The Weekly Times, Page: 17
Wednesday, 12 July 2006
The Federal Government is ill-informed on the wind energy debate, says Dominique La Fontaine
THE time has come to set the record straight on wind energy, after a great deal of recent debate prompted by illinformed comments. Despite misleading claims to the contrary, the Australian wind energy industry does not exist because of taxpayer subsidies. An individual wind farm project may cost anywhere from $100 million to $400 million and the developer must carry the entire financial liability without government funding. The only guarantee the wind energy sector receives is guaranteed access to a share of half a per cent of the electricity market, through the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target scheme.
MRET was created in part to level the disparity between high carbon dioxide emitting and low carbon dioxide emitting generation systems. The MRET is now full, meaning under the current federal regulations there is no incentive for anyone to invest in renewable energy in Australia. Recent comments by Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran (The Weekly Times, July 5) that the wind energy industry was "exaggerating its energy credentials and using government subsidies to build massive wind farms" are illinformed on several levels. Apart from the technical facts, which I will touch on shortly, it was disappointing to see the Federal Minister reject out of hand a technology that provides regular guaranteed income to hundreds of farmers while also helping to tackle climate change, the greatest medium to long-term threat to their livelihoods.
The wind energy industry does not pretend to be the single answer to our future electricity needs. Instead it aims to be a significant part of the mix of technologies that will supply our power for years to come. The difference between wind and many other emission-free energy sources is that wind is available and working now, both here and overseas, with proven, reliable technology. There are 41 wind farms operating, with a total of 505 turbines.
Another two wind farms, with 98 more turbines, are under construction. On average, Australia has one single wind turbine for every 12,739 square km of land. Australia's present total installed capacity is 738 megawatts. In an average year that creates 2262 gigawatt-hours of electricity-enough to power 314,000 homes, or more than a quarter of Melbourne's domestic consumption.
At the same time, it is preventing the production of almost three million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, which is the equivalent of taking 680,000 cars off our roads or planting 4.39 million trees. Compared to other energy sources, wind uses a freely available, naturally occurring, unprocessed and inexhaustible fuel source, has zero security risk and produces no emissions. At least 98 per cent of the land used for wind turbines is also available for cropping or grazing, and at the end of its working life (20-25 years) a wind turbine can be easily and safely removed.
Now consider the cost. The best available modelling shows that if electricity from burning fossil fuels included the cost of pollution mitigation, be it geosequestration, so-called "clean" coal, or some other technology, wind power would be easily competitive. As for nuclear power, present cost estimates show it to be at a similar level to wind, but still with no long-term answer or guarantees about radioactive waste disposal. Wind is the fastest growing energy industry in the world.
China, India, the US, Canada and many European nations are leading the way in wind power. Australia is blessed with some of the best and most reliable winds on earth. The Federal Government can ensure it is ready to take advantage of this free natural resource by providing incentives for investment in wind. This would be a concrete step toward truly tackling our greenhouse gas emissions while also providing the power that modern society demands.
Dominique La Fontaine is the chief executive of Auswind, the Australian Wind Energy Association.
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