Why Resource-Rich Australia Can't Keep Lights On: QuickTake Q&A
A worker crosses a walkway at a plant at the Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas (QCLNG) project site, operated by QGC Pty, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, in Gladstone, Australia, on Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Gas from more than 2,500 wells travels hundreds of miles by pipeline to the project, where it's chilled and pumped into 10-story-high tanks before being loaded onto massive ships.
Photographer: Patrick Hamilton/BloombergAustralia has some of the world’s largest reserves of fossil fuels but is running short on gas. That’s raised the prospect of widespread power outages and stoked a national debate over energy policy -– as well as prompting Elon Musk to offer up a solution.
In two years’ time, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator. That prognosis covers three states (New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia) that account for almost two thirds of the population. South Australia already experienced a blackout in September, primarily the result of a freak storm. The incident highlighted the teetering nature of the electricity grid and a national energy policy that’s suffered through neglect in a country that’s had six prime ministers in eight years.