30,000 solar panels will be installed every hour around the world over the next 5 years according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The triple-disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown that hit the northeast of Japan in March 2011 was a wake-up call for many people. This was true for Masayoshi Son, a founder, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Softbank Group, a Japanese multinational telecommunications and internet corporation. Having experienced the danger of nuclear power plants in Fukushima, he felt the need to replace nuclear power with safer and cleaner renewable energy for a better future.

The former head of Australia’s most polluting brown coal generator is proposing a 10-fold increase in the size of a solar PV plant he proposes fills in the market gap created by the closure of Port Augusta’s own brown coal-fired generation capacity.

We regard Queensland’s 50% renewable target by 2030 as potentially by far the largest driver of new renewable energy supply in Australia over the next 20 years. Queensland is the only State where electricity demand is presently growing, it is Australia’s second largest source of electricity demand the current renewable supply is tiny relative to the target. Only NSW has the potential to match Queensland and for now the NSW Govt is more preoccupied with public transport.