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The MJA-Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Australia was established in 2017 and produced its first national assessment in 2018 and annual updates in 2019, 2020 and 2021. It examines five broad domains: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. In this, the fifth year of the MJA-Lancet Countdown, we track progress on an extensive suite of indicators across these five domains, accessing and presenting the latest data and further refining and developing our analyses. Within just two years, Australia has experienced two unprecedented national catastrophes - the 2019-2020 summer heatwaves and bushfires and the 2021-2022 torrential rains and flooding. Such events are costing lives and displacing tens of thousands of people. Further, our analysis shows that there are clear signs that Australia's health emergency management capacity substantially decreased in 2021. We find some signs of progress with respect to health and climate change. The states continue to lead the way in health and climate change adaptation planning, with the Victorian plan being published in early 2022. At the national level, we note progress in health and climate change research funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council. We now also see an acceleration in the uptake of electric vehicles and continued uptake of and employment in renewable energy. However, we also find Australia's transition to renewables and zero carbon remains unacceptably slow, and the Australian Government's continuing failure to produce a national climate change and health adaptation plan places the health and lives of Australians at unnecessary risk today, which does not bode well for the future., (© 2022 The Authors. Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMPCo Pty Ltd.)

This paper explores the global impacts of climate change and pollution across diverse regions, highlighting unique challenges and innovative initiatives. From rising temperatures and severe droughts in Africa and Australia to melting glaciers in the Arctic and pollution in Asia, each continent faces significant environmental threats. Despite these challenges, countries are making strides in renewable energy, conservation, and community-based actions. International agreements and local indigenous practices play vital roles in these efforts. The paper concludes with a call for continued global cooperation and local action, emphasizing the potential for a sustainable future through collective innovation and resilience-building. Through this comprehensive analysis, the paper underscores the urgency and possibility of addressing global warming and pollution for a healthier planet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive review of uncertainties in power systems, covering modeling, impact, and mitigation, is essential to understand and manage the challenges faced by the electric grid. Uncertainties in power systems can arise from various sources and can have significant implications for grid reliability, stability, and economic efficiency. Australia, susceptible to extreme weather such as wildfires and heavy rainfall, faces vulnerabilities in its power network assets. The decentralized distribution of population centers poses economic challenges in supplying power to remote areas, which is a crucial consideration for the emerging technologies emphasized in this paper. In addition, the evolution of modern power grids, facilitated by deploying the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), has also brought new challenges to the system due to the risk of cyber-attacks via communication links. However, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive review and analysis of uncertainties in modern power systems, encompassing uncertainties related to weather events, cyber-attacks, and asset management, as well as the advantages and limitations of various mitigation approaches. To fill this void, this review covers a broad spectrum of uncertainties considering their impacts on the power system and explores conventional robust control as well as modern probabilistic and data-driven approaches for modeling and correlating the uncertainty events to the state of the grid for optimal decision making. This article also investigates the development of robust and scenario-based operations, control technologies for microgrids (MGs) and energy storage systems (ESSs), and demand-side frequency control ancillary service (D-FCAS) and reserve provision for frequency regulation to ensure a design of uncertainty-tolerance power system. This review delves into the trade-offs linked with the implementation of mitigation strategies, such as reliability, computational speed, and economic efficiency. It also explores how these strategies may influence the planning and operation of future power grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia, like many other countries around the world, is undergoing a transition toward net zero emissions. It requires changes and development in many sectors, which not only bring benefits but also challenges. The rapid growth in renewable energy sources (RESs) is necessary to decarbonise electricity generation but negatively affects grid stability. Residential buildings also contribute to this issue through specific load profiles and the high penetration of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) installations. Maintaining grid balance will be crucial for further emissions reductions. One of the potential solutions can be the replacement of conventional heating and cooling systems in houses with solutions capable of storing energy and shifting the electrical load. As presented in this paper, heat pumps and hydronic systems can significantly improve the electrical load of a typical South Australian household when they are controlled by algorithms reacting to the current grid conditions and household-generated electricity compared to conventional solutions. TRNSYS 18 simulations of air source and ground source heat pump systems with smart control based on measured electricity consumption and domestic hot water usage data showed the possibility of total energy consumption reduction, shifting the load from peak periods towards periods of excessive RES generation and increasing self-consumption of rooftop PV electricity. These improvements reduce the amount of emissions generated by such a household and allow for further development of other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Australian residential load profiles may evolve in the short to medium term future. These profiles can be used to support simulation studies of the future Australian network within an environment that is transitioning to renewable energy and broader use of electricity as a tool for decarbonisation. The daily profiles rely heavily on the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) forecasts for future annual energy usage. The period from 2024 to 2050 will be transformational. In the residential networks, two secular trends are particularly important in expanding residential generation and electrification. New daily load profiles have been constructed using historical Australian profiles and adding additional components for solar generation, battery operation and electrification activities. The entire aggregated residential network is expected to have reverse midday power flow on any average day from 2024 onwards due to the rapid increase in electric vehicle (EV) usage. The domestic energy demand forecasting methodology presented in this work related to Australia can easily be adopted to carry out similar forecasting for any country of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent passage of the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act (2021) (Cth) opened up the potential for Australia to produce renewable energy at unprecedented scale. Six regions have been identified as potential locations for developing offshore wind projects, promising thousands of new local jobs to legacy industrial regions. This paper charts the regulatory framework for Australia's offshore wind industry and how it positions local economic benefits in the licencing of projects. It then draws on interviews with key stakeholders supported by media and policy analysis to examine the early development of offshore wind capability in one of the proposed regions, the Illawarra, in NSW. Here existing steelmaking capacity positions the region to play a key role in supply chains for local and potentially national projects, but considerable structural and geographical constraints in the labour market will need to be addressed. In light of overseas experience indicating that economic benefits often fall short of promises, greater attention by policy makers is required to ensure hosting communities can develop local skills in the industry and facilitate their relative supply chain capabilities. This paper also calls for careful evaluation of early projects to allow for adjustments to policy