(Image Credit: Markus Spiske/Unsplash)
Chris Bowen, federal energy minister, recently announced Australia is returning to climate action. In addition to that news, global solar achieved one terawatt of capacity. Global polysilicon factories should rebound from supply shortages and manufacture sufficient silicon for nearly one terawatt of solar panels annually. Combined with the rise in energy storage, wind, pumped hydro, grid batteries, and electric vehicles, the solar increase makes it possible for humanity to reach zero global emissions before 2050. Countries could even learn from Australia to best deploy solar to their grid. After all, the country is the best at creating solutions for wind and solar power variability.
Thanks to Russia invading Ukraine, global fossil fuel costs drastically increased, leading to more solar and wind energy interest, aiming to improve domestic energy security. Many countries can generate electricity by taking advantage of the sun and wind. Europe could harness its massive North Sea offshore wind installations and solar in the south.
Solar and wind are more affordable than other electricity generation solutions, and the widespread installation could lead to eliminating the worst air pollutants. These can also be built three times faster than others. Ultimately, they have the potential to overtake fossil fuel generators in the future.
The map shows available solar resources in the world. The reddest areas indicate more solar. (Image Credit: Word Bank CC BY)
While Australia has infinite sunshine, other parts of the world only receive decent sun on most days. Areas north of Australia generate energy from wind, which offsets solar in winter. Even farmers can take advantage by installing solar farms that coexist with crops and livestock, resulting in double income. Approximately 1% of agricultural land can be used to generate solar electricity to power the world.
Then, fossil fuels can easily be eliminated by generating more affordable, clean energy, leading to the electrification of heating, transport, industry, and chemical production. Emissions could be cut back by three quarters with this method. So far, solar and wind combined have exceeded two terawatts of installed capacity, which means humanity is 98% away from achieving 100 terawatts to decarbonize the planet. Humanity must install twice the amount of annual solar every four years to reach that goal.
Australian solar and wind is doing so well that its expected to reach 80 to 90% renewable energies by 2030. More impressively, the nation's per capita solar generation is double the size of Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan, while staying ahead of the U.S. and China.
Swarm Farm robotics deployed robots in Australia to automate farming. (Image Credit: Swarm Farm)
In Australia, robots are deployed to help combat labor shortages by commercially farming over 405,000 hectares of farmland. Growers in the Bundaberg region, which yields a quarter of Australia's fresh crops, invested in programmable autonomous vehicles tasked with efficiently spraying herbicides.
Macadamia Farm Management became one of the first companies to introduce autonomous vehicles for farming purposes. The company made more investments in these robotic vehicles due to labor shortages and harsh weather.
Andrew Bate, a Central Queensland farmer, founded Swarm Farm robotics in 2012, purposed to develop improved farming systems. In June, the company managed to commercially farm a million acres of Australian farmland with its robots, a massive achievement for the team. Those versatile robots, controlled through a mobile app, perform simple tasks like handling, mowing, and spraying chemicals.
Deploying these machines also provides crucial environmental benefits. For instance, the company cut back 580 tonnes of pesticides in Australia. Swarm Farm robotics also eliminated 15 tonnes of pesticide on its farm. However, many farmers lack 4G reception, so connectivity remains an issue. Although robotic farmers replace human workers, new jobs would still be introduced that involve repairing, maintaining, and operating these robotic vehicles. This also attracts more people into the agriculture industry now that new technology is commonly deployed.
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