Subsidising renewable energy is one thing, but this idea of decentralised energy production is just plain stupid. We should spend more money on research, i.a. on fusion power, and a lot less on subsidies.
How is decentralised energy production stupid ? The combination of solar panels with excess power being routed to battery storage or electric car seems like a perfectly legitimate option for consumers.
And Australia will never really be able to contribute a huge amount to the fusion power effort. We lack the funds and sheer combined brainpower of the EU or US. But lots of small scale innovation e.g. Wifi has always been something we've excelled at.
decentralised energy sources seem like a great idea, if you want civilisation to be more robust against disasters, which we're already seeing more and more of and will continue to do so as we warm the planet.
decentralised decarbonised energy sources seems superficially like win-win: as we wreck the planet, they're more robust, and it also slows the rate we're wrecking the planet.
i agree it would probably be helpful to spend a lot more money on research.
it would also be a good idea to spend less money and effort on useless consumer junk, and have a good hard think about the long-term implications of the philosophy of economic growth as the solution to all problems.
