Extracting precious matter from under Australian soils could power our homes and businesses - but this time it’s not coal or gas - its heat!
Geothermal energy takes the heat that naturally occurs near the Earth’s surface and uses it to produce steam which drives turbines and creates electricity.
‘Where can I get some of this heat?’ we hear you ask. Well, luckily, Australia has large areas of potential geothermal energy, enough in fact to generate one quarter of all our energy needs by 2050.
WWF recently released Power to Change: Australia’s Geothermal Future, the first in a series of reports looking into renewable energy technologies in Australia, and it is already making people sit up and take notice.
WWF-Australia CEO Greg Bourne, said: “Renewable energies like geothermal are the nuts and bolts of Australia’s clean economy.”
And it’s not just about energy. Renewable technologies could provide tens of thousands of jobs. By 2020, the geothermal industry is expected to employ 3,800 people. That number could grow to 17,300 by 2050.
5 Responses
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Can you fix the links please. Both lead nowhere.
Thanks Bruce, the links have been fixed.
While Geothermal is much better than coal, it is a long way from ecologically friendly!
We could start with Solar Thermal. These power stations would also provide many jobs, be locally owned, and use short transport runs.
There is growing interest by the community for this resource to be tapped in Anglesea where Alcoa currently relies on brown coal for its energy supply.
Your article on this topic is therefore very timely.
Thanks WWF.
Graeme Stockton
I think the most important thing we should be doing is….drum roll please….something. Anything. Whatever it is, we really need to stop talking about it, and start doing it! Sure, it’s nice that people have decided to explore the possibilities of renewable energy, but when is it actually going to be available to ordinary Australian citizens? And when it is, will it be affordable?