Musk Call With Turnbull Sparks Battery Debate in Australia
- Turnbull declares energy storage will be priority this year
- Resources minister says batteries part of mix with clean coal
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Elon Musk’s brave bet to fix Australia’s energy crisis -- or hand the money back -- landed the tech entrepreneur an hour-long phone call with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and quickly threw him into a debate over whether battery technology is the solution for a nation still wedded to coal for much of its power.
Sunday’s call followed a Twitter conversation last week between Musk and Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes in which Musk promised to install and get working a Tesla Inc. battery storage system designed to prevent blackouts in South Australia, the Australian mainland state most reliant on renewable energy. The promise injected Musk into the middle of a messy political spat in Australia over energy policy.