settings as the industry matures domestically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift from large-scale centralised energy systems to smaller scale decentralised systems based on Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is likely to cause a sector-wide replacement of current electricity management practices and business models—creating a new energy paradigm. If handled well, such a transition will not be inherently disruptive; however, it can cause major disruption if long-held views and assumptions are not rapidly reconsidered and renewed, and new supporting structures are not swiftly put in place—hence, if disruption is experienced it will be due to a lack of strategic responses rather than the nature of the technology. This paper clarifies the nature of DERs and outlines key issues and opportunities associated with a range of associated service configurations and business models. The paper outlines key factors affecting the viability of such approaches and identifies leverage points for accelerating uptake. The paper concludes by considering how shifting landscape factors and related opportunities in the coming decades will shape the transition to a decentralised energy system. This paper contains findings from research performed at the Renewable, Affordable, Clean Energy Cooperative Research Centre (RACE CRC) in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prediction of renewable energy consumption (REC) is of great significance to ensure energy security, reduce dependence on fossil energy, and promote sustainable economic and social development. In this paper, a novel grey model with conformable fractional opposite-direction accumulation (CFOA), abbreviated as the CFOGM (1,1) model, is proposed to forecast REC in Australia. The new model is discussed in detail with a new CFOA operation and the GM (1,1) model and can take full advantage of the information carried by the original data. The CFOGM (1,1) model has lower modeling error and better fitting and forecasting accuracy than other grey, Holt, and ARM models and can better capture the change trend of REC and achieve accurate prediction. The forecasting results present that the REC in Australia is 497-581 petajoules in 2021, 596-728 petajoules in 2022, and 715-912 petajoules in 2023, indicating that the REC in Australia is still accelerating., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper uses the capability approach to analyse renewable energy developments on Aboriginal land in Australia's Pilbara and Kimberley regions. These regions in the north-west of Australia have very high rates of Indigenous land tenure, and are attractive for both solar and wind power generation, particularly as developing technology makes it economically feasible to transport power over large distances. They are also remote from Australia's electricity networks and often rely on expensive fossil fuels for electricity generation. Resident Aboriginal communities are among the most income-poor in Australia yet live in regions rich in renewable energy. Their ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by a transition to renewable sources of energy varies according to a number of factors. This paper examines the conditions under which Indigenous capabilities may be enhanced or inhibited, through examining three scales of energy generation: large-scale developments for export; remote utility-owned networks; and small-scale standalone off-grid applications. This paper will ask what capabilities can Indigenous people achieve from a just approach to a renewable energy transition in northern Australia, and what capabilities are required in order to gain maximum benefit from this current rapid energy transition? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract\nKEY POINTSHigh-purity quartz (HPQ) is the only naturally occurring and economically viable source for the production of silicon. Silicon is a critical mineral, and a key component in modern technologies such as semiconductors and photovoltaic cells. Critical minerals support the move towards a greater reliance on electrification, renewable energy sources and economic security. The global transition to net zero carbon emissions means there is a growing need for new discoveries of HPQ to supply the silicon production chain. HPQ deposits are identified in a multitude of geological settings, including pegmatites, hydrothermal veins, sedimentary accumulations and quartzite; however, deposits of sufficient volume and quality are rare. Quartz is abundant throughout Australia, but the exploration and discovery of HPQ occurrences are notably under-reported, making assessment of the HPQ potential in Australia extremely difficult. This paper presents a much-needed summary of the state of the HPQ industry, exploration and deposit styles in Australia.High-purity quartz (HPQ) is a key material for the manufacture of photovoltaic cells, semiconductors and other high-technology applications.HPQ can be recovered from a variety of different source rocks in a range of geological settings.Currently, the HPQ industry in Australia is under-utilised for high-technology applications, and historical exploration and mining records are under-reported and opaque.This review presents an outline of the characteristics, processing requirements and end uses of HPQ, and a summary of the operations, deposits, exploration targets and known occurrences of HPQ in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes the concept of hybrid PV systems where the ratio of different photovoltaic (PV) technologies is optimized so that their combined output profile best matches user requirements. The method is presented and applied to a case study where a two‐axis tracking concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) and a single‐axis silicon photovoltaic (SiPV) system installed at a sub‐tropical location in Australia, are to power the production of hydrogen by electrolysis. The analysis quantifies the performance of the PV systems from data gathered at the site and reveals the complementarity of these two systems in their output at different timescales. An optimization problem is then defined that seeks the optimal ratio of CPV and SiPV to achieve high annual power output and, importantly, a good match between power supply and demand profiles. The benefits of this approach are illustrated for a green hydrogen power‐to‐gas‐to‐power plant under two operating modes. For this case study, the optimal PV ratio of 0.33CPV: 0.67SiPV leads to reduced dependence on the electricity grid, and a maximum guaranteed minimal take‐up of hydrogen over all months in a year. Overall, the sustainability of the plant is increased without the need for additional storage, and therefore additional resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian media reporting of climate change and renewable energy, along with public perceptions of the science and solutions of climate change, have shifted in ways that have increased pressure on politicians and policy makers. With the promotion of renewable energy central to ending Australia's heavy reliance on fossil fuels, it is critical to understand how this complex intersection of media and politics is evolving with regard to Australia's renewable energy options. Therefore, this paper examines Australian newspaper reporting of a pivotal moment in Australia's renewable energy discourse: the Australian Government's announcement, in March 2017 to expand the seventy-year-old Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme (known as Snowy 2.0), which marked a turning point in conservative energy policy. Qualitative content analysis reveals that, while political discourse delimited newspaper narratives, the sentiment of the framing was most strongly associated with the partisan alignment of the publishing organization. Regional influences also had a minor association with the framing of renewable energy. Through close analysis of this decisive moment in Australian media's political representation of renewable energy, this paper offers insights that can be used to inform media strategies for renewable energy policy in Australia, and to track changes in framing over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the evolution of generation technology-mix in Australia, with specific emphasis on understanding how such evolution has been shaped by wider political and socio-economic influences. This assessment is predicated on the argument that the contemporary, quintessentially techno-economic, policy discourse on renewable energy is deficient, as it ignores climacteric political and socio-economic influences on generation technology-mix. The methodological framework employed in this paper is informed by the core tenets of technological change theory. The assessment suggests that generation technology-mix in Australia has historically been overwhelmingly influenced by the underlying technological paradigm of the electricity industry; and that this technological paradigm essentially draws its imprimatur