LEVERAGING THE GLOBAL DECARBONISATION DRIVE INTO JOBS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Paul Hodgson , ACEcD
Australia is the lucky country with high quality natural resources sought after by the rest of the world , from energy ( coal , oil , gas and uranium ) to minerals and agricultural commodities . All of these sectors have been , and continue to be , significant export earners for Australia .
Australia currently is a global energy superpower as the world ’ s largest exporter of LNG , and one of the world ’ s largest exporters of black coal and uranium oxide , used to produce nuclear energy . In 2020-21 , coal , gas and oil represented 97.6 % of our energy resources production and we exported almost 84 %. Despite having the largest residential rooftop solar penetration in the world with one-in-four homes equipped with solar panels on their roof , our renewables made up only 2.4 % of production in that year ( Department of Climate Change , Energy , the Environment and Water 2022 Australian Energy Statistics , Tables A , F , J and Q ).
Even without a drive towards global decarbonisation , demand for Australia ’ s energy has been increasing , particularly due to the energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a desire to reduce European dependence on Russian oil and gas .
Australia can also be a ‘ renewable ’ energy superpower but what does that mean , how would we achieve it and what might success look like ?
Australia has world-leading renewables across solar , wind ( onshore and offshore ), tidal , wave , biomass and other sources . Geoscience Australia estimates that 58 million petajoules ( PJ ) of solar radiation hits Australia ’ s land mass each year
As a major exporter of energy and endowed with renewables , Australia has an opportunity and indeed a responsibility to take a leading role in global decarbonisation efforts , which are now gaining pace .
Over 96 % of world energy consumption is now covered by net zero ambitions ( CSIRO and Construction Skills Queensland , Queensland ’ s Renewable Future , 2022 ) meaning that over a slow multi-decade build-up , there is a near global consensus on the need for urgent action on climate change .
VOL 15 NO 3 2022 14 www . edaustralia . com . au