Wind and solar don't work at night or when the wind isn't blowing. Australia is told the solution is batteries! Real world experience shows that batteries are too expensive, too slow to build and don't last long enough to support a grid. During this session with the Australian Renewable... Energy Agency (ARENA), I revisited the status of the eight large-scale battery storage projects funded in 2022, noting that $176 million had been allocated but none had completed construction by February. I was told that while all projects are progressing, some face challenges like grid connection issues. I highlighted the significant cost increase from $2.7 billion to $3.1 billion and questioned the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of these batteries compared to coal-fired power stations. I also raised concerns about the stability and reliability of renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and the additional costs associated with making them grid-compatible. Additionally, I asked ARENA about their responsibilities and the financial transparency of their operations. I emphasised the high cost of electricity in Australia compared to countries like China and criticised the impact of net-zero policies on manufacturing. We need to ditch net-zero. Use the cheap resources we have in Australia's ground for Australians first!show more

Net zero is a worldwide tax on stupidity. Sign onto it as a country and watch in real time as you go down the tubes. I don’t like thinking like this, but is Australia too dumb to survive?

Great words but not going to happen. You walk out of the room & they start planning the next scam. There is no accountability, otherwise Albernese would have gone in year one. I love what you are doing, just know you are bashing your head against a brick wall.

Australia parades itself as a “leader in critical minerals,” yet a huge chunk of its lithium and cobalt, indispensable for battery production, gets shipped out in raw form and refined overseas. Let’s not mince words: by failing to build up domestic refining capacity, Australia effectively outsources the backbone of its “clean energy” revolution to foreign operations. That includes countries with blatant track records of child labor, dangerous working conditions, and unethical production practices. If large scale battery technology underpins Australia’s net zero ambitions, we have a giant moral problem on our hands. How can we pat ourselves on the back for championing “green” energy when we’re importing the raw and refined materials from supply chains rife with potential labor abuses be that from Chinese refineries or cobalt operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where child labor has been widely documented? Without transparent, verifiable audits tracing these raw materials from the mine to the battery, the lofty claims of “clean” or “ethical” energy reek of greenwashing. Talking about carbon footprints and “saving the planet” doesn’t absolve you if children are digging in hazardous mines halfway across the globe to secure the metals needed for your wind turbines and solar batteries. Why aren’t taxpayer-funded agencies like ARENA openly condemning these labor atrocities, or at least taking steps to ensure that Australian backed projects aren’t financing child exploitation? Why aren’t we refining and processing our own minerals under stringent labor and environmental standards? Instead, we’re doubling down on supply chains notorious for human rights violations, all in the name of cutting costs. Relying on foreign refining also leaves Australia’s energy future exposed to the whims of international players, any one of which could choke the supply or weaponize these resources for economic or geopolitical gain. That’s not just reckless; it’s a blueprint for energy insecurity. And if costs balloon or supply dries up, taxpayers will be the first to feel the pain. How does it make sense to celebrate “net zero” here at home when we’re essentially exporting the moral and environmental devastation to poorer regions? If we truly want a clean energy transition, we need an ethical supply chain, full stop. That means: Australian based refining and processing under ironclad labor laws, independent, public audits showing exactly where each ton of lithium or cobalt comes from, and no tolerance for child or forced labor, ever. Right now, the silence from ARENA and other government bodies about these well-known issues is deafening. If these agencies won’t take a stand, how can we trust any of their claims about building a sustainable, future proof energy sector? Why should Australian taxpayers fund “clean energy” projects that might be bankrolled by child labor, simply because it’s cheaper to refine materials overseas? How do you justify touting “ethical” or “sustainable” energy solutions when you can’t provide a transparent paper trail from the mine to the finished battery? Why isn’t Australia self proclaimed “critical minerals leader” investing heavily in local refining capacity to ensure our resources are extracted and processed under strict ethical and environmental standards? When will ARENA publicly acknowledge and act on the fact that many battery metals come from problematic supply chains? Or is silence part of the cost of doing business under net zero mandates? How do you plan to mitigate the massive geopolitical risks of being dependent on foreign refiners and mining giants with questionable labor ethics? If net zero policy rests on a foundation of questionable labor practices, it’s not truly sustainable, it’s just offshore exploitation disguised as environmental virtue. Until agencies like ARENA and the Australian government take real, measurable action to clean up the supply chain, every claim of “clean energy” remains suspect. Either walk the talk with genuine supply chain transparency, ethical standards, and domestic refining, or admit that the current approach is a bandaid solution that simply exports the dirtiest, most exploitative parts of the energy revolution to the world’s most vulnerable people.

At $0.27/W, the #lowest priced solar panel in Amazon US is FutureSolar as per comparemarketplaces . com #amazon #solar #panel #ad

and where do the batteries come from oh that's right digging up more dangerous stuff than coal but that suits their agenda so that's ok.

Why isn't it a goal for government to have the cheapest energy in the world ? Everything becomes cheaper from the knock on effects

Thanks for your tireless work

@MainPerth As I've been tweeting for years.... RE = SCAM