from the wider political and socio-economic contexts. By implication, it suggests that a rapid uptake of renewables will have widespread ramifications, extending into political, socio-economic and cultural realms of a society. Clearly, existing policy discourse – that tends to focus on technical potentials, cost competitiveness, externalities and risks of various renewable technologies – is deficient. A much broader discourse is needed. This paper also made an attempt to develop a basis for such a discourse by reviewing broader aspects of the Australian society that would be affected by a rapid uptake of renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasting solar radiation for a given region is an emerging field of study. It will help to identify the places for installing large-scale photovoltaic-systems, designing energy-efficient buildings and energy estimation. The different machine learning kernel-based approaches for prediction problems uses either a local or global kernel. These models can provide either strong training capability or good generalization performance. In this paper, a new hybrid kernel is proposed using the combination of a local and global kernel. A novel algorithm Hybrid Kernel-based Extreme Learning Machine is proposed for predictive modelling of Incident Solar Radiation (ISR) time series using new hybrid kernel. The proposed algorithm uses the surface, atmospheric, cloud properties obtained from the MODIS instrument and observed ISR at time t – 1 to predict ISR at time t. This study is conducted for 41 diverse sites of Australia for the period of 2012–2015. Further, the proposed model is experimented with other time series datasets to prove its efficacy. It is shown that the proposed methodology outperforms five other benchmarking methods in terms of MAE and Willmott's Index (WI). Therefore, the suggested approach can be used for modelling solar energy at a national scale using remotely-sensed satellite footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential for benefit-sharing from large-scale renewable energy projects in Australia on land held under customary ownership. I argue that the growing body of scholarship on accumulation by energy dispossessions needs to be balanced by attention to the opportunities for benefit-sharing by Indigenous landholding interests. I remain open to the possibility that rent-seeking can create value for historically marginalised and formerly dispossessed Indigenous communities. Following a recent sustained period of Aboriginal repossession of land, benefits can flow to Aboriginal landholders and managers based on the strength and durability of traditional and novel property rights, and their capacity to negotiate benefits. Drawing on the extensive literature on mining negotiations in Australia, I focus on the significant role that the law plays in shaping benefit-sharing opportunities particularly through a procedural right of veto for Indigenous interests. Overall the legal procedural protections for Indigenous landholders are weaker for large scale renewable energy developments than for minerals extraction, and stronger under one legislative regime (Land Rights) than another (Native Title). This analysis shows how the law is both a site of struggle over benefit-sharing and can shape socio-spatially differentiated outcomes. I call for greater analysis of the relationship between rent-seeking, reparation and energy justice, with an emphasis on the distribution of benefits not just burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchronous generators are operating for less time than before or being decommissioned in the National Electricity Market (NEM) of Australia, due to the proliferation of asynchronous wind and solar generation. Sub-networks of the NEM will face inertia shortages in the near future. This paper develops a formulation of zonal inertia constrained generator dispatch for power systems with a diversified generator portfolio including synchronous generators, synchronous condensers, inverter-interfaced generators and energy storages. Zonal inertia constraints are formulated in unit commitment and optimal power flow to limit the rate of change of frequency (RoCoF) in the event of network separation. Load frequency relief is also considered to reduce the ramp rate requirement of primary reserve. The proposed formulation can reduce the average cost of primary reserve and maintain zonal inertia adequacy to constrain RoCoF in case of the trip of the interconnector(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon-exposed regions tied to the fossil-fuel industry have uncertain futures. The promise of regional regeneration and job stimulus through a transition to renewable energy has been presented by governments, environmental organisations and some unions as a viable solution to their dilemmas. In this paper, we critically evaluate the job generation and local development possibilities from two high profile renewable energy initiatives – offshore wind farms and hydrogen hubs. Our starting point is that the debate to date has tended to be very narrowly focused on 'employment estimates for renewable versus fossil fuel industries' without consideration of where these jobs will be located and the nature of these jobs. Adopting a case study method, we consider the development of offshore wind farms and hydrogen hubs in Australia and their location within global value chains (GVCs) and the temporal and spatial dimensions of work required for developing, operating and maintaining these emerging industries. We demonstrate how the low labour intensity of ongoing work in offshore wind and hydrogen hubs means that new jobs created are mostly in short bursts of temporary labour in project construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• South Australia is leading low carbon energy transitions in Australia. • Socio-technical transitions are complex, non-linear and follow multiple adaptive pathways. • Complex adaptive systems and risk society theory can be integrated to better understand transitions. • Bold leadership and innovative policy are required to navigate transitions in a reflexive modernity. • Governance can exploit crises to justify transition policy in response to future risk and uncertainty. Renewable energy transitions are occurring across the globe in response to climate change. Such socio-technical transitions are complex and non-linear. They require bold leadership and innovative policy, both in response to environmental risk and to navigate political, technical and socio-economic conditions. This paper integrates complex adaptive systems and risk society theory to inform a discussion on regional socio-technical transitions. South Australia is forging its own adaptive pathway, and in doing so, is leading energy transitions in Australia. Utilising the complex adaptive cycle to frame the state's renewable energy transition, the path can be seen to be evolving from a simple first modernity to a multi-dimensional second modernity. Socio-technical transitions are partly a by-product of responses to risk. While there is no single map for navigating societal transitions, this paper proposes that risk, in the context of risk society theory, is an important guiding dimension for understanding transformational change in socio-technical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The untapped potential of offshore wind is vast, and will be critical in the global transition to renewable energy and carbon neutrality. Although Australia's waters are home to enough wind energy to cover its entire electricity needs, the lack of a regulatory framework has prevented the establishment of an offshore wind industry. However, with the passage of the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021 , there are now significant opportunities for the offshore generation of renewable energy, as well as the transmission of electricity within—and beyond—Australian waters. Framed by consideration of the global and regional context, this paper provides a meaningful perspective on the potential for offshore wind energy in Australia, outlines the new regulatory framework which will enable it to be realised, and highlights key points of contact with contemporary issues of ocean law and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Green steel, produced using renewable energy and hydrogen, presents a promising avenue to decarbonize steel manufacturing and expand the hydrogen industry. Australia, endowed with abundant renewable resources and iron ore deposits, is ideally placed to support this global effort. This paper's two-step analytical approach offers the first comprehensive assessment of Australia's potential to develop green steel as a value-added export commodity. The Economic Fairways modelling reveals a strong alignment between prospective hydrogen hubs and current and future iron ore operations, enabling shared infrastructure development and first-mover advantages. By employing a site-based system optimization that integrates both