- This book is so damn good. It answers all your questions. It’s not shouty in any way. It's fair, fact-based and sensible. Former Australian Chief Scientist Alan Finkel refuses to descend into political anger or denunciation.
- It reads like a textbook at times - cluttered with metallurgical and scientific detail - but it's well worth persevering with. If the detail escapes you his arguments are crystal clear as is his prose.
- The necessary transition from the Industrial Age to the new Electric Age, including the materials needed, is Finkel's central focus. He provides heaps of data on the market shares of supplier countries. Australia is regularly near the top.- He emphasises the need for ethical and socially responsible mining operations, including respect for indigenous communities and care for the environment. He's not against fossil fuel mining operations altogether, but makes it quite clear that the market will phase them out quite quickly when renewables inevitably become the major source of electricity. Their costs are getting lower and lower.
- Solar, wind, nuclear and gas are explored in detail. Nuclear and natural gas options are in decline globally as they simply can't compete with renewables. Hydropower is also unattractive as its huge infrastructure is massively disruptive to communities on so many levels. Natural gas also has a diminishing role. The obvious fact is that solar and wind are doing the job.
- There is plenty of detail on electric vehicles and their batteries, and what choices are becoming increasingly available for cheaper and premium cars. The range can vary enormously. What became obvious to me is that the next ten or fifteen years will be a revolutionary time on our roads. Who would want to keep a petrol car when there will be very few petrol stations left.
- Finkel delves deep into the policy settings governments will have to contend with: carbon taxes; emissions trading schemes; renewable subsidies. He also digs deep into Biden's huge Inflation Reduction Act in the US (which has really little to do with inflation and a lot to do with climate change). And what other countries are doing, including Australia, India and China.‘When it comes to zero- emissions electricity, China leads the world by a long margin’.
- He doesn't shy away from addressing the contentious issue of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). He believes it has a crucial role to play but there are critical distinctions that must be made. He fully endorses direct air capture and storage, massively subsidised by governments. And there is a huge difference between carbon credits (good) and carbon offsets (bad).
- Finkel delves deep into the policy settings governments will have to contend with: carbon taxes; emissions trading schemes; renewable subsidies. He also digs deep into Biden's huge Inflation Reduction Act in the US (which has really little to do with inflation and a lot to do with climate change). And what other countries are doing, including Australia, India and China.‘When it comes to zero- emissions electricity, China leads the world by a long margin’.
- He doesn't shy away from addressing the contentious issue of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). He believes it has a crucial role to play but there are critical distinctions that must be made. He fully endorses direct air capture and storage, massively subsidised by governments. And there is a huge difference between carbon credits (good) and carbon offsets (bad).
- He does not support shutting down coal-fired generation immediately as 60% of Australia’s electricity generation still comes from coal. He argues for an orderly transition. ‘We must make coal-fired electricity obsolete by rapidly replacing it with clean, firm, cheap and abundant alternatives’. The marketplace will certainly do the job.
- The opportunities for Australia in this transition are huge, despite intense global competition. We have challenges however that must be met. Our regulatory approval process, for instance, needs to be greatly speeded up. It must facilitate commercial investment not impede it, as it currently too often does.
-‘As the world shifts from the Industrial Age to the Electric Age, Australia will build on its three superpowers - renewable energy, decarbonised products and energy transition materials - to become the world’s electrostate superhero’.
- The opportunities for Australia in this transition are huge, despite intense global competition. We have challenges however that must be met. Our regulatory approval process, for instance, needs to be greatly speeded up. It must facilitate commercial investment not impede it, as it currently too often does.
-‘As the world shifts from the Industrial Age to the Electric Age, Australia will build on its three superpowers - renewable energy, decarbonised products and energy transition materials - to become the world’s electrostate superhero’.
- Finkel has pulled off a must read here. Mainly because he confronts our challenges and remains decidedly hopeful.
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