Yes to Renewables, Not Sure on Nuclear

A Newspoll survey commissioned by the Clean Energy Council (CEC) has shown overwhelming public support for the government to focus its support on renewable energy – such as solar and wind – over nuclear power, while the Australian Government is providing a grant to support Queensland research into plastic solar panels.

Renewables trounce nuclear in Newspoll (15 December 2009):

NATIONAL: A Newspoll survey commissioned by the Clean Energy Council (CEC) has shown overwhelming public support for the government to focus its support on renewable energy – such as solar and wind – over nuclear power.

Given a choice between supporting the development of renewable energy sources and nuclear power, four out of every five people polled favoured the government giving greater priority to the development of renewables. 

CEC chief executive Matthew Warren said the results show Australians want to see the development of renewable energy ahead of contentious options like nuclear. 

“This confirms what we have thought for some time – you need to exhaust every other alternative before talking about nuclear energy as a climate change solution for Australia.

“The answers in this poll show that some people may express support for nuclear power in principle, but four out of every five people would prefer to see an effective renewable energy strategy as a priority.

“We need to see what renewable technologies can achieve over the next decade.  Renewables have enormous potential, but we still have a lot of work to do to find out how much energy they can deliver and at what cost,” he said.

Respondents were asked two questions. The first was to baseline their support for each energy source individually and the second to gauge whether they thought the government should give a greater priority to the support of renewable energy or nuclear power.

Baseline support

There appears to be broad acceptance for developing alternative energy sources:

The baseline results for nuclear power mirrored a Nielson poll from the last couple of months.  93 per cent of those polled favoured the Federal Government supporting the development of renewable energy.

Just under half (49 per cent) also showed support for the development of nuclear sources 

Greater priority for government

There is a clear preference for giving priority to developing alternatives to nuclear energy

On the matter of which approach should receive the greater priority, the vast majority (80 per cent) said that the government should give priority to renewables while only 15 per cent favoured priority being given to developing nuclear energy sources.

 Males, 22 per cent, were significantly more likely than women, 8%, to believe greater priority should be given to nuclear energy.

Those aged under 50, 86 per cent, were significantly more likely to prefer renewables over nuclear, than those aged over 50, 71 per cent.

Source: www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au

Federal Funding Boost for Queensland Solar Research (18 December 2009):

Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson today welcomed the Australian Government’s $945,000 grant to support Queensland research into plastic solar panels.

“Queensland is the solar state and it’s only fitting that our researchers are recognised as being at the forefront of developing affordable solar technologies.

“The University of Queensland’s $1.945 million research project led by Professors Paul Meredith and Paul Burn looks at improving the efficiency of plastic photovoltaic cells to potentially deliver a low-cost, flexible solar cell that could be integrated into buildings and other consumer products.

“The UQ Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics project was one of only five selected to receive funding under the Australian Solar Institute’s competitive solar energy grants program.

“This important research project was selected from among 87 proposals.

“It’s just another example of the research and development expertise we are building right here in Queensland to deliver a cleaner energy future for all,” said Mr Robertson.

University of Queensland Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu also welcomed the funding, which builds on almost $2 million in Queensland Government support this year for research into plastic photovoltaic cells delivered under the National and International Research Alliances Program.

“The project has the potential to expand Queensland’s high-tech industry base and create new jobs and new skills”, said Mr Lu.

The grant is being delivered by the Australian Solar Institute, a $100 million program under the Australian Government’s $4.5 billion Clean Energy initiative.

Minister Robertson said the Queensland Government was committed to harnessing the natural energy of the sun to lower our carbon footprint through solar mapping, large-scale solar plants and solar hot water.

“Solar will play a leading role in our energy future supporting other renewable resources like geothermal energy and wind,” said Mr Robertson.

Source: www.physics.uq.edu.au/cope/