wind and solar power sources, the cost of producing green steel could decrease significantly to around AU$900 per tonne by 2030 and AU$750 per tonne by 2050. Moreover, replacing 1% of global steel production would require 35 GW of well-optimized wind and solar photovoltaics, 11 GW of hydrogen electrolysers, and 1000 square kilometres of land. Sensitivity analysis further indicates that iron ore prices would exert a long-term influence on green steel prices. Overall, this study highlights the opportunities and challenges facing the Australian iron ore industry in contributing to the decarbonization of the global steel sector, underscoring the crucial role of government support in driving the growth and development of the green steel industry. [Display omitted] • Australia could produce low-cost green steel for value-added export • Strong correlation between hydrogen hubs and iron ore operations • Existing infrastructure supports the roll-out of the industry • Optimized generation mix reduces storage, curtailment and production costs • Iron ore prices substantially influence green steel prices in the long term [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia offers an interesting case study of climate policy effectiveness as Australia has 'tried' a wide range of policies to mixed effect. Given that more than half of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions typically come from stationary energy generation, most climate policy in Australia has focussed on electricity sector reform, particularly the uptake of variable renewable energy and the decrease of thermal power generation. Electricity supply in Australia has undergone substantial change over recent years, substantially due to these policies, and needs to continue changing in the future to meet climate change mitigation targets and ensure stable, cost-effective electricity supply. This paper is therefore written from the perspective of an electricity planner and seeks to learn from the experiences of climate policies tried over recent decades. We start by reviewing the history of Australian energy policy and a description of how the Australian electricity network is structured to operate. We examine the theory and effects of different policies tried, which range from renewable energy targets, carbon pricing schemes, subsidies for renewable energy and research and development initiatives. We make three key observations from the case analysis: (1) that there has been substantial expense and effort effectively wasted through duplicate effects of different policy mechanisms by both federal and state governments; (2) as various mechanisms enable variable renewable energy generation to increase, the market becomes distorted, increasing total system costs and decreasing system robustness and resilience; and (3) the narrowed focus of climate policy mechanisms on certain variable renewables, such as solar photovoltaic and wind generation, omitted the opportunity for uptake of scale-able low carbon, firm generation options, like nuclear power and carbon capture and storage., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose - The Australian Government has proposed a portfolio standard requiring 20 per cent of electricity to be supplied by renewable energy. It has introduced a number of policy measures to drive this target; however based on the resources and commercially available technology is this enough? This paper aims to look at the application of both Federal and State measures and to determine whether this will drive the deployment of technology at the rate required to meet the targets set. Design/methodology/approach - Research and modelling was undertaken on the anticipated generation technologies (based on proposed policy measures and commercial availability of the technology), which indicate a shortfall in renewable generation by 2018. Findings - The findings indicate that additional policy measures will be required to meet the objectives set. These measures will need to be introduced at a State level where the policy measure can target those renewable resources in which the State has both an economic and abundant supply. Practical implications - Within any country (particularly one the size of Australia) different regions will have different renewable resources and policy will need to target those resources in which the region has an abundant and economically viable supply. Originality/value - Currently all discussion in relation to policy measures to combat global warming issues within Australia has been focused at the Federal level. The paper highlights the need to focus policy at State level when looking at deploying technology at specific renewable resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition from centralised, fossil fuel-powered generating units to distributed energy resources (DER) represents a significant step forward, offering numerous benefits. However, this shift also presents operational challenges for distribution network service providers (DNSPs) and the electricity markets. In this paper, we introduce our innovative solution for allocating network capacity in the form of operating envelopes, shaped to enhance customer participation in energy and reserve markets. Our approach also provides DNSPs with network support flexibility of DER which can be leveraged to either increase network throughput for market services or postpone network augmentation. This study outlines our initial findings from Project Converge 1 1 https://arena.gov.au/projects/project-converge-act-distributed-energy-resources-demonstration-pilot/. —a comprehensive real-world trial involving 1000 active customers (the largest participant cohort in Australia) located in the Australian Capital Territory. Within, we discuss the challenges we have encountered, the opportunities that have arisen, potential avenues for future expansion, and the invaluable insights gained during the pre-trial phase of the project. • Proposing shaped operating envelopes – a novel extension of dynamic operating envelopes to allocate network capacity amongst aggregators. • Enabling DER to participate in energy, FCAS and network support market while empowering DNSPs to postpone network augmentation. • Real-world implementation of our approach in a live trial in Australia with more that active 1000 customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boosting energy consumption, ensuring energy supply security, and mitigating emissions are critical global concerns, especially during the surge in energy prices, continuous expansion in income level and persistent economic integration with other countries, and climate change. The existing evidence on the determinant of renewable energy is still in its early stages; however, there is currently limited empirical evidence regarding the determinant of renewable energy in Australia. Therefore, this study probed into the effect of the asymmetric effect of economic globalization on renewable energy usage in Australia, which prior studies in the literature have neglected. The study employed carbon emissions, economic growth, and oil price as other regressors. The dataset for the period spanning from 1970 to 2018 was analyzed using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag. Evidence from the empirical analysis reported that the positive variation in economic globalization has a positive and significant effect on renewable energy, thus the rise in economic globalization promotes renewable energy. Meanwhile, the negative variation in economic globalization has a neutral impact on renewable energy. Furthermore, economic growth and oil price positively and significantly affect the usage of renewable energy in Australia. Moreover, carbon emissions have a negative and significant effect on renewable energy. Furthermore, the wavelets coherence was also for the robustness test, which reports positive co-movement between all regressors and renewable energy, except for CO2 emissions (negative co-movement). Economic globalization, economic growth, and CO2 emissions drive renewable energy, while renewable energy leads to oil prices in Australia. This study offers significant and crucial suggestions to policymakers in Australia, emphasizing the need to prioritize environmental sustainability and promote economic globalization to foster the growth of the clean and efficient energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the processes of residential solar PV uptake is critical to developing planning and policy energy transition pathways. This paper outlines a novel hybrid Agent-Based-Modelling/statistical adoption prediction framework that addresses several drawbacks in current modelling approaches. Specifically, we extend the capabilities of similar previous models and incorporate empirical data, behavioural theory, social networks and explicitly considers the spatial context. We provide empirical data affecting households’ propensity to adopt, including perceptions of solar PV systems, the role of tenure and urban location. We demonstrate