Sustainable Energy Future

Electricity is the lifeblood of our modern society. Two major global issues loom ahead and although many predict preventative action is now impossible to implement given the seriousness of the issues, there are some things we can do in order to adapt to a future which minimises the negative impact on our society.

Climate Change

This is a controversial topic and one that is often avoided since many are met with a feeling of helplessness to a) do anything about it and b) that even if they do it is still not going to make a shred of difference. This site is not here to debate the climate change issue, and it seems pointless to regurgitate the overwhelming recent coverage on the topic. I have linked to some sites which go into detail about some of these issues so check them out if you want to find out more about climate change.

Sustainable Energy in our world today

Let's just imagine for a moment that in the next decade things will change drastically and we will be forced to adapt to new lifestyles, and a rapidly changing environment. It just so happens that Australia is lucky in a number of ways. Not only is it rich in minerals such as Nickel and Iron Ore, but Australia is home to some of the windiest and waviest coastlines and the sunniest cities and arid regions in the world. We have large spaces available for energy production and the potential for a complete paradigm shift towards sustainable energy production. Although it is important to acknowledge the demand for raw minerals, lets not forget about times to come!

Carbon Trading System

One of the problems is that there is no real incentive for companies to take on the risk and responsibility of moving towards these cleaner alternatives. Small grants and other regional incentives only go so far and inevitably it will take something much greater to change the way we do things here. In 2007 the Howard government announced a carbon trading system is to be introduced come 2010. The intention behind a carbon trading system is that each kilogram of carbon which is offset into the atmosphere comes associated with a substantial 'environmental tax' which makes it cheaper for the company to clean up their emissions than pay the tax. Whilst the theory is good, it is very hard to enforce a system which works, which has been seen through the failure of US and UK carbon trading schemes. Australia is next inline and industry will be shaken up having to find new ways of doing things. One of the challenges is to implement a system which actually works, instead of simply putting more paperwork in place for a system of 'handballing' the problem around without any real positive effect on our emissions.

Until its announcement in 2007 companies could start up with the excuse that they should not need to conform to low emission targets as they were not aware of the penalties and therefore it would be unfair to penalise them. Now that the scheme has been announced, there have been a number of start up oil and gas projects put on hold, as their viability is in question with this new effective tax coming into play in the next few years. Carbon trading as its name implies, allows the trade of emission credits between companies. Therefore if a company, say a coal fired power station needs to emit more carbon, it can buy the credits from a wind farm which will have very low emissions but a credit associated with the fact that it is harnessing electrical energy. This evens out the playing field allowing a number of previously priced out sustainable energy options to emerge.

If you are interested in some of the ways people are making income out of the carbon trading system you might want to look at Carbon Ventures.

Coupled with the decrease in oil availability, there has never been a more urgent time to embrace technologies in the sustainable energy industry. One of the eventual goals of the carbon trading system is to be able to trade globally. Therefore Australia with its incredible quantity and diversity of renewable energy sources can become a major exporter of carbon credits.

The sustainable energy industry is about to go through a major boom with many energy production options available including solar PV, solar thermal, biomass, geothermal, wind and wave sources. This site is set up to follow this boom and promote the incredible potential for Australians to embrace this opportunity. The leaders in our energy industry will not be oil companies, but solar, wind and other natural resource companies.

So thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have enjoyed this site which is in its infancy. I will be adding updates constantly so please bookmark this page and return from time to time for news about important advances in the sustainable energy industry. I am passionate about the potential for sustainable energy options in Australia and would love to hear from other people who feel the same way.

Richard W