Renewable Energy |
Article
by Lee Brennan  |
Climate
change and energy
The debate over the existence of human-induced climate
change has almost vanished over recent years. There
is no denying that the modern way of life in developed
economies combined with a growing world population is
incurring a negative impact on the climate. You only
have to look at our longer summers and dry lakes for
a hint of this.
Energy
consumption is Australia's largest source of greenhouse
gas emissions. The table below shows the source of Australian
greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in 2002.
Source: Australian Greenhouse Office,
National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2002
Australians
generate more emissions on a per capita basis than any
other developed nation, and climate change is projected
to affect Australia more than other countries.
Renewable energy
This
underlines the importance of developing and promoting
renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass, hydro
and geothermal which generate zero emissions. The table
below shows the level of emissions for each different
means of producing electricity.
Source:
Australian Government estimate 2004
The
need for renewable energy is easy to prove, but reality
shows it is much more difficult to implement. This seems
to be the case across different levels of the Australian
economy, from government and businesses to individual
consumers.
Government
Australia
is falling behind in the challenge to generate renewable
energy (demonstrated by our refusal to ratify the Kyoto
Protocol, the only global response aimed at reducing
emissions). So far the response from governments has
focused on the promotion of better consumer patterns,
through state-led initiatives like Green
Power.
There
has been little focus on promoting the significant research
and technology required, or to force significant enough
regulatory changes, the consequences of which include
Australia's global advantage in solar technology being
lost.
Corporate
In
line with the government's spin on the topic, the Australian
corporate sector has a relatively high percentage of
companies in the resource sector. These companies, by
their nature, are energy intensive and are therefore
more sensitive to the higher costs currently associated
with renewable energy.
This
'excuse' aside, there are some
very good examples of companies producing and promoting
renewable energy in Australia. It's not just renewable
energy companies that can contribute though, for example
Visy Industries pulp and paper mill at Tumut has the
ability to be 65% energy self-sufficient through minimal
water use and by using waste wood as an energy source,
a clear example of world-best environment practice.
Sustainability Victoria has some tips on how
to reduce your business' energy consumption.
Consumers
Currently
less than 2% of Australian consumers have elected to
purchase electricity from renewable sources. The reason
sighted for this has been the extra cost of signing
up to renewable energy without any tangible benefit
to the consumer's lifestyle. Prices are coming down
though and most energy retailers, such as TRU,
Energex
and Origin
now offer a competitive green option.
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