The need for renewable electricity

The electricity storage revolution now underway is charcterised by increasing storage capacity and continuously falling battery prices. Two outcomes of this storage revolution are that it will:

1. have the effect of making renewable energy available 24/7 and cheaper than electricity produced by coal fired power stations. The latter will cease to operate as they are replaced at an accelerating rate by solar and wind generation, and
2. enable improved grid management, permitting electricity generators to buy and sell energy at optimum prices with price determined by demand, rather than supply.

Electric vehicles (EV's), a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, will use improved storage devices, including graphene supercapitors, enabling them to be used for travel of 1,000 km on a single charge. EV's are likely to be priced according to range, selling for less the lower the range and replacing internal combustion propelled vehicles more rapidly than currently predicted. Present dependence on oil products for vehicle propulsion could end before 2040.

Whether the Turnbull government likes it or not, these developments are already underway. They are bringing about change in the cost of and way in which electricity is produced, stored and used. These developments make it possible for the government to solve the budget problem it faces – by progressively withdrawing the subsidies it currently pays fossil fuel producers and applying them to budget deficit reduction.

Coal is on a one-way trip to oblivion as an energy source, whether subsidized or not.