The Tasmanian Renewable Energy Alliance (TREA) welcomes the Tasmanian Liberal government’s announcement of a target of 100% renewable electricity by 2022 and the intention to legislate a goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
But these election policies will need to be backed up by detailed programs and action to make them a reality.
Tasmania rates as one of the best three states in the Climate Council’s Renewables Ready: States Leading the Charge ( HERE ) released today. But this ranking is based on Tasmania’s existing renewable energy generation capacity, most of which was built last century, and on some general statements of future intent.
“If the race to 100% renewables is a 100m dash, Tasmania started past the 80m mark, and has actually gone backwards in the last year, while other states are setting ambitious goals and making major efforts to catch up.” said Jack Gilding, Executive Officer of the Tasmanian Renewable Energy Alliance.
Tasmanian households and businesses are embracing the potential for solar PV, but without more action by the state government, the large-scale renewables jobs and investment boom starting in other states will leave Tasmania off the map.
Announcements this year of the anticipated go-ahead for the Granville Harbour and Cattle Hill wind farms are welcome and would go some way to meeting Tasmania’s renewable energy shortfall currently met by the gas fired Tamar Valley Power Station and the import of electricity from Victoria. These wind projects have been in the planning stages for many years and there is no announced program to close the remaining gap and meet the 2022 target.
Getting to 100% renewable electricity is the easiest part of transitioning to a net zero carbon future. The big challenges for Tasmania are in transport, agriculture and industrial processes. More of Tasmania’s total energy consumption comes from liquid fuels, coal and gas than from hydro, solar and wind.
The state government Climate Change Action Plan 2017–2021 includes “a commitment to establish an aspirational target of zero net emissions by 2050” but has no defined plan to get there.
The claim to have already “reduced our emissions by 95 per cent on 1990 levels” relies almost totally on reductions in forestry activity and a changed methodology for assessing the impact of land use. Excluding the emissions from the land-use and forestry sector, emissions from the rest of the Tasmanian economy have reduced by only two per cent between 1990 and 2015.
If Tasmania is to truly deserve it ranking at the front of the pack in renewable energy and emissions reduction, detailed policy and action is needed to increase on-island renewable electricity generation and end our reliance on gas and liquid transport fuels.
Links …
TREA: www.tasrenew.org.au
Liberal statement Building Your Future: http://www.tas.liberal.org.au/
Tasmanian Climate Change Action Plan 2017–2021: http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/climatechange/tasmanias_climate_change_action_plan_20172021
