Renewables for Regions - energy from the bush Oil Mallee Industry Conference 2011 Prof Ray Wills Chief Executive Officer Sustainable Energy Association of Australia. Adjunct Professor The University of Western Australia A changing climate for business and the community The science is in, the globe is warming, and we must both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and rapidly prepare for adaptation to climate change. A raft of immediately accessible and affordable solutions to reduce greenhouse emissions and provide alternative sources of energy are available today, and bring more and more business opportunity. We need to understand what the opportunities are!! Global renewables Global renewables Global renewables - wind Bloomberg-Liebreich.www.iea.org Global renewables – solar (PV) Bloomberg-Liebreich.www.iea.org Cheaper solar pv Renewable energy generation Biomass The resource Resource distribution - solar, geothermal, Solar wind, wave, tidal, ocean current Bioenergy and biomass productivity Geothermal Wind Wave Current Renewables for regions Renewables for regions A key challenge to tap into sustainable energy is (as with any other resource) remove barriers to explore, and provide incentives to ramp up exploration and map resources. Opportunities to use sustainable energy projects as a way of restructuring and refurbishing towns and cities, and contribute to create more sustainable communities. A diversity of fuel and energy sources will bolster a diversity of business opportunities as well as energy security across regional Australia. Renewables for regions - barriers Renewables for regions - impediments Overcoming impediments must be multi-faceted, integrated, and consistent: across levels of Government – Federal, State and Local; cross sectoral – agricultural, mining, building and construction, developers, industrial, infrastructure, transport, etc geographic – across regions, delivering value and contributing to regional development along supply chains and over life cycles – delivering value cradle to cradle in each part of supply chain. Poor designs cost money – now and into the future Where two or more elements fall in separate government portfolio areas, an absence of integration of complementary measures within government fail to recognise and deliver the full value of potential measures to support industry. Renewables for regions Biomass – sustainable biomass that does not compete with food production - or nature - biomass should be the basis of sustainability hubs that are restoring ecosystems, providing energy to regional communities as well as the state. With a better employment factor, renewable energy projects can lead to growth of local communities in rural WA. And establishment of renewable energy generation projects will bolster a broad range of skills, particularly in agricultural regions. Bolstering soil stored carbon improves soil productivity as well as providing carbon biosequestration potential. Impediment for biomass-sourced generation like all small generators – no market differentiation above 30 kw! Private transport Fuel efficiency, other energy sources Transport Energy storage key New technologies may be disruptive Commercial vehicles Smith Newton electric truck Mega electric diesel hybrids Mitsubishi Fuso London Bus GE Haul Pak Honda prime mover Oshkosh Military Vehicle Flying fuels Monday February 25, 2008 Virgin Atlantic Stages the First Biofuel Flight U.S.A.F. Tests New Synthetic Fuel on Plane Tuesday October 30, 2007 Qantas follows US Military to algae biofuels Monday February 14, 2011 Australian airline Qantas and California renewable fuel company Solazyme have launched a collaboration on producing and using algal biofuel. Electric mass transit Siemens Bordeaux light rail Bombardier wireless light rail Slim Ride -15 passengers Series 700 Shinkansen train – 285 km/h Green homes - 6 Star and beyond Green precincts, green towns, green cities Global $10bn green new city for 225,000 people, Portugal. Masdar City $US22 billion for 50 000. Tianjin Eco-City China for 350 000 Perth Stirling City Centre Cockburn Coast Fremantle Alkimos Yanchep Beach Smart grids, smart houses (and offices) Integrated energy planning Smart grids to coordinate the actions of devices such as loads & generators Smart politics Energy efficiency Sustainable energy - and energy efficiency Energy efficiency in all forms Distributed, renewable energy Known costs, resource life 1000++ years Stored energy in commodities, desal Energy storage key to: improved energy delivery increased reliability reduced emissions Walmart Wesfarmers Waves of innovation What we can create with energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy Industry chamber for any businesses / enterprise in sustainable energy or being more sustainable Based in Perth, over 400 members nationally Information, communication, and networking businesses Government advocacy (lobbying) Policy development Legislation, regs and taxation - barriers and incentives Education, skills and training Calls for government leadership - and procurement Industry mapping Energising Kids – energy for the next generation Energy2031 Directions Paper The continuing development of an energy plan for 2031 needs to ambitiously plan for how we decarbonise, and provide confidence that our economy will not be stuck with a carbon legacy in energy generation as we establish a carbon price. renewable energy is not only remote from load centres renewable energy intermittency need not threaten stability / reliability with appropriate management renewable energy will get cheaper rapid technological development globally right now The EV question? Enterprise Connect is an Australian Government initiative that provides an Advisory Service with grant assistance to eligible Australian SMEs. Newcastle Innovation, The Australian Institute of Commercialisation and the WA Sustainable Energy Association are partners supporting the delivery of services to industry through the Clean Energy Innovation Centre www.seaaus.com.au