Opportunity to create jobs

In case this simple point has been missed, in presenting alternatives to large scale energy systems that do not rely on coal power stations and real-time coal-furnace-to-power-socket distribution systems, these new alternatives present an opportunity to create new industries and employ a large workforce in high quality jobs. The new energy systems that include renewable sources, energy storage and a smart grid are going to happen, and the coal industry will go into decline. The issue of global warming demands action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and this is a global imperative.

The question is where and how the new high quality energy jobs for the emerging sustainable energy systems are going to be.

If the coal industry and affiliated unions in Australia are conspiring to prevent the sustainable energy alternatives from establishing themselves in Australia, that will not slow down the decline in the coal industry. What that will do, however, is to destroy the ability for Australia do build an industrial base for those new technologies in sustainable energy/energy storage. That new industrial base will be established overseas and will be providing work and massive export revenues to those overseas nations (notably the United States, China and the European Union). The coal industry will continue to decline.

The coal industry will continue to decline regardless of whether the new sustainable energy systems are designed and built in Australia or outside of Australia. When the coal industry declines there will be large numbers of people who are currently employed and making money from the coal industry out of work. If Australia does not build a manufacturing base for the new energy technologies there will be a lost opportunity to create new jobs in those emerging industries. I would have thought that was obvious.

By presenting alternative strategies and areas for research for the new energy systems these posts are an opportunity for Australians to create NEW valuable jobs in these industries. The coal industry in unsustainable NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. These new ideas for energy systems are not a threat to Australian business or the workforce, they are a golden opportunity. It would be extremely damaging to Australia if there was a conspiracy to try to silence or hobble the emerging new industry for sustainable energy systems, energy storage and the smart grid in Australia. This is as obvious as the light of day.

Australia’s national balance of trade is usually in the red, even during the boom in the mining sector. Even a few decades ago we used to complain that we would sell bales of wool overseas and buy back finished fabrics and clothing at premium prices. Today the imports are mostly for high technology consumer goods and motor vehicles, no doubt with some of the raw materials for their manufacture being previously dug up in Australian mines. A typical response towards technology in Australia is to import it and simply pay for the import. Our exports of resources kept the books more or less balanced and the currency at decent exchange rates.

When alternatives for coal-based energy are evident and widely installed and are being accepted, the floor is likely to fall out of the bottom of the coal market and export earnings for Australia are likely to take a dive. We will still export large quantities of other raw minerals such as iron ore, and natural gas is likely to remain a good earner (although I don’t follow that market that closely). To maintain our lifestyle – and our currency exchange rates – we need to be able to export technology that people will want to buy. The obvious choice is to jump into the emerging renewable energy/energy storage/smart grid energy industry and try to be a market leader in selected niche markets. To me it just seems obvious. It would certainly be obvious to people in the Obama Administration when they are proposing large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and some American corporations are gearing up to take advantage of the windfall.

It is readily admitted that Australia needs to develop its manufactured export industries for its economy to remain viable. The need for new sustainable energy systems provides the perfect opportunity to do this.