RACE for 2030: The starter's gun is firing. CSIRO confirms value from energy productivity. FIAL & A2EP in Ipswich. Leadership from surprising sources.
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June 2019 News
Hello energetic friends,
The highlight for this month for A2EP is submitting the RACE for 2030 CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) bid on Friday in partnership with UTS and some 65 other collaborators. For more information go here. We are a key partner in a $200+ million bid over 10 years, including well over $60 million of cash contributions from business and researchers (with support from state governments) and bidding for matching Commonwealth funds. If successful, this will be one of the largest CRCs and will substantially expand our role.
Other notable activities this month were the completