Energy supply
The vast majority of Victoria's energy supply comes from carbon intensive large coal-fired power plants.
Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions requires the replacement of coal-fired power plants with large-scale renewable power stations, as well as a rapid transition to cleaner and more decentralised energy generation, such as such as solar panels on rooftops and medium sized co-generation systems.
Why renewable energy policies make sense.
This article attempts to explain some of the costs, benefits and objectives of renewable energy policies, and dispels some of the myths surrounding these policies.
The vast majority of Victoria's energy supply comes from carbon intensive large coal-fired power plants.
Transmitting electricity from these plants to Melbourne and other population centres involves large losses and is responsible for a significant proportion of our electricity costs. Infrastructure upgrades over the next five years alone will cost $42 billion.
Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions requires the replacement of coal-fired power plants with large-scale renewable power stations, as well as a rapid transition to cleaner and more decentralised energy generation, such as such as solar panels on rooftops and medium sized co-generation systems. With proper planning, the generation of electricity at or near the point of its use can increase the network's reliability and efficiency by reducing transmission losses and deferring the need for expensive upgrades to electricity infrastructure.
Energy generation systems, such as solar panels and solar hot water systems have dramatically reduced in price in recent years. However, they still require households and businesses to make a relatively large upfront investment. Incentives can be provided in order to encourage people to adopt localised renewable energy systems. Independent information can help people make informed choices, and we believe that the private sector will develop innovative energy services if provided with clear and stable renewable energy policies.
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”.
This old management slogan is being used to support the rollout of smart meters, which measure your electricity usage in 30-minute intervals and automatically send the information to the power company.
Smart meters have raised concerns in some quarters, especially pensioners and lower-income households, who fear planned higher charges for using electricity during the daytime peak. The government is currently reviewing the tariff structure to address these concerns.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has put together a short video on the truth about increases in energy prices, to attempt to dispel the myths being circulated about the impact of renewable energy and climate policies.
Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site
See a longer version (5 minutes).
Tri-generation involves the simultaneous production of electricity, heat and cooling from the one fuel source, greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It’s generally only applicable to larger facilities such as hospitals and shopping centres, as trigeneration units are expensive and hard to justify for small energy demands. However, they can be most efficient way of supplying these different needs, and the technology for these systems are getting cheaper all the time.
Woking Borough Council in the UK is quite the remarkable place. They have become world leaders in renewable energy and adopting green technology. The town have set the benchmark pretty high for what can be achieved by a council and a community with a shared goal.
Over the last two decades Woking have implemented a series of sustainable energy projects, including the UK's first small-scale combined heat and power plant. Using decentralised systems, the town is completely off the main energy grid. It uses wind and solar powered street lamps and boasts a busy train station powered by photovoltaic solar cells.
Read more on Woking:
'Woking: Local Sustainable Community Energy' by Allan Jones, former Energy Services Manager of Woking.
'Woking shines in providing renewable energy' by Paul Brown, The Guardian.
