In the eagerly anticipated keynote address at the ATRAA 09 Conference and Exhibition in Canbera, Professor Flannery said that solar energy is the single most important of the renewable energy sources for our longer term energy future. It is deployable at any scale, it directly harvests the ultimate source of Earth’s power, the sun, and costs to deploy it are coming down.

Professor Flannery spoke highly of the industry’s long-time advocates and expressed his understanding of the frustrations the industry has faced. He voiced his vision in which solar power would desalinate and purify water cheaply around the world.

Professor Flannery discussed the transformations occurring in the global response to the climate change problem, as well as the Australian and regional context. He spoke in depth about the importance of legislation such as the Waxman-Markey Bill in the US and bilateral agreements – particularly the leadership shown by the US in its negotiations with China in recent weeks – in encouraging a global commitment.

“Between them, China and the US account for 40 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. If they were to come together with an agreed position at the table at Copenhagen then we will see advances being made and the rest of the world will have very little choice but to move forward with the initiative taken by those countries,” he said.

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Professor Flannery supports the CPRS because it is a first step. However there is another solution that he argues would see significant change to Australia’s energy sector.

“I would give away everything the government has done for a single piece of legislation – that Australia would cease burning coal conventionally by 2030. The science demands that we stop burning coal conventionally by 2030.”

He said such a clear signal that we are not in the business of burning coal after 2030 will be very powerful, and will drive investment in wind, photovoltaics, geothermal, and other renewables. Large investments and large-scale transformation are absolutely necessary. Professor Flannery said that while government leadership is in short supply, it is essential.

Concluding, Professor Flannery anticipated the significant changes ahead.

“We’re now perched right on the brink of a profound transformation of not only our energy supplies but our entire societies in ways that will lead to that most elusive of goals – true sustainability.”