Tech billionaire Elon Musk has marked a groundbreaking milestone in Australian solar power generation by boldly predicting the future of the global energy mix.
Musk highlighted the rapid growth of rooftop solar in Western Australia, which accounted for an impressive 80.5 per cent of the state’s electricity generation on Monday.
As of 1:30 p.m., solar production, mainly from rooftop installations, generated a total of 2.12 gigawatts in the region, far exceeding production from traditional energy sources, according to data from the Australian Energy Market Operator.
In contrast, the contributions of natural gas and coal to the grid fell significantly, with shares of only 8.6 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
“Solar energy will be the vast majority of power generation in the future,” Musk wrote after sharing news about the Western Australian milestone.
As solar power generation increases in WA, the market operator and state government have signed contracts with battery developers to capture excess rooftop solar energy during the day and release it back into the grid during peak demand of the night.
Musk’s company, Tesla, has been at the forefront of accelerating the adoption of batteries and solar energy and has been a strong advocate for renewable energy solutions.
Last year, Musk suggested that if solar energy were harnessed effectively, it could power a civilization 100 times larger than the current world population.
Influential tech billionaire Elon Musk impressed by Western Australia’s solar energy figures
Musk shared a post on X showing companies installing solar panels on a roof in Western Australia, along with statistics showing solar panels produced 80.5 percent of the state’s electricity generation.
He said that because wind and solar power are not always consistent, it is becoming more important to use stationary battery packs at renewable energy sites to store energy for when it is needed.
Musk made the comments just hours after President-elect Donald Trump officially tapped him to “dismantle” America’s bloated $6.5 trillion bureaucracy by heading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump said the duo will “pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce overregulation, reduce wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies.”
However, it is still unclear how much influence Musk’s views on clean energy will have under the new Trump regime, with the president-elect pledging to increase fossil fuel production and withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement.
“I think in general we should be leaning toward sustainability,” Musk told Trump during a two-hour livestreamed chat the two men had on the social platform X in August. “And in fact, I think solar energy will make up the majority of the Earth’s energy generation in the future.”
But Musk downplayed the urgency of the project.
“I think we just want to take a step back and if I don’t know, 50 to 100 years from now we’ll be mostly sustainable, I think that’ll probably be fine,” Musk said. “It’s not like the house is on fire right away.”
Musk has also been a proponent of nuclear energy, which produces no greenhouse gases.
“Nuclear electricity generation is underrated,” Musk said during the conversation. “People are afraid of nuclear electricity generation, but it is actually one of the safest forms of generation.”