SutherlandCAN

Without national targets for renewable energy and despite its natural advantages and know-how, Australia is losing out in investment - and jobs - in the global race for energy technology. Giles Parkinson reports in The Bulletin, April 27 2007.

 

Includes these choice quotes used by KyogleCAN in their Did you know? forum of items provided to local newspapers:

• Says Terry Tamminen, architect of California's successful energy reforms, "Countries that tie their future to carbon economies will contract and they will lose jobs. We've seen billion of dollars in net gain to the economy and tens of thousands of jobs.”
• Wind is Australia's most readily harnessed renewable energy. The CSIRO estimates enough wind could be exploited to account for 85% of the country's energy needs, but wind currently accounts for just 1% of its total capacity.
• “All the historical changes in energy supply, from dung to wood to coal to oil, have stimulated economies. Couching the climate policy debate in Australia in terms of the cost to GDP growth and jobs undersells the actual impact of an energy revolution.” -Tim Bond, the head of asset allocation at Barclays Capital, one of the world's largest fund managers
• Wind power for generating electricity is more labour intensive than coal, and requires 2.5 times more units of labour for every MW of electricity produced. Susan Jeanes, executive director of the Australian Renewable Energy Association
• Australia's current energy mix is nearly 80% black and brown coal, 12% gas, and just more than 8% renewables. Almost all of the latter is accounted for by hydro electric schemes. Wind, solar and biomass account for barely 1% between them.
• The Spanish government expects jobs in its wind power industry to double to 60,000 by 2011 as it mandates a doubling in capacity.