Like all things that seem too good to be true there is a catch: it requires a substantial investment. To kick-start this investment requires a carbon price. The keynote speakers at the Sydney launch of Beyond Zero Emissions, both Malcolm Turnbull and Bob Carr agreed that the most efficient and effective carbon price comes from a carbon market.
That’s right a carbon market!
How does a carbon market lead to a renewable energy Australia? Well, putting a price on carbon ensures investment is allocated to low-carbon technologies rather than carbon emission intense fossil fuels. Renewables become more economically attractive. As Malcolm Turnbull said, “we need to send a price signal to the market that encourages the step changes in technology that will transform our economy.”
The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan is one of those “step” changes in technology. Mind you, it is a big step. The plan requires an investment of $37 billion every year for the next ten years. To get investors excited about this kind of investment fossil fuels need to be loaded with a carbon price.
Renewable energy investors get excited
And investors need to get excited because this well constructed plan to provide Australia with 100% renewable energy offers more than just a replacement for the electricity we use today. The plan suggests that Concentrated Solar Thermal, a technology that is already successfully used in Spain, will supply the majority (60 per cent) of Australia’s energy needs. Wind turbines will provide the remaining 40 per cent.
The most interesting part of the plan is how the energy is used. It includes the switch of services currently provided by gas and oil (including transport), a major upgrade to the national electricity grid, and the employment generated by manufacturing and servicing the projects – including up to 80,000 jobs at the peak of construction.
But that is not all; in the long run the efficiencies of scale mean that the cost of renewable energy generated by Concentrated Solar Thermal could be as low as that of new coal fire powered generation!
Time to think outside the box
Thinking outside the box, Australia could use its vast renewable energy resources to become an exporter of renewable energy. With a growing demand for energy in Asia Australia could continue to be an energy provider, but instead of exporting coal Australia would export zero carbon emission energy.
Still sounds too good to be true? At the very least, the plan proves that a renewable energy solution is feasible. No longer can it be said that it is not possible. To ensure it happens we need a carbon price and the most ideal carbon price comes from a carbon market. Alan Jones MBE, Chief Development Officer of Energy and Climate Change for the City of Sydney, summed it up bluntly in the last slide of his presentation, “The barriers to change are not technical or economic, but [are] regulatory, mindset and vested interest.”
Further information:
- Carbon Market (Climakind)
- Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan
- Beyond Zero Emissions website
Written by Michael Salvatico
Images courtesy of Beyond Zero Emissions
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