Renewable Energy in Australia - Literature review Example

Renewable Energy in Australia s English Department Talking about energy resources possessed by various countries and the potential fordevelopment in the field of energetics, one would certainly mention Australia, as the country’s energy potential is vast, with a wide range of resources cultivated for energy production. It has been reported by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (2014, p.1) that Australia possesses immense energy resources, being a worldwide leader in coal and uranium deposits and one of the major energy exporters: “This globally significant resource base is capable of meeting both domestic and increased export demand for coal and gas, and uranium exports, during the next several decades». However, apart from vast non-renewable energy resources and especially those insured by fossil fuels, the country has a great potential for renewable energy production that can be realized due to relatively stable political background and sound technological progress dynamics. The country already makes use of various renewable energy sources and works on further transition to this type of energetics. Renewable Energy Overview Sparked by the worldwide debates on greenhouse effect and anthropogenic nature of global warming caused by high level of CO2 emissions, the policy of the Australian government has been focusing on active development and cultivation of the vast renewable energy resources possessed by the continent. Renewable energy resources are presented in the rich diversity in Australia: solar, wind, hydro, tidal, wave, geothermal and bioenergy. Some of them are rather developed and have been successfully applied, others are underdeveloped and need attention to insure the country’s ‘safe’ energy supplies in the future. Considering the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions and emission quotes introduced by the Kyoto protocol, the government has adopted the course of transition and transformation of Australia’s energetics in order to enhance efficiency of energy extraction and use. Therefore, although renewable sources still account for a rather small share of energy supplies (bioenergy, solar and wind produced only 6% of Australian electricity in 2013 (US Energy Information Administration, 2013), the prospects envisioned by the government are rather promising. Wind, solar and bioenergy are the most developed renewable energy resources, which have been growing the fastest since 2000. On the other hand, ocean and geothermal renewables are still mainly underdeveloped and thus need further attention of the government and investors. The initiative introduced by Australian government in 2010, Renewable Energy Target, intends to create renewable energy capacities that would meet 20% of the country’s electricity demand by 2020 (Explained: The Renewable Energy Target, 2014). This target is recognized as realistic and achievable, according to Andrew Livingston, the renewable energy regulator in Australia (Andrew Livingston - Renewable Energy Regulator: Wind Farms Development, Design & Construction, 2010). According to the government’s plans, this initiative will cut gas emissions and create new jobs for people. Wind power According to resources assessment of the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (2014, p.5), “Australia’s wind resources are among the best in the world”. Wind power resources are located mainly in coastal regions of south, southeast, west and southwest, yet extending inland. In 2010, wind farms deploying modern wind turbines provided 2% of Australian electricity and around 23% of renewable electricity. The increasing efficiency of wind power resources is insured by high capacity of wind farms (many of them have more than 100 MW) and increase in overall installed capacity of Australian wind power farms (e.g. capacity has risen from 1.7 GW to around 2.6 GW between 2008 and 2012 and by 35% between 2006 and 2011 (Hallgren et al., 2014, p.1)). This increase in productivity is mainly achieved with help of more accurate wind resources assessment (persistence and availability of the resource) and wise placement of wind turbines. While Australia as a whole possesses 1052 wind turbines operating in 52 wind farms, its southern region has the leading position in terms of renewable energy production due to suitable climatic conditions. Moreover, power supplies electricity for a large desalination plant in Adelaide, which meets a half of the city’s water demand. The government continues construction of the wind farms with increasing installed capacity, the latter being 420MW in Macarthur’ Wind Farm. Solar energy Due to favorable climate conditions, i.e. highest solar radiation level worldwide, Australia has great potential for solar power production, yet extensive use of solar energy has been sparked by the governmental policy rather recently. Solar power production is insured by photovoltaic technology extracting energy from sun light; moreover, one of the key advantages for its development is applicability both in grid-connected areas and off-grid ones. The installed capacity of photovoltaics was estimated 1.4 thousand MW in 3.3 thousand MV in the end of 2013. While the total installed capacity has increased tenfold from 2009 to 2011, the government introduced the campaign aimed at commercialization of solar energy: implementing feed-in tariffs, the government undertook responsibility of paying premium rates to the solar energy producers. In the south, feed-in tariffs policy was accompanied by educational program that involved installation of photovoltaic panels on the roofs of public buildings such as public schools, art galleries and airports. The Solar Flagships Programme was commenced in 2009 and was mainly aimed at encouragement of large-scale electricity generation (i.e. up to 1000 megawatts) (Australia energy report, 