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US, Australia and China should work together to secure future

US, Australia and China should work together to secure future Science Alert , 07 May 2009 By Stewart Taggart As the US cedes global economic primacy, Australia mulls a military buildup and China struggles with crippling pollution. One big issue facing all countries is how to ensure Asian regional stability.Buying ships and jets won’t do it, particularly if trying to match the Chinese.A more farsighted approach is to use the next 20 years of geopolitical transition to bind the Asian hemisphere into a ubiquitous, universally-beneficial energy delivery system.This offers everyone a slice of the pie and a stake in stability: the Americans, the Chinese, the Australians, the Southeast Asian nations.In “Australia 2050, Clean Energy Superpower”, DESERTEC-Australia argues for a pan-hemispheric High-Voltage Direct Current power line and natural gas pipeline network stretching from the Great Australian Bight to Beijing and beyond.Through it could flow everything from Southern Ocean wave energy ……………………………

Through it could flow everything from Southern Ocean wave energy to Mongolian wind power, all ‘load balanced’ by natural gas and cross-border hydropower. In short, Asia could have the ultimate multilateral ‘smart grid.’

The benefits would be huge: more efficient transport of energy, greater security of energy supply, better price signals for investment, dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The technology is there, the money is there, the brains are there, and the renewable energy is there.

America has an edge in innovation and risk-tolerant capital investment (i.e. venture capital). Australia has an edge in renewable energy resources. China has an edge in High Voltage Direct Current power lines, and soon Ultra High Voltage Power lines.

Therein lies the solution: use American expertise in risk-tolerant capital to fund renewable energy experimentation throughout Asia, including Australia, with the Chinese providing the multilateral energy ‘superhighway’ comprised of High Voltage Direct Current power lines and natural gas pipelines……………………..

A recent US study “A Roadmap for U.S.-China Cooperation on Energy and Climate Change” noted the United States and China had in common large renewable energy resources and aging, inefficient energy transmission infrastructures. The same can be said for Australia. Therefore, the templates and roadmaps are there for cooperation.

DESERTEC-Australia estimates fitting out Australia with a transcontinental High Voltage Direct Current transmission system and a unified national gas pipeline system would cost about A$30 billion, or three per cent of Australian GDP. That’s significantly less than Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s proposed $42 billion national broadband system.

US, Australia and China should work together to secure future (ScienceAlert)

May 7, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized