“Australian Sustainable Energy – by the numbers” by Professor Peter Seligman (University of Melbourne, Melbourne Energy Institute, 2010) ) sets out how Australia can rapidly install 100% renewable and geothermal electrical power by 2035 for $253 billion. It can be obtained by free download from here: http://energy.unimelb.edu.au/uploads/Australian_Sustainable_Energy-by_the_numbers.pdf .
The author, Dr Peter Seligman, is an outstanding electrical engineer who has been a major player in the development of the bionic year. He studied electrical engineering at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and subsequently completed a PhD in 1973 with a thesis entitled "Auditory Pattern transmission". According to the Bionic Ear Institute, Melbourne “Professor Peter Seligman designed the first portable speech processor for the University of Melbourne bionic ear device and was a key member of Professor Graeme Clark's team [Cochlear] that developed the Bionic Ear. Professor Seligman has joined The Bionic Ear Institute and will help guide staff in research, development and commercialisation.” (see: http://www.bionicear.org/news.html ).
Dr Peter Seligman in Chapter 5 “The Bill”, estimating that “Including the cost of the pipes and turbines, to convert our existing electrical power system to completely renewable sources, we will need: Power stations ( wind, solar and geothermal) $198 billion; High voltage power lines $20 billion; Turbines and pipes $33 billion; Storage pond (dam) $2 billion; Total $253 billion (Table 7. The renewable power bill) over say 25 years. That’s about $10 billion per year or about $500 per person per year or $1.40 per person per day.” [1].
[1]. Peter Seligman, “Australian Sustainable Energy – by the numbers”, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Energy Institute, 2010, Chapter 5, p45.