveloped gas fields, stating that they should “use it or lose it”.

Now he wants new gas developments banned altogether and says that we should put our faith in a completely unproven new technology, hydrogen, which of course his company is backing. It might just be sensible to wait and see if these exciting new technologies are actually viable before we destroy all of our proven options.

Geoff O’Brien, Eltham, Vic

Within Nick Cater’s plug for nuclear energy (“Argument for shift to nuclear thwarted by energy literacy”, 5/9) is the usual blaming of renewables for energy shortages. Of course Europe, and elsewhere, is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Why? Because the science of global warming has for decades been ignored in favour of huge profits for fossil fuel companies.

Cater blames our education system and the “renewable energy lobby” for our desire for renewable energy, and also the resistance to nuclear power. If only we understood the science! If only the Menzies Research Centre, instead of appointing gas (and now nuclear) as the answer to our prayers, had promoted renewables from the outset, we would not be in this dire situation. I’d say our energy literacy is getting better every day. We know that nuclear is expensive, slow to build (despite the cute-sounding modular reactors) and inherently unsafe. We know renewable energy isn’t free, but no one owns the sun or the wind. We have a good idea about what is involved in getting to net zero.

Fiona Colin, Malvern East, Vic

It appears the enormous push to Battery Electric Vehicles might be putting the cart before the horse given California’s Independent System Operator (its power grid controller) has requested people not charge their electric vehicle over the Labor Day weekend to help avoid a possible power outage. Which begs the question of why is there no upgrade to our electric grid happening to cater for the obvious overload BEVs will cause on an already severely strained power grid.

Jim Millett, Kippa-Ring, Qld