| With its abundance of natural energy resources and international reputation for research and development, Australia is a world leader in the rapidly developing renewable energy sector. The industry is diverse and includes bulk electricity generation from wind, biomass and hydro power, as well as photovoltaics, geothermal, solar hot water and remote area power systems (RAPS). The Australian Greenhouse Office has taken responsibility for ensuring an additional 9,500GWh of electricity is produced from renewable sources in Australia by 2010.
Australia’s sustainable energy industry is a test bed for products and processes, which are destined to become essential features of the world's future renewable energy strategy. This is partly because Australia’s climatic conditions and expertise favour the development of such diverse forms of sustainable energy, but also because of the proximity of Asia, which is one of the world's primary markets for such technology.
The markets with the greatest opportunities for Australian renewable energy include China, Chile, Thailand, USA and India. China and Chile in particular are facing serious energy issues and are currently imposing mandatory high renewable energy targets, with China insisting that 15 per cent of its energy will come from renewable sources by 2020. As part of the Australian Government's Bilateral Climate Change Partnership with China, Australian expertise is currently helping develop China’s renewable energy sector in order for it to meet government-imposed mandatory targets. Australia is also assisting the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) 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, 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 development of wind farms, grid connection and component manufacturing.
The Albany wind farm in Western Australia is now Australia's largest wind farm. In an average year the wind farm is expected to produce about 77,000 MWh of electricity which is equivalent to 75 per cent of the City of Albany's electricity requirements. This will result in a lowering of greenhouse gas emissions by about 77,000 tonnes per year.
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 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.
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).
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.bcse.org.au/home.asp - Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy
www.greenhouse.gov.au/renewable - Australian Renewable Energy
www.environmentbusiness.com.au - Environment Business Australia
www.environmentdirectory.com.au/associations/seia.html - Sustainable Energy Industries Association |
