West Australian
27 January 2011, Page: 19
Around the world, growth in renewable energy is now greater than any other energy investment but not in Australia. In 2009, 48% of new energy generation capacity worldwide was renewable. The emerging data for last year shows as much as two-thirds of global energy installation was renewable. Even in some places where action on energy is not primarily about climate change, but rather about ensuring a secure energy supply, countries are overwhelmingly choosing energy that is also free of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Australia, in contrast, is far behind. Just 25% of new energy-generation capacity is renewable. Why? The traditional economic modelling in Australia flies in the face of global predictions and assumes only negative impacts on the economy for energy pricing based on our reliance on carbon-based fuels, and makes little reference to the nation-building, economic values of the development of renewable energy.
Generally, Australian projections are silent on the positive economic impact of the mandated renewable energy target. Renewable energy - a mix of established, new and emerging technology - is for the most part at the top of a product cost curve. This means electricity from renewable sources will only get cheaper. The best strategy is to establish a carbon price, providing certainty to the market that allows businesses to make decisions on the best low-emissions and no-emissions technologies.
This is in some ways understandable with the wealth of non-renewable resources that Australia has, and with companies who have licences to those assets and the desire to profit from them. Many argue that Australia must do all it can to export fossil fuel and nuclear power, but the dilemma is that if the world energy markets turn rapidly to renewables, our economy will be exposed to declining energy export markets. As the nation with the world's best renewable energy resources, all Australian governments need to be more ambitious in support of renewable energy generation and provide the added certainty of a carbon price.
Ray Wills is chief executive of the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia
1 comments:
The world´s non-renewable resources are running out at an alarming rate, and our consumption is increasing exponentially. We need to switch energy from non renewable resources to solar, wind power or others and reduce carbon footprinting.
Best regards from www.givetome.net
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