Assignment No.3 ‐ Energy Mix and Renewable Energies AUSTRALIA
Sasha Claughton, Samuel Green, Osman Faruqi & Alicia Qian
Murdoch University and the University of New South Wales
Renewable Energy in Australia ‐ Wave energy Two companies in Australia have developed unique ways to harvest wave energy to produce electricity. Although both companies are still in the initial phases of researching commercial viability, so far test site energy generation has been promising. Currently, one company is already connected to the main power grid and supplies power to households and small scale businesses. Key benefits of harvesting wave energy include: • • • •
Abundance of viable production sites ‐ wave energy is generally viable at sites in proximity to the coast where the waves reach 1m or more Reduced distance between production source and destination –60 per cent of the world’s population reside within 60km of coastlines Capable of providing base load power generation Can also be used for desalinisation of sea water to produce freshwater.
Power can be generated either by floats below the surface of the water being moved to and fro with wave action, or a piston style design. Both methods use the waves’ energy to drive a turbine and generate electricity.
Renewable Energy ‐ Potentials and Obstacles At present, Australia utilises a range of renewable sources to generate electricity. These include hydro, biomass, wind and solar energy. Renewable energy contributes around 7 per cent to Australian electricity generation, with 4.5 per cent sourced from hydroelectricity. Wind energy has experienced strong growth over recent years and now represents 1.5 per cent of total electricity generation. Emerging renewable energy technologies include large‐scale solar energy plants, geothermal and wave and tidal generation technologies. Australia has vast quantities of coal and natural gas, and the infrastructure and technologies for extracting and processing fossil fuels are well established. This means that natural gas and coal can provide a consistent source of reliable and affordable power. Mining and exporting of these resources provide a major source of income for the Australian economy. In contrast, many types of renewable energy technologies are in their infancy. As a result they are unable to supply energy in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices to coal and natural gas. The Australian government has provided some funding for developing renewable energy technology and aims to reach 20% of total energy production. To achieve this, substantial government and private investments are required for research and development of technology and associated infrastructure so that it can be competitive with coal and natural gas for cost and reliability. However, progress has been slow and the government has regularly changed renewable energy and carbon reduction policies. It has also failed to provide certainty to the energy sector and its potential investors. The failure of the government to fix a price on carbon currently poses the largest impediment to obtaining sufficient investment in the renewable energy industry.
Electrical power supply of Australia 07/08 [GWh]
0, 0% Coal
Nuclear power
44600, 17%
3900, 2%
18300, 7%
1200, 0%
Oil (all types)/ Natural gas
1000, 0%
202300, 76%
100, 0%
Solar (all types)
Water power (all types)
Wind (on- and offshore)
12100, 5% Biomass
Geothermal energy
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