the approach in the context of Melbourne metropolitan region, Australia; and draw on housing approval data to demonstrate the role of housing construction in accelerating adoption. Finally, we explore the approach’s validity against real-world data with promising results that also indicate key areas for further research and improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigated strategies that can deliver NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings in Australia. • It was challenging for tropical, subtropical and cold temperate climates to meet the NZE targets. • Design and optimisation of the envelope was effective in overcoming the challenges imposed by the more demanding climates. • The impacts of shading from neighbouring buildings presented the largest obstacle to energy production through the façade. • Study demonstrated a need to include density factors in the design consideration for NZE high-rise residential designs. Net-Zero Energy (NZE) buildings are gaining popularity globally as a solution to reduce operational energy usage and limit greenhouse gas emissions in the building industry. Their deployment is occurring rapidly as many countries are planning to make it mandatory for new developments. Despite the advancements in research in the various aspects of NZE, significant barriers do exist to its successful adoption and implementation, particularly with respect to high-rise residential buildings which are becoming a major portion of the housing supply in Australia. One of the challenges attributed to the achievement of NZEB performance is the uncertainty involved in selecting appropriate solution strategies that could deliver quality performances. This paper investigated strategies that can deliver NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings in Australia. A calibrated model of 26 storey high-rise apartment building with 396 units was prepared for detailed analysis of NZE strategies using building simulation. The impact of various interventions was evaluated across cities in five climate zones in Australia and a guideline for solution sets that can deliver the goal for each climate zone is presented. The findings show that NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings can be realised in Australia, albeit with some limitations. While the tropical, subtropical and cold temperate climates appear to be more challenging, proper design and optimisation of the envelope proved to be effective in overcoming the challenges imposed by the more demanding climates. The impacts of shading from neighbouring buildings and objects presented the largest impediment to energy production through the façade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to mitigate the environmental impacts of the transportation sector, implementing more sustainable vehicle technologies such as electric vehicles have become a priority for governments and car manufacturers around the world. This study aims to determine the environmental benefits of electric vehicles in Australia during the next 15 years, considering future relevant factors for Australia, such as the electricity generation emissions factor, the expected renewable energy share in electricity sources, the predicted total annual traveling distance by all passenger cars, and the current and forecast average fuel consumption of electric vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) in Australia, and based on three electric vehicle penetration scenarios (5%, 10%, and 15% electric vehicles penetration). The results of the study concluded that a significant increase in total annual traveling distance by passenger cars is expected during the next 15 years, approximately 12% between 2022 and 2040, due to the continuous increase in population and the number of registered vehicles. Significant environmental benefits from electric vehicles will be obtained when electric vehicle penetration is more than 10% of total passenger cars. When electric vehicle penetration is 15%, the expected reduction in GHG emissions is forecast to be 11.04%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Lifecycle assessment of coal plus wood and paper waste co-firing with CO 2 capture. • Combustion modelling used to predict direct CO 2 and trace emissions. • Increasing co-firing ratio without CO 2 capture decreases CO 2 emissions slightly. • Lower global warming potential due to CO 2 capture drives a lower endpoint score. • Negative emissions achievable at more than 30 % waste co-firing with CO 2 capture. Bio-Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is an emerging energy conversion technology with the potential to deliver 'negative emissions', a net removal of CO 2 from the atmosphere that may be necessary to achieve the net-zero targets adopted in the Glasgow Climate Pact at COP26. This paper uses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental impacts of co-firing dry waste biomass (wood and paper waste) while implementing CCS technology (i.e., BECCS) in a conventional black coal-fired power plant. The LCA covers CO 2 emissions and trace contaminants, determined via combustion modelling coupled with chemical-equilibrium-based ash-forming element and trace element calculations. As a case study, the context of New South Wales, Australia, is analysed to assesses the viability and discuss policy implications of waste co-firing BECCS as a future energy source for coal-reliant regions. An increase in co-firing ratio is found to decrease emission intensity. At current typical efficiencies, BECCS with a 10 % co-firing ratio can reduce emission intensity from 938 to 181 kgCO 2 /MWh. At 20 % to 25 % co-firing, the emission intensity of BECCS is comparable with other renewable technologies, and negative emissions are achievable above 30 %, although waste availability in NSW is insufficient to achieve these levels. Moreover, BECCS increases environmental impact in all categories except for global warming potential (GWP), land use, and terrestrial acidification. Nonetheless, when aggregating all impacts, the large reduction in GWP drives an endpoint score reduction, indicating that co-fired BECCS may be preferred over sub-critical black (bituminous) coal-fired power without or with CCS, or other higher emission intensity coal-fired power generation. Therefore, policy makers should consider incentivising waste co-firing BECCS as part of future energy policies towards achieving the net-zero targets, weighing its benefits against other environmental impacts, waste availability and competition with recycling initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both developed and developing countries have committed to reduce their emissions through the increased use of renewable energy. This paper aims to compare renewable energy deployment in developed and developing countries represented by Australia and China. The paper firstly argues the validity of comparison of renewable energy deployment in Australia and China. Then, the governance structures in both countries are compared; the paper also compares management mechanisms in terms of funding and incentive support, renewable energy grid-connection and coordination between different levels of governments in both countries. Moreover, the current status of renewable energy development in two countries is summarized. From the study, it can be concluded both countries have set a Renewable Energy Target and promulgated legislation and regulations to enlarge the scale of renewable energy; China shows a stronger commitment to renewable energy than Australia. However, Renewable Energy Certificate mechanism is implemented more effectively in Australia than in China. The paper suggests: augmenting and rebuilding the electricity network and strengthening coordination between different levels of governments for both countries; enhancing manufacturing facilities and incentives for the solar and wind industry for Australia, while developing more-detailed implementation legislation and renewable power quota system for China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a viable technique to address food waste (FW) problems by converting FW into sustainable energy. Despite the advantages of the AD process, large-scale AD plants like in Germany and the USA have not been developed in Australia. Therefore, this paper aims to study the technological, economic, and environmental feasibility of sustainable energy production from household FW in Australia. In addition, this paper discusses the different waste to energy (WtE) technologies along with the operational parameters as well as the challenges in developing a biogas plant. The energy and economic potential analysis of the AD process indicates that the processing of 10% FW from Australian states and territories can generate 1.22 GWh to 35.4 GWh electricity which can subsequently earn AUD 0.54 million to AUD 15.7 million revenue per year. