Today I start off blabbering about tidal turbines but end up in a completely different place.

Stick with me.

It all begins with this speculative article out of Australia:

“Australia is famous for its beaches and exhilarating surf. But the ocean offers more than just a surfer's paradise: its tides are also a source of renewable energy.

“Among those harnessing this tidal potential is Sydney-based Mako Energy. The company makes underwater turbines ranging between two and four meters in diameter. One turbine operating in constantly flowing water can produce enough electricity to power up to 20 homes.”

Here’s a video from Mako Energy showing how their turbines work:

Sounds interesting.

And why does Australia need ideas like this again? Well…

“Renewable energy accounted for just 6% of Australia's primary energy consumption and 17% of its electricity generation in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, according to the country's Department of Environment and Energy. This is partly because Australia has abundant and low-cost coal resources.”

Pretty low numbers for such a rich country.

But. Coal.

Solar and wind are definitely on the uptick though. Big ongoing investment in these in Australia.

However, in data from just one year earlier:

“Renewable sources contributed 39,087 GWh (15%) of total electricity generation in 2017, a decrease of 7% compared with 2016.”

So it “seems” that the ongoing increase in renewable electricity generation is not leading to a decrease in fossil fuel-based electricity generation.

However, it turns out this is not really true. It’s a mistake to fixate on the change from one specific year to another.

It would be especially misleading in this case. Here’s the electricity generation data for Australia from 2005-2020 (You can click on it to pop-it-up).

It’s very clear that solar and wind are eating into the total, and also that the total is pretty stable over the last decade or so.

It’s brown coal (pretty awful stuff) that’s fading as renewables rise up like reborn kangaroos.

However, again, don’t forget that electricity generation is only a subset of overall energy generation. Electricity generation says nothing about the coal and gas used in industry, or the fact that nearly every car and truck on Australia’s roads still runs on fossil fuels.

It is but one part of the puzzle. As mentioned above, Australia still runs on 94% fossil fuels for its overall energy consumption.

Not a number you’d want to tattoo on your chest.

Final thought for the day: We’re not out of that Eucalyptus grove yet, cobber.

[Cover photo courtesy of Mako Energy]