Renewable Energy Targets and Clean Energy Sources, what’s happening now?
At Sunshine Solarlife we are passionate about Australia becoming truly “Clean and Green”, so it was a nice change to see that Australia has been noticed in America for our Environmental Efforts…… a very interesting and informative article published in the New York Times Aug 22, 2010 discusses how we have stepped up our Renewable Energy Efforts, starting with a billion dollar wind farm in Victoria, and the unique factors & challenges facing us as a country despite our apparent abundance of clean energy sources…….
New York Times Aug 22; SYDNEY — Australia has plans to build the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere by 2013, part of its scramble to fight climate change and harness its abundance of clean energy sources — wind, solar, waves, geothermal energy and bioenergy.
“It’s a blessing and a curse,” said Matthew Warren, head of the Clean Energy Council www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au which represents more than 350 companies in renewable energy and energy efficiency fields.
“Australia is really at the top of the list, in the scale of the economy and the quality and scale of renewable resources,” Mr. Warren said. “But the grid issues are significant because we run a very, very large, long and thin grid,” he said. “It’s like running a grid from Paris to Moscow with sparsely distributed energy demand through that grid.”
But we have begun to tackle the problem, with revised renewable energy targets passed in June earmarking 20 billion Australian dollars, or nearly $18 billion, for clean energy technologies by 2020 and expected to create 28,000 new jobs…….we’ll see if that survives with what ever government structure we end up having in place now!
On Aug. 12, the largest energy retailer in Australia, A.G.L. Energy, and New Zealand’s state-owned Meridian Energy announced that they would build a billion-dollar wind farm in Macarthur, in Victoria State. Its 140 wind turbines would make it the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, generating enough power for 220,000 homes and abating 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, which is equivalent to taking 420,000 cars off the road. And wind generation is cheaper than other forms of renewable energy destined to feed a grid, says Tim Lusk, chief executive of Meridian.
Australia has set a renewable energy target of 20 percent by 2020, which the Clean Energy Council believes can be met despite the fact Australia has not put a price on carbon emissions. During the election campaign, the Labor Party and the opposition appeared divided over whether to set such a “carbon price,” which would force coal power operators to invest in cleaner technology and make renewable energy more competitive.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said that she is still in favor of a market-based carbon program to tackle climate change but has deferred a decision until 2012. Tony Abbott, the opposition leader, is opposed to a carbon price……….what will happen now of course is anyones guess!
Not having a carbon price could cost the Australian economy and consumers an extra 2 billion dollars by 2020 because of investment in less energy efficient power plants, the Climate Institute in Australia estimates. www.climateinstitute.org.au
“It would be better in the long run if we had a carbon price,” said Mr. Warren of the Clean Energy Council. “It’s the economic tool of choice, because it’s seen as being the most efficient and most effective.”
He added: “Once introduced, it creates a core signal to business to change their investment patterns. Without it we are in a second-best market. We encourage a more cooperative approach to a carbon scheme as quickly as possible.”
But the bipartisan agreement that helped pass the laws on renewable energy in June does not exist on carbon. To get the renewable energy legislation passed in the Senate, Australia had to separate its renewable energy plans from its carbon trading program, just as President Barack Obama had to cut his clean energy initiatives from sweeping climate change legislation to appease the U.S. Congress.
Worldwide, investment in renewable energies has boomed in recent years, with some $190 billion worth of new clean energy in 2008, according to the Renewables Global Status Report for 2009.One of the problems in Australia is that from a “clean energy” point of view, we have too many energy resources, and too much cheap coal, which currently generates about 80 percent of our electricity through coal-fired power stations.
Australia did have an opportunity in the 1980s and 1990s to develop large-scale renewable energy, but it sadly let it slip due the the level of risk and investment required. Back then, Australian scientists were in the vanguard of renewable energy technology, most notably Shi Zhengrong, who became known as the “Sun King” after leaving Australia to produce solar cells in China. Suntech Power, Mr. Shi’s company, is now one of the world’s leading makers of photovoltaic solar panels.
Read the full New York Times article at