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions analysis indicates that conversion of the 10% of Australian FW has the potential to lower GHG emissions by 639,852 tonnes per annum. Hence, it can be said that FW plays a vital role as a promising source of sustainable energy and is capable of benefiting the country's economy significantly and reducing GHG emissions. • FW is a potential source of sustainable energy. • AD is a useful waste to energy process for producing clean energy. • Conversion of FW into energy can significantly lower GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, the olive oil industry in Australia has been growing at an annual rate of 9%. Nevertheless, the highly polluting solid waste and wastewater generated by the industry poses significant challenges for the environmental sustainability of the industry. This paper analysed five alternatives for managing this waste stream using life cycle assessment methodology. The options included manufacturing briquettes as solid fuel for home heating; pellets for domestic or industrial water heating; pyrolysis and composting. The functional unit used in this study is the processing of 1 Mg of olive solid waste at the mill. Emissions were categorised into eight impact categories: ozone layer depletion potential (ODP), global warming potential (GWP100), eutrophication potential (EP), acidification potential (AP), human toxicity (HTP), fossil fuel depletion potential (FDP), ionising radiation potential (IRP), and photochemical oxidant formation potential (POFP). The study showed that although composting (current best practices – CBP) can achieve significant environmental benefits, using the olive waste to produce energy products may achieve better results, especially when displacing electricity from the main grid. The production of pellets for use in domestic hot water boilers (PHWH) is the option that is likely to deliver the highest environmental benefits. For example, GWP100 and ODP of the PHWH were estimated to be −1057 kg CO 2 -Eq, −1.5 × 10 −5 kg CFC-11-Eq compared to −12.4 kg-CO 2 -Eq and 5.3 × 10 −8 kg CFC-11-Eq achieved by the CBP, respectively. Future energy scenario and transportation distances were identified as significant parameters affecting the performance of the options. Sensitivity analysis showed that the expected change in the future Australian energy mix to cleaner energy sources is unlikely to have a significant effect on the performance of the alternatives. The results also showed little sensitivity to transportation distances of the energy product to the end user. This paper is the first to evaluate options for energy utilisation of olive solid waste using life cycle assessment and compare it to industry current best practices (composting). Although the paper focuses on the Australian olive oil industry, the results are also relevant to other countries and regions were olive solid waste is generated in relatively moderate quantities but distributed over large geographic area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the future role of hydrogen‐based iron and steel making and its potential impact on global material flows, based on a combination of technology assessment, material flow analysis, and microeconomic analysis. Renewable hydrogen‐based iron production can become the least‐cost supply option at a carbon dioxide (CO2) price of around United States dollars (USD) 67 per tonne. Availability of low‐cost renewable electricity is a precondition. Australia is the world's largest producer of iron ore and at the same time a country with significant low‐cost renewable electricity potential. A shift to direct reduced iron (DRI) exports could reduce global CO2 emissions substantially and at the same time increase value added in Australia, while maintaining steel production in countries that are currently processing ore into iron and steel, such as China, South Korea, and Japan. The approach could be expanded to other parts of the world and other energy‐intensive industry sectors. Such relocation analysis in a climate context can become a new industrial ecology research area. Iron and steel industry CO2 emissions can be reduced by nearly a third, around 0.7 gigatonnes (Gt) CO2 per year. To achieve these emission reductions, investment of USD 0.9 trillion, or 0.7% of the total energy sector investment needs, would be required, global DRI production would have to increase seven‐fold from today's level, and the hydrogen energy used would equal 1% of global primary energy supply. Such a shift could develop from 2025 onward at scale, if the right policies are put in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy demand in Australia is increasing with the industrialization and rapid economic growth. This study analyzed the relationships among the economic growth, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), trade openness, urbanization, and energy usage in Australia based on the data from World Development Indicators (WDI) from 1972 to 2021. The results indicated that there is a cointegration among economic growth, FDI, trade openness, urbanization, and energy usage, which was traced through the autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL). The Zivot-Andrews unit root test reveals that energy usage, economic growth, FDI, urbanization, and trade openness show significant structural breaks in 1993, 1996, 1982, 2008, and 1994, respectively. The ARDL model shows that economic growth has a positive and significant effect on energy usage in the long-run (0.814) and short-run (0.809). Moreover, the results also show that FDI (0.028) and trade openness (0.043) have positive impacts on energy usage in the long-run. However, urbanization shows a negative and significant influence on energy usage in the long-run (=0.965). Then, the research demonstrates a unidirectional causation between energy usage and trade openness, with energy usage significantly causing trade openness. The current study endorses energy consumption policies and investment strategies for a paradigm shifting from a reliance on fossil fuels as the primary energy source to renewable energy sources. These findings have profound implications for sustainable energy usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-fifth of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions come from households. There are 7 million households in Australia and each is producing about 15 tonnes of greenhouse gas every year. Energy use, car use and waste are the largest sources of household emissions. Improving the energy efficiency of homes is one of the most effective ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and has been the main focus of the government's energy policy. In addition to the introduction of BASIX as mandatory to all new homes in NSW in 2004, the federal and state governments have introduced incentive schemes to subsidize Australian homes to install solar panels and other renewable energy technologies as a way to improve energy performance of existing homes since 2006. This paper examines the opportunities and challenges of renewable energy in improving energy efficiency of existing dwellings. The paper also presents the results of an economic analysis of renewable energy source in a dwelling in NSW. Finally a strategic direction of providing affordable and environmentally sustainable practices in upgrading existing homes to improve energy efficiency is also developed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to the threat of climate change, conserving freshwater ecosystems and securing adequate energy and water supplies are among the greatest challenges facing modern societies. Yet recognition of the interdependencies between climate, energy and water policy—with resulting synergies and trade-offs—remains limited, leaving societies and governments alike vulnerable to the dangers of conflicted or unintended policy outcomes from sectoral decisions. In this paper, we analyse current Australian climate, energy and water policies to identify the risks of perverse outcomes between the three policy sectors. In doing so we categorise the conflicts and synergies between particular energy generation, carbon sequestration and water supply policies to improve understandings of the challenges facing decision makers in Australia and internationally. Four types of interventions are identified that would enable integration and optimisation of policies, namely: better cross-sectoral knowledge to inform decisions; the identification of technologies with co-benefits; markets with broader cross-sectoral participation (including linking water and carbon markets); and better-integrated governance institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nowadays renewable sources are being used as clean sources to generate electricity and to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The uses of renewable sources are being increased in electricity generation and contributed to reduce the greenhouse gas emission. The function of any electrical power system is to connect everyone sufficiently, clean electric power anywhere and anytime of the country. This can be