Australia’s Objective is Net-Zero Emissions in the next few decades

There are currently three states in Austria, one in Spain and two in Germany that receive energy from renewable sources. First of these regions to implement fully renewable sources was Germany’s Rhein-Hunsrück, back in 2012.

The city of Canberra collects its renewable energy from large scale solar energy projects and wind turbines in the territory and nearby states. This includes solar panels on properties and purchases from accredited sources.

Canberra’s government has set goals to generate 33 terawatt-hours of its electricity from new renewable sources by 2020 but these objectives were met ahead of schedule. According to researchers of climate and energy, more ambitious goals are needed to encourage greater investments in renewable energy projects.

Double Energy from Renewables by 2050

Additionally, the Australian government has committed to running entirely on renewable electricity and produce double of what it needs to produce a super green export industry by 2050.

Various reports from scientists, after examining the economic opportunities of decarbonisation over the next few decades, believe that with policy support, Australia could become a global leader, in the export of zero-carbon energy and of course climate mitigation.

After much research and scenarios taken into effect, considering only Australia’s existing climate and energy policies, assuming decarbonisation in the avenues of electricity, transport and industry, renewables would produce 200 per cent of the countries domestic electricity demand and supply a massive export market. There would be widespread electrification of heat, transport, buildings and industrial processes. But to achieve the aforementioned would require the entire world to move to a zero-carbon energy system.

The important factor here is to actually decide on doing something about climate change, according to researcher Dylan McConnell of the University of Melbourne. He expresses in his report,

The demand for hydrogen is essentially predicated on deep decarbonisation around the world and in Australia. This continent could maintain its position as an energy “superpower” in a carbon-constrained world. We’ve still got an energy competitive advantage, but instead of coal and gas, it’s wind and solar and lots of space.

McConnell also believes that a renewable energy export industry would allow for greater scale of projects, resulting in lower average costs.

Image Source by GEP