Australia: Solar energy technology must be improved: G-G

Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffrey has stepped into the energy debate, saying solar power is Australia’s best prospect of securing a large-scale clean and sustainable energy source.

Speaking at a Future Summit in Sydney, he suggested water, food and the environment would be among Australia’s top issues in 50 years time, and that all three were linked to plentiful and reasonably priced energy.
Major General Jeffrey also told the summit that thorium – a naturally occurring and slightly radioactive metal – should be explored as a nuclear fuel alternative, as well as the potential to extract oil from shale deposits in central Queensland.

But he says improving solar technology is a priority.

“The Australian scientists suggest that they could meet the total energy needs of Australia with a solar panel array of around 50 kilometres squared,” he said.

“How to store and then distribute that energy remains the technical problem requiring rapid resolution.”

ABC