achieved through a modern power system by integrating electrical energy from clean renewable sources into the nation''s electric grid to enhance reliability, efficiency and security of the power system. The paper on the status of review the driving force of the generation of renewable energy and proposing electrical energy generation from renewable sources to be ensured at least 20% of total energy of Australia. This paper has been studied the existing electricity generation capacity of Australia from renewable and non-renewable sources. Optimal electricity generation from renewable sources has been examined. The environmental impact of electricity generation from renewable sources has been considered. Under this paper the yearly average wind data of past 20 years and above for some meteorological stations of Australia have been used. The prospective electricity generation from wind turbines and solar photovoltaic panels has been proposed in the paper that will increase electrical energy of the power grid of Australia. It was estimated the capital cost of prospective electricity generation farms from wind and solar PV sources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Despite possessing a very large potential of renewable energy sources, Australia has lagged behind other developed countries in embracing renewable energy. Various programs and policies have been devised and implemented by Australian governments. Nevertheless, the proportion of renewable energy in electricity generation in Australia has not increased significantly. This paper seeks to explain why Australia has difficulties in adopting renewable energy by using the Political Aspect of Innovation (PAI) framework to examine the causes and barriers that have blocked the taking up of renewable energy. The PAI framework is concerned specifically with public innovation policy in Australia and the way it aims to encourage and support investment in new technology development. The paper finally outlines some future suggestions for charting the progression of the Australian energy system toward a transformative sustainable future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Narratives and discourses are central to how we interpret and understand the world. The capacity to construct and disseminate compelling stories about particular issues is hence critical to an agent''s capacity to advance their interests. This paper examines some of the main narratives through which the conversation about renewable energy in Australia takes place. We label these narratives feasibility (‘Pie in the Sky’); security (‘Keeping the Lights on’); cost (‘Costing the Earth’); and employment (‘Jobs Carnage’). Some of the most effective narratives are those that are constructed around some of the ‘legitimate’ concerns that pertain to an issue. The renewable energy narratives identified in this paper build on ‘reasonableness’ and ‘common sense’ concerns, and their effectiveness is determined as much by contextualising information absent from the energy conversation as present. While our focus is Australia, some of the narrative dynamics revealed have application to energy politics more broadly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Over the past decade, several new approaches have emerged to renewable energy education that seek to address the needs of the 21st century for sustainable energy supply systems. In addition, unlike conventional architectural education which does not cover renewable energy issues in its curriculum, these days, renewable energy education has an identity of its own within the discipline of architecture. This paper will clarify academic obstacles that are impeding the development of sustainable architectural education. These obstacles include: ambiguous definitions of sustainable architecture, confusion over the meaning of sustainability, and lack of experts in this field. In the last part of this paper we compare academic architectural education in the field of renewable energy in two countries, Iran as a developing country in Asia and Australia as a developed country in Oceania. Lessons can be drawn from these case studies in regard to the obstacles and progress in the development of sustainable architecture education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The claim of catastrophic man made climate change or global warming through anthropogenic CO2 has presently focused the interest on the tailpipe emissions of CO2 per km, with recent legislations obsessively targeting these emissions of CO2 with defectively implemented procedures. With a variety of different propulsion solutions (electric, hybrid electric, hybrid mechanic, conventional) and different fuels (Diesel, Petrol, alternative fossil, alternative renewable) available in the near future, a more comprehensive approach based on the full fuel cycle, and eventually also the full life cycle of the vehicle appear to be necessary. The paper is a contribution to trigger further improvement to currently implemented procedures. The paper discusses the CO2 emission data in the present form, some simple but effective measures to improve the accuracy of the data collection procedure, and propose results of fuel cycle CO2-e analysis of vehicles with electric and thermal engines having different fuels. Vehicles with advanced internal combustion engines and power trains fuelled with Diesel may reach CO2-e values of 100 g/km in Australia. Use of bio-ethanol in these vehicles may deliver in Australia a significant reduction of CO2-e emissions to values below 36 g/km. Emission factors for Victoria are presently 1.23 kg CO2-e/kWh for the purchased electricity and vehicles powered by electric motors will need a significant reduction of this indirect CO2-e emission to become competitive. Values below 0.5 kg CO2-e/kWh are needed to make electric cars competitive with Diesel cars while values below 0.1 kg CO2-e/kWh are needed to make electric cars competitive with bio-ethanol cars. Compared with all these alternatives, renewable hydrogen may possibly compete with Diesel when produced with renewable energy sources and made available at the pump for less than 0.1 kg CO2-e/MJ of fuel energy, and with bio-ethanol if produced and distributed at a cost below 0.02 kg CO2-e/MJ of fuel energy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Australia has been striving hard to meet the Renewable energy Target (RET). Every state in Australia has been contributing to meet RET. The Australian government has introduced energy policies to aid the adaption of renewable energy, including feed in tariffs (FiTs). The impact of FiTs in the renewable energy economics for an Australian scenario has been analyzed in this study. A university set up has been considered and the economics for optimally sized renewable energy resources is examined. In this paper the economic impact for the consumers on adapting grid connected renewable energy sources and the effect of FiTs has been analysed for the university building. The advantages and disadvantages have been scrutinized and suggestions for further improvements in FiTs for Australian scenario has been suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global concerns around climate change and the volatility of conventional fuel prices have prompted researchers and technologists to make significant efforts to identify and exploit alternative energy sources that are cleaner and more sustainable. Wind energy has seen considerable development among these alternative energy sources, mainly due to its abundance and global availability for extraction and the existing knowledge within the aviation and aerospace fields. Many nations, including European countries, already operate offshore wind farms (OWFs) and are progressively carrying out new projects and expanding on other projects. The Australian offshore environment provides unique opportunities for wind energy extraction, particularly along the southern coast of mainland Australia and the regions around Tasmania, where substantially strong winds blow most of the year. A significant challenge to establishing wind farms is the selection of site locations with optimal outputs. This can become a complex decision-making problem if there are numerous options and no information from previous projects. This paper aims to develop a decision-making framework to select the optimal location for installing OWFs while addressing financial, performance-related, and availability-related objectives. This paper adopts a game-theoretical approach to develop a decision-support tool to account for the interdependencies of influencing factors and possible conflicts amongst the parties. The game model is applied to an OWF development case study in the Bass Strait, known for its dominant and strong winds. • A framework to find the optimal location for installing Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs). • Game theory decision-making methodology for offshore renewable energy applications. • Define the influencing factors and conflicts amongst