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With its abundance of natural energy resources and international reputation for research and development, Australia has world leading capabilities in the rapidly developing renewable energy sector.
Australia’s renewable energy industry is diverse and includes bulk electricity generation from wind, biomass and hydro power, as well as technologies and expertise in photovoltaics, geothermal, solar hot water, remote area power systems (RAPS) and energy storage.
To help ensure Australia derives 20 per cent of electricity from renewable energy by 2020, the Australian Government has committed to increasing the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target from 9,500 gigawatt-hours to 45,000 gigawatt-hours in 2020. The introduction of an Australian Emissions Trading System by 2010 will also encourage expansion of the renewable energy sector.
Export opportunities
Australia’s renewable and clean energy industries need to demonstrate how a diverse range of technologies can contribute to reduction of greenhouse emissions in a developed economy with abundant coal resources. Australian expertise developed to meet this domestic challenge can assist countries in the Asia Pacific and beyond to pursue development of renewable technology.
Australia’s recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and participation in the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and bi-lateral partnerships on climate change provide government to government support to assist renewable energy business collaboration.
Australian project developers have helped to finance and construct renewable energy facilities in India, China and South America. A number of Australian companies are exporting solar water heating and remote area power technologies. Australian research institutions have achieved a number of breakthrough technologies in solar energy which have been licensed to commercial partners in Asia, Europe and North America. Australia is also assisting Pacific Island countries to identify the most appropriate and sustainable energy solutions for their needs.
Key growth areas in the renewable energy sector include wind, solar, hydro and biomass.
Wind energy
Wind energy, long used for water pumping in much of Australia, has achieved recognition as a clean and cost-effective means of electrical power generation.
Australia has a world-class wind resource and matching expertise in the site location and development of wind farms, grid connection and component manufacturing.
The Hallett Brown Hill wind farm in South Australia is now Australia's largest wind farm. The farm is capable of producing 94.5 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power 60,000 homes.
Solar panels
Australia has many years experience developing photovoltaic solar energy, which is a convenient, quiet and clean way of providing long-term electrical power, both for remote locations and as a form of distributed power for houses connected to the electricity grid.
Current projects include BP Solar's factory, which is the southern hemisphere’s largest photovoltaic manufacturing plant.
Meanwhile, Origin Energy is helping cut the expense and resources used in the production of photovoltaic cells by commercialising a revolutionary solar cell developed by the Australian National University in Canberra.
Solar hot water technology
Solar water heaters use heat from the sun, which is directly transferred from the collectors to water, or transferred from the collectors to a heat transfer liquid, then via a heat exchanger to the potable water.
Quantum Energy Technologies in New South Wales has developed a way of reducing the energy required to heat water by up to 75 per cent. Quantum’s hot water units work on a heat-pump principle and don’t require direct sunlight. They operate in all weather conditions from minus 10°C to over 40°C and can therefore be used in most locations around the world.
Hydroelectricity
One of the earliest and most widespread forms of renewable energy in Australia, hydro-electric systems convert the potential energy of stored water to electrical energy by running it through water turbines.
Hydroelectric systems allow the generation of electricity at short notice, supplementing peak demand capacity and utilising the energy in water flows required in irrigation storage systems or even city water distribution systems.
Current projects include Koombooloomba Hydro in Queensland, which releases 364 billion litres of water from Koombooloomba Dam, generating 22,500 MWh of green energy per annum.
The project will save 350,000 tonnes of coal and 840,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its 40-year lifespan (approximately 120,000 tonnes per annum).
Biomass
Bioenergy is the conversion of sustainable biomass feed-stocks such as agricultural waste, manures, municipal organic waste, sewage gas and landfill gas into electricity, or electricity plus heat.
The Brooklyn project near Melbourne utilises methane gas extracted from the landfill and supplied to generators through a pipeline network. Capturing what would otherwise be a fugitive emission and converting it to electricity results in greenhouse emission reductions of approximately 40,000 tonnes per annum.
For more information please visit:
www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au – Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy
www.environment.gov.au/settlements/renewable/index.html – Department of Environment, Heritage and Arts www.climatechange.gov.au/renewabletarget/index.html – Department of Climate Change
www.ap6.gov.au – Australia Pacific Partnership on Climate Change
www.environmentbusiness.com.au – Environment Business Australia
www.environmentdirectory.com.au – Environment Directory
(Source: Renewable Energy Policy Network for 21st Century – Global Status Report 2007)
(Last updated: 18 Aug 2007) |