2013, p.8). The first plant producing solar energy on the commercial scale was launched in 2011, with the number of them gradually increasing. Moreover, electricity produced by solar power plants is expected to be cheaper than that produced on gas and coal by 2020, especially considering expenses on CO2 quotes and taxes imposed on the latter. Geothermal energy Unlike solar and wind power, geothermal source of renewable energy is underdeveloped, yet widely explored and researched in Australia. Use of interaction between hot rock and underground water has big potential for further exploration and use. The continent poses considerable resources of Hot Rock Geothermal energy located primarily in its central parts, i.e. rather far from cities and big electricity grids. According to Bulter et al. (Froome, p.279), “the remote location of acceptable geothermal resources for large scale electricity generation, such as that found in the Cooper Basin, poses some significant issues for the delivery of electrical energy to the National Grid. Therefore, the main issue to be overcome by the government is insuring transmission of energy to the inhabited areas of the continent. Currently, geothermal electricity is generated by two major power plants – Birdsville power plant in Queensland producing 0.08 MW and Innamincka Deeps plant in Cooper Basin (south of the continent) generating 1 MW (Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics, 2014, p.23). Ocean energy Australia – again – due to its favorable geography – has great opportunities for use of ocean energy including that of waves and tides. However, the largest resources of ocean power are located rather far from the major place of demand – along the western, southwestern and northwestern coastline. Therefore, the issue of energy transmission to the cities is to be solved. Currently, four demonstrational plants working either on tides’ or waves’ mechanical energy operate or are under construction in Australia. Bioenergy Bioenergy is highly developed in Australia, being estimated $400 mln of annual revenue. Bioenergetics contributes much to production of both liquid fuels and electricity, which are environmentally friendly and are characterized by low CO2 emissions. Therefore, bioenergy is expected to play a significant role in achievement of Renewable Energy Target, as it relies upon fuel, electricity and heat produced from organic matters such as animal manures, wood residues, cereal straw or organic waste (Stucley et al., 2012, p.36). Ethanol biofuel is among the most popular applications of biomass in Australia, which is produced of grains or sugarcane. Considering the fact that biomass as a raw material either for biofuel production or for direct electricity generation is typically obtained from organic residues and thus is closely connected to other sectors of economy, e.g. agriculture, this type of renewable energy is among the easiest to obtain (let alone its ecological impact on CO2 emissions’ decrease). In 2007-2008, burning of bagasse, i.e. sugarcane side product, produced around 39% of renewable energy in Australia. Criticism and difficulties However, it is necessary to mention that a favorable and wise policy is needed for efficient transition to renewable energy production, for the main pitfalls on the way of energetics’ transformation are high construction costs for the new types of power plants/electricity grids and lack of stability on the new types of resources. Moreover, meeting renewable energy requirements will increase wholesale electricity prices by 40% and, consequently, lead to increase in prices for nearly all services and goods and household energy expenses (Moran, 2009, p.21). References Andrew Livingston - Renewable Energy Regulator: Wind Farms Development, Design & Construction (2010) video, Chanel www.iqpc.com.au. [Online] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rF_M9qsSRM [Accessed May 6, 2015] AUSTRALIA ENERGY REPORT (2013) Global Energy Market Research: Australia, pp. 1-45. Australian Government Department Of Industry, Geoscience Australia, Bureau Of Resources And Energy Economics (2014) Australian Energy Resource Assessment. ABARE, Canberra ACT. Australia Analysis. [Online] http://www.ga.gov.au/corporate_data/79675/79675_AERA.pdf [Accessed May 6, 2015] Explained: The Renewable Energy Target (2014) video, Chanel ABC News (Australia). [Online] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxgCc_0M09o [Accessed May 6, 2015] FROOME, C.W. (2009) What contribution can geothermal energy make to Australias renewable energy target. Record - Geoscience Australia. [Online] Available from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.adams.idm.oclc.org/eds/detail/detail?sid=8379747b-ea9f-468f-b46f-db1a34bbcaf5%40sessionmgr4005&vid=0&hid=4113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d [Accessed May 6, 2015] HALLGREN, W., GUNTURU, U., & SCHLOSSER, A. (2014) The Potential Wind Power Resource in Australia: A New Perspective, Plos ONE, 9, 7, pp. 1-9. MORAN, A. (2014) The heavy cost of RENEWABLE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS, Institute Of Public Affairs Review, 65, 4, pp. 18-23. [Online] Available from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.adams.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=862bb4af-e828-4d5e-8b82-6f2b39b4b778%40sessionmgr4003&vid=0&hid=4113 [Accessed May 6, 2015] STUCLEY, C., SCHUCK, S., SIMS, R., BLAND, J., MARINO, B., BOROWITZKA, M., ABADI, A., BARTLE, J., GILES, R. & THOMAS, Q. (2012) ‘Bioenergy in Australia: Status and Opportunities’. [Online] Available from http://www.bioenergyaustralia.org/data/reports/BIOENERGY%20IN%20AUSTRALIA%20Rev%201.pdf [Accessed May 6, 2015] US ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (EIA) (2013) Australia Analysis. [Online] Available from http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=as [Accessed May 6, 2015] Read More