A leading climate change scientist in Australia believes Britain is streets ahead on climate change policy. or signup to continue reading Speaking ahead of his upcoming appearance at Mount Beauty Writers Festival, Professor Ian Lowe said he had been able to get a feel for how Britain was doing during an extended stay there over winter and spring. "They have reduced their use of coal much more rapidly than we have, partly because of Thatcher's attack on the mining industry to weaken the union movement," he said.
"They don't have the same opportunity as we have to use solar energy but they have put a lot more effort (and funding) into off-shore wind." Formally educated in physics, Professor Lowe has been working for about 40 years on aspects of energy supply and use, especially environmental consequences such as climate change, as well as the broader issue of sustainable futures. He said several countries got most of their electricity from hydro such as Norway 89 per cent, Brazil 60 per cent and Canada 58 per cent.
"Denmark gets 58 per cent of its electricity from wind, UK 28 per cent, Germany 27 per cent and Netherlands 24 per cent," Professor Lowe said. "Chile gets the largest share of its power from solar (20 per cent), with Spain, Netherlands and Australia all about 17 per cent." President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University, an adjunct professor at Flinders and Sunshine Coast universities, .