Renewables, gas the cheapest form of energy, report finds

The energy crunch is upon us with 90% of Australia's coal-fired power stations to close over the next decade. That energy does need to be replaced urgently. The challenge? Enormous batteries and pumped hydro will have to grow sevenfold in the next six years, 16 times by 2050. Wind and solar farms need to more than double by 2036 fold by mid century, while rooftop solar will have to quadruple and gas use has to increase too as total electricity consumption. Almost double S Ultimately, if investments aren't delivered in a timely fashion, consumers will pay more for their energy. We believe that you need nuclear and gas and renewables, although the opposition's atomic power plan wouldn't see the first nuclear reactors running until 2035 at the earliest. It's not just that nuclear is expensive to build, it's also that to make it work, it needs to force out the cheapest form of energy, renewables, with much of the energy transition dependent on households buying rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles. There are calls for the less well off not to be forgotten. Policies to reduce emissions are disproportionately benefiting. People with wealth and choice and with more than $120 billion of investment required, somebody has to pay. Andrew Prominent. 9 News.