I’m a Scientist is like school science lessons meet the X Factor! School students choose which scientist gets a prize of $1000 to communicate their work.
Scientists and students talk on this website. They both break down barriers, have fun and learn. But only the students get to vote.
This zone is the Boron Zone. It has a range of scientists studying all different topics. Who gets the prize? YOU decide!
Good question. Hopefully the sun & perhaps some wind…. but we will be relying on coal & gas to a large degree for some time. I am hopeful that we can switch mainstream to renewable energy
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In my opinion Australia should be making massive investments into developing solar energy – we have the best country in the world for it! Sadly, I can’t see the political willpower to stop using our cheap coal or gas anytime soon.
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We seem hell bend out digging up or extracting things from the ground! Iron ore and coal seem to be amongst our biggest resources – Heather may be able to tell us for how long they will last, as I don’t know. My concern is more around the long term impacts to our countryside and wildlife from these activities.
Like Matthew and Mark I would really like to see attention turn to renewable resources like solar, wind and even wave generation or Geo-thermal energy (cue Heather). Sustainable tourism. Have some our farmers turn their attention to carbon sequestration, but ensuring sustainable biodiversity outcomes, rather than a short term grab for cash. Lots of opportunities out there they just don’t always get the recognition or government support required.
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I’d like to think that various forms of solar energy and some wind energy will make up our main source of energy. Hopefully we can give up our reliance on coal in the near to mid-term future, since eventually it will run out, not to mention the pollution that burning it generates.
In terms of other resources, I’d say people and their ideas will always be our main resource. Australia has always punched above its weight on this front and I hope that it continues into the future.
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If you’re talking about energy, the unfortunate truth is that Australia will probably continue to use a lot of coal and some gas for a long time to come. Gas reserves might run out in a few decades (don’t quote me on that, I’m not sure) but our coal will last for more than 100 years. Moving away from coal is politically unpopular because so many jobs and so much money is tied up in it.
Iron ore is another huge resource for Australia and doesn’t show much sign of running out soon (sorry I don’t know how long it will last, but we seem to keep finding more of it so its difficult to say). Other minerals also are hugely important to Australia’s economy. As long as demand for these resources continues, we will continue to dig them out of the ground. International politics is the controlling factor.
I think its absolute madness that we don’t make more use of solar energy in Australia. Why doesn’t every building have solar panels on its roof? If you work out the cost of building a new coal or gas power station, and work out how many solar panels you could install for the same amount of money, you begin to see how crazy it is. But it all comes down to politics.
As you know, I have an interest in geothermal energy as another type of renewable energy source. I think it should be part of our energy supply in the future, but the reality is that it is quite difficult and expensive to use. Solar, wind, wave and tidal power make a lot of sense and the technology already exists. Other countries make better use of these resources than we do.
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