Can you cut 1 Tonne of carbon pollution out of your life?
Take the challengeThe Renewable Energy Target (RET) has been a prominent topic of discussion over the past year. As the Climate Council describes, "The RET tends to get caught up in technical terms and specialised arguments- like how many gigawatthours (GWh) the target should be- making it difficult for anyone not int he renewable energy industry to follow."
Thus, the Climate Council wrote this report, Giga-What? Explaining Australia's Renewable Energy Target, to do just that, clarify what on earth it all means and where it is going!
According to the report, Australia's renewable energy resources are capable of providing 500 times the amount of electricity we currently use.
The report contains all the great Renewable Energy Target's pledged around the world, for example, Denmark pledges 100% renewable energy by 2050, New Zealand aims for 90% renewable energy by 2025 and California 50% renewable electrify by 2030.
Australia has pledged, 41,000 GWh large-scale renewable electricity annually by 2020 plus uncapped support for eligible small-scale solar wind. South Australia aims for 50% renewable electrify by 2025.
The report touches on the effects of the political uncertainty of the RET and how investors "need certainty in government policy and legislation to be able to forecast future electricity prices and revenue (ESAA 2014)."
Here's the 3 Key findings from the report,
3 KEY FINDINGS
1. Renewable energy is a crucial way to reduce carbon emissions from electricity supply and combat climate change.
- Burning fossil fuels for electricity production is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.
- Australia's renewable energy resources are capable of producing 500 times the amount of electricity we currently use.
- A Productivity Commission review of more than 1,000 emissions reduction policies found that policies encouraging additional large-scale renewable electricity power plants were the second- most cost-effective set of policies after emissions trading schemes
2. While renewable energy is booming globally, policy uncertainty around the Renewable Energy Target means investment has fallen in Australia.
- Investment in large-scale renewable energy projects fell 88 percent in Australia in 2014, while global investment in renewable energy grew.
3. The Renewable Energy Target has reduced greenhouse gas emissions in Australia.
- To date, the Renewable Energy Target has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 22.5 million tonnes carbon dioxide- equivalent to 10 per cent of Australia's annual electricity emissions.
- In future, if the current policy continues, the RET will reduce emissions by 58 million tonnes carbon dioxide (2015–2020) – equivalent to annual emissions from all of Australia's passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