the interested parties. • Apply to OWFs development in Bass Strait, known for its dominant and strong winds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) applies to the production of energy from wind in waters under national jurisdiction, with a focus on the nascent regulatory frameworks for offshore wind in Australia and New Zealand. It explores the particular characteristics of offshore wind—which raise different regulatory issues than traditional offshore activities such as fishing and oil and gas exploitation—and explores how key provisions of UNCLOS will affect the way in which coastal states regulate offshore wind in their waters. Against this backdrop, it considers how the international law framework might apply in the specific context of Australia and New Zealand, where domestic legal frameworks are currently being established to regulate vast and valuable offshore wind resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Modern power systems are experiencing the challenge of high uncertainty with the increasing penetration of renewable energy resources and the electrification of heating systems. In this paradigm shift, understanding electricity users' demand is of utmost value to the retailers, aggregators, and policymakers. However, behind-the-meter (BTM) equipment and appliances at the household level are unknown to the other stakeholders mainly due to privacy concerns and tight regulations. In this paper, we seek to identify residential consumers based on their BTM equipment, mainly rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems and electric heating, using imported/purchased energy data from utility meters. To solve this problem with an interpretable, fast, secure, and maintainable solution, we propose an integrated method called Interpretable Refined Motifs And binary Classification (IRMAC). The proposed method comprises a novel shape-based pattern extraction technique, called Refined Motif (RM) discovery, and a single-neuron classifier. The first part extracts a sub-pattern from the long time series considering the frequency of occurrences, average dissimilarity, and time dynamics while emphasising specific times with annotated distances. The second part identifies users' types with linear complexity while preserving the transparency of the algorithms. With the real data from Australia and Denmark, the proposed method is tested and verified in identifying PV owners and electrical heating system users. The performance of the IRMAC is studied and compared with various state-of-the-art methods. The proposed method reached an accuracy of 96% in identifying rooftop PV users and 94.4% in identifying electric heating users, which is comparable to the best solution based on deep learning, while the speed of the inference model is a thousand times faster. Last but not least, the proposed method is a transparent algorithm, which can tackle the concerns regarding the agnostic decision-making process when policies prohibit some machine learning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical study of current Australian and leading international policies aimed at supporting electrical energy storage for stationary power applications with a focus on battery and hydrogen storage technologies. It demonstrates that global leaders such as Germany and the U.S. are actively taking steps to support energy storage technologies through policy and regulatory change. This is principally to integrate increasing amounts of intermittent renewable energy (wind and solar) that will be required to meet high renewable energy targets. The relevance of this to the Australian energy market is that whilst it is unique, it does have aspects in common with the energy markets of these global leaders. This includes regions of high concentrations of intermittent renewable energy (Texas and California) and high penetration rates of residential solar photovoltaics (PV) (Germany). Therefore, Australian policy makers have a good opportunity to observe what is working in an international context to support energy storage. These learnings can then be used to help shape future policy directions and guide Australia along the path to a sustainable energy future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite considerable mitigation efforts, global emissions from the electricity sector continued to grow in recent years. In Australia, the electricity sector is the largest CO 2 -emitting industry, contributing 35% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian government targets an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 relative to 2010. With a large variety and quantity of renewable energy resources, it is technically feasible and seems indispensable that Australia's electricity sector be largely decarbonised by 2050 in order to achieve this target. In this paper, scenario-based hybrid Life-Cycle Assessment is applied to calculate the economy-wide carbon footprints of seven electricity generation technologies in scenarios with differing renewable electricity penetration. This work is the first to apply a full life-cycle approach to scenario analysis of electricity generation in Australia. The findings are at the higher end of previously reported carbon footprint intensity ranges and above median values. However, even when taking into account indirect emissions along the technologies' life-cycles, the results indicate that the employment of different renewable energy technologies can potentially save a considerable fraction of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. This makes renewables an essential option for climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential or ‘rooftop’ solar PV can play an important role in providing renewable energy, thus offsetting fossil fuel based generation and associated greenhouse gas emissions. In Australia, subsidies are offered to encourage the deployment of residential PV in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs). This paper provides a literature review of existing work which assesses renewable energy in Australia, and delves deeper into a residential PV specific analysis of available data across the five criteria of installation, employment, market maturity, FiT settings and environmental outcomes to assess successes, failures and impacts of Australian residential PV policies between 2001 and 2012. This analysis identifies overall success with regard to environmental and deployment goals, and limited success in the goal of renewable energy industry promotion, which is devoid of indigenous manufacturing. In addition, impacts, including the dominance of the FiT as the initial stimulus for rapid PV deployment, cost impacts on electricity bills for various FiT settings, and the dependence of PV employment numbers on the continuation of the FiT are also identified. Finally, inequitable outcomes due to the FiT, such as cross-subsidisation from non-solar to solar households are also detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water utilities with a population base of greater than 50,000 people can have several economically viable options for ensuring their services provide climate resilience and carbon neutrality through optimisation of their two largest operational expenses (OPEX): power for STP aeration and power for water supply pumping. Energy optimisation can be approached from a number of perspectives, including design, equipment selection, instrumentation and control, energy recovery from the sewage, pumping off-peak, reuse of sewage and water treatment residuals, etc. Smaller water utilities with less than 50,000 people have less latitude for applying these approaches due the lack of economic viability for smaller facilities, lack of staff or other. Smaller water utilities must still strive towards reducing their carbon footprints but maintain affordability to rate payers. Public Works Advisory (PWA) provides technical, advisory and design services to Government Agency clients, including Local Government Areas or LGAs. The PWA partnership with LGAs assists at the local level to deliver on the commitments of NSW and Australia to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. Directly reducing the take and use of grid power supplied by coal fired power stations can have favourable outcomes, both for reducing GHGs and OPEX. The use of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Australia is particularly attractive due to the continent having the highest direct normal irradiation or DNI. Current literature gives few examples of real operating data from PV systems in duty on water infrastructure, particularly for smaller installations. PWA target the highest OPEX areas for management of water and sewage and demonstrate with actual operating data from three full-scale case studies. PV panels can be economically employed by smaller water utilities for acceptable Internal Rate of Returns (IRRs), with or without batteries, to help reduce their overall carbon footprints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]