As statistics go, this is a good one: Australia could generate enough electricity to satisfy the needs of the entire world by covering just two per cent of its landmass in solar panels. It’s the geographical equivalent of a rounding error, especially when you consider that 90 per cent of Australia’s landmass is uninhabited. Denmark’s renewable energy pioneer Henrik Stiesdal remarked recently that he couldn’t think of anywhere else in the world with such potential. To give you an idea of the magnitude, in a standard year, the available solar energy falling on the Australian landmass is estimated at 58 million petajoules – the entire world only currently uses 600,000 petajoules annually.
Australia risks wasting its solar superpower status | Lowy Institute
