Hard truths emerge in rush for solar

Dusty Bogan heads out to a fiery town hall meeting where the local farmers aren't taking any crap about a proposed battery factory being plonked in their patch. With the Queensland state election just days away, the bush is fired up, as these communities fight tooth and nail to keep their farms and national parks from being steamrolled by solar farms, wind turbines, power lines, and giant battery setups. As the solar craze picks up, the cracks are starting to show. A US study by Clean Energy Associates found 25 percent of these big battery systems have fire hazards baked in, thanks to dodgy manufacturing. It became all too real last November when a Tesla battery blew up at the Bouldercombe solar plant near Rocky. Locals were told to stay indoors and steer clear of the toxic smoke while the firies had to just let the thing burn for days. Dusty sits down with a couple of local election hopefuls--one from One Nation and another from Family First--and has a yarn with Jim Willmott, a libertarian Senate candidate. Tune in to hear what they reckon about the future of Queensland's bush and farming heartland as they take on these controversial projects head-on.

Oct 23rd, 2024