{"id":35301,"date":"2019-11-28T15:14:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-28T04:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=35301"},"modified":"2024-06-05T11:51:45","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T02:21:45","slug":"renewables-industrial-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/renewables-industrial-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewable Energy Surge Could Power A New Industrial Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"500%<\/p>\n

In spite of the best efforts of our government, Australia is going to overshoot 100% renewables.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the conclusion of big names in renewables like Oliver Yates (inaugural CEO of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and former independent candidate for the federal seat of Kooyong), who yesterday told a Smart Energy Council online seminar we should \u201cre-industrialise\u201d Australia to make the best use of excess renewable energy.<\/p>\n

Yates told the seminar that the renewable energy sector still faces a:<\/p>\n

\u201ctide of disbelief\u201d, adding that \u201cit\u2019s time to call these fools out,\u201d because \u201cfundamental change is unstoppable, and any attempts to dismiss or ignore it will fail\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yates was joined in the webcast by Beyond Zero Emissions’ CEO Vanessa Petrie, and Michael Lord of the University of Melbourne\u2019s Energy Transition Hub in the \u201c500% Renewables: Australia\u2019s Renewable Future\u201d presentation.<\/p>\n

Together, they want to \u201cbreak the lie\u201d that renewables will harm the economy (as facilitator, the Smart Energy Council\u2019s John Grimes, told participants).<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we debunk this? How do we go further?\u201d Grimes asked, now it\u2019s clear that renewables will by 2050 power the economy for $13 per MWh less than electricity costs today, meaning the economy will get stronger, not weaker, on renewable energy.<\/p>\n

By \u201cre-industrialising\u201d the country, Yates explained, advocates of the 500% renewables approach believe cheap renewable energy will attract the kinds of heavy industry that we have mostly farewelled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia and Australians now have a nation-making opportunity in front of us,\u201d Yates said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Petrie name-checked the technologies already available to operate industrial manufacturing without relying on coal or gas.<\/p>\n

She said heat pumps are already starting to make headway for lower-temperature processes (up to 160\u00b0C). They\u2019re more attractive to manufacturers in industries such as food manufacturing, and pulp and paper, because as a replacement for burning gas heat pumps have a two-year payback.<\/p>\n

Electromagnetic heating is the candidate at the next step up, for temperatures up to 2,000\u00b0C – such approaches include microwave heating, UV, and induction heating, the latter of which has been used for decades.<\/p>\n

Petrie offered brick-making as an application example: if microwave-assisted heating replaces gas, the manufacturer can double their output.<\/p>\n

For processes up to 5,000\u00b0C (such as recycling steel and some cement manufacture), the electric furnace (an arc furnace) is a well-understood technology – it was popular for decades until the 1970s, when gas came into vogue.<\/p>\n

And finally, the growth of the hydrogen economy will cover applications the other three technologies can\u2019t support – steel forges, and ammonia manufacture for agriculture.<\/p>\n

Why Would Manufacturing Return To Australia?<\/h2>\n

Yates offered a simple reason heavy industry could grow again in Australia: we will have an abundance of cheap renewable energy, but transporting energy is expensive, and as industrial process automation will erode China\u2019s low-wage advantage.<\/p>\n

Soon, renewables will be the \u201conly form of energy\u201d the global population will permit Yates said, so countries without plenty of renewable electricity will either \u201chave to move heavy industry close to the source of power, or import clean energy\u201d.<\/p>\n

While lauding the $20 billion Sun Cable project<\/a> led by Mike Cannon-Brookes to export renewable energy from the Northern Territory to Singapore, Yates stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cmoving renewable energy is expensive \u2026 it\u2019s cheaper to move production to where the energy is\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Government, Yates said, could and should support renewable-driven heavy industry by creating \u201cgreen industrial zones\u201d.<\/p>\n

With steel alone responsible for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Michael Lord said it\u2019s urgent to de-carbonise metals production, and:<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia is one of the best places to do this: not only have we got this abundance in renewable energy, we\u2019ve got the metallic ores\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With resources such as iron, bauxite, lithium, manganese, zinc, gold, titanium, and rare earths, it\u2019s stupid to \u201cexport rocks\u201d and let others do the clever stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re exporting the valuable non-renewable resource at the lowest point on its value chain\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Petrie used manganese as an example of this: \u201cmanganese exports from Australia are worth $1 billion annually, \u201cbut adding the value [in Australia] brings it to $5 billion\u201d.<\/p>\n

How Much Energy Do We Need For \u2018Green Industry\u2019?<\/h2>\n

The sheer amount of energy demanded by industrial processes looks daunting – that\u2019s why the campaign is dubbed \u201c500% renewables\u201d.<\/p>\n

The goal of exporting a million tonnes of hydrogen, for example, demands 23 GW of renewables, which Yates said is considerably more than the 14.5 GW currently under construction. Producing Australia\u2019s ammonia would need another half-million tonnes of hydrogen, or another 11 GW of renewable energy.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the world\u2019s appetite for ammonia: nearly 200 million tonnes annually, or 800 GW!<\/p>\n

However, Yates stated, there\u2019s nothing standing in the way of achieving the scale needed, except the public perception that renewable energy is difficult, unreliable, and expensive. He said Australia is:<\/p>\n

\u201cmoving to a future where power is not a restricted resource\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s needed is public education:<\/p>\n

\u201cwe need to make sure people understand what the opportunity is\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lord said the world is:<\/p>\n

\u201con the precipice of a huge avalanche in demand for low-carbon metals. \u201cBy and large in Australia we\u2019re missing out on this opportunity\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In spite of the best efforts of our government, Australia is going to overshoot 100% renewables. That\u2019s the conclusion of big names in renewables like Oliver Yates (inaugural CEO of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and former independent candidate for the federal seat of Kooyong), who yesterday told a Smart Energy Council online seminar we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":35311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utility-scale-solar","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n500% Renewables Could Power A New Industrial Australia<\/title>\n<meta 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For New Zealand has announced that it will close its last two coal mines by 2018 and aim towards a 90 percent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Policy"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Policy","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-policy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"coal lumps","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/no-coal.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/no-coal.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/no-coal.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3856,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/public-support-australia-renewable-energy-superpower\/","url_meta":{"origin":35301,"position":2},"title":"Public support for Australia as a renewable energy superpower","author":"Staff Writer","date":"August 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been mentioned more than a few times that Australia could be the next renewable energy superpower. With our wide open spaces, almost unlimited sun and centres of research excellence we could show the world the way in solar power and other forms of renewable energy. 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The project, a joint venture between OZ Minerals (70%) and Cassini (30%), is located in the Musgrave Province of Western Australia and includes the Nebo-Babel nickel-copper and Succoth copper deposit. 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Experts from across the renewables sector will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stimulus Summit - Renewable Energy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/stimulus-summit-renewables.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/stimulus-summit-renewables.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/stimulus-summit-renewables.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/stimulus-summit-renewables.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/stimulus-summit-renewables.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14617,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/australian-states-renewable-energy-mb0188\/","url_meta":{"origin":35301,"position":5},"title":"Australian States Lighting The Way On Renewable Energy","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia's states and territories are lifters and the Federal Government continues to be a leaner on renewable energy and emissions reduction. A new report from the Climate Council states all Australian states and territories (except WA) now have strong renewable energy targets and\/or net zero emissions targets in place. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Renewables Ready : States Leading The Charge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/renewable-energy-australian-states.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/renewable-energy-australian-states.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/renewable-energy-australian-states.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/renewable-energy-australian-states.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35301"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84276,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35301\/revisions\/84276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}