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Somehow, someway the Scomo government needs to recognise that climate change can only be tackled with a commitment to massive de- carbonisation and a new renewable energy industrial base. This report might give him the ammunition to take that step.
If Scott Morrison is inclined to execute the pivot he’s spent months telegraphing – towards net zero by 2050 – a report out this week contains some helpful fodder
The federal government led by Scott Morrison hopes to have something concrete to say at the Cop26 in Glasgow in November. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Sat 24 Jul 2021 06.00 AEST
Last modified on Sat 24 Jul 2021 09.16 AEST
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...s-to-present-different-climate-facts#comments
258
With 14 million people in lockdown and the news in Sydney going from bad to worse, and with Scott Morrison steadfastly avoiding an apology for moving too slowly on vaccinations until the moment the word sorry crossed his lips, all eyes were on the pandemic.
This was a week where any other interesting insights sank like a stone, so let’s clear some space for one of the lost insights.
On Tuesday, the group Beyond Zero Emissions released a report based on economic analysis from ACIL Allen. This work found that establishing renewable energy industrial precincts in two Australian regions would create 45,000 new jobs and generate revenue of $13bn a year by 2032. The two regions the report identified were the Hunter in New South Wales and Gladstone in central Queensland. If you follow politics closely, you’ll know these regions will be heavily contested at the next federal election.
In the world envisaged by this report, dedicated renewable energy zones would support energy intensive businesses during the transition to low emissions. I might need to repeat that sentence because the Coalition has spent more than a decade telling Australians that renewables and heavy industry are fundamentally incompatible.
In case that cacophony of mendacity has messed with your cognition, allow me to repeat: new renewable energy industrial precincts would be created to support activity like aluminium smelting, hydrogen and chemical production and manufacturing for the new energy economy. This conversation is about re-industrialising Australia for the low emissions global economy, using the existing industrial precincts that have been domestic employers and export powerhouses for generations because these regions have skilled workers, deepwater ports, existing transport infrastructure, and access to renewable energy resources.
The report says a renewable precinct in the Hunter could unlock new capital investment of $28bn in the region, including $8.6bn for storage/firming capacity, as well as transmission lines, freight networks and renewable hydrogen infrastructure and export facilities. There is an aluminium smelter in the Hunter, which the report notes will need 800-900 megawatts of firmed energy.
In Gladstone, which has Australia’s second largest aluminium smelter (at Boyne Island), the analysis points to new manufacturing activities attracting additional capital investment of $7.8bn to the region, including $1.7bn for key infrastructure such as storage and firming facilities.
If Morrison is inclined to execute the pivot he’s spent months telegraphing – the creep towards a net zero commitment by 2050 – this week’s report contains some helpful fodder. Forecasting the future is always a function of inputs and outputs, with a heavy overlay of uncertainty. But drilling into the opportunities for two industrialised regions that sit on the frontline of Australia’s deranged carbon wars marks a welcome break from the weaponised hyper-partisan windbaggery about the costs of the transition.
www.theguardian.com
Having spent a decade framing emissions reduction in apocalyptic terms, the Coalition now has to present different facts
Katharine MurphyIf Scott Morrison is inclined to execute the pivot he’s spent months telegraphing – towards net zero by 2050 – a report out this week contains some helpful fodder
The federal government led by Scott Morrison hopes to have something concrete to say at the Cop26 in Glasgow in November. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Sat 24 Jul 2021 06.00 AEST
Last modified on Sat 24 Jul 2021 09.16 AEST
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...s-to-present-different-climate-facts#comments
258
With 14 million people in lockdown and the news in Sydney going from bad to worse, and with Scott Morrison steadfastly avoiding an apology for moving too slowly on vaccinations until the moment the word sorry crossed his lips, all eyes were on the pandemic.
This was a week where any other interesting insights sank like a stone, so let’s clear some space for one of the lost insights.
On Tuesday, the group Beyond Zero Emissions released a report based on economic analysis from ACIL Allen. This work found that establishing renewable energy industrial precincts in two Australian regions would create 45,000 new jobs and generate revenue of $13bn a year by 2032. The two regions the report identified were the Hunter in New South Wales and Gladstone in central Queensland. If you follow politics closely, you’ll know these regions will be heavily contested at the next federal election.
In the world envisaged by this report, dedicated renewable energy zones would support energy intensive businesses during the transition to low emissions. I might need to repeat that sentence because the Coalition has spent more than a decade telling Australians that renewables and heavy industry are fundamentally incompatible.
In case that cacophony of mendacity has messed with your cognition, allow me to repeat: new renewable energy industrial precincts would be created to support activity like aluminium smelting, hydrogen and chemical production and manufacturing for the new energy economy. This conversation is about re-industrialising Australia for the low emissions global economy, using the existing industrial precincts that have been domestic employers and export powerhouses for generations because these regions have skilled workers, deepwater ports, existing transport infrastructure, and access to renewable energy resources.
The report says a renewable precinct in the Hunter could unlock new capital investment of $28bn in the region, including $8.6bn for storage/firming capacity, as well as transmission lines, freight networks and renewable hydrogen infrastructure and export facilities. There is an aluminium smelter in the Hunter, which the report notes will need 800-900 megawatts of firmed energy.
In Gladstone, which has Australia’s second largest aluminium smelter (at Boyne Island), the analysis points to new manufacturing activities attracting additional capital investment of $7.8bn to the region, including $1.7bn for key infrastructure such as storage and firming facilities.
If Morrison is inclined to execute the pivot he’s spent months telegraphing – the creep towards a net zero commitment by 2050 – this week’s report contains some helpful fodder. Forecasting the future is always a function of inputs and outputs, with a heavy overlay of uncertainty. But drilling into the opportunities for two industrialised regions that sit on the frontline of Australia’s deranged carbon wars marks a welcome break from the weaponised hyper-partisan windbaggery about the costs of the transition.
After framing emissions reduction in apocalyptic terms, the Coalition must now present different facts | Katharine Murphy
If Scott Morrison is inclined to execute the pivot he’s spent months telegraphing – towards net zero by 2050 – a report out this week contains some helpful fodder
But that is not going to be possible in the near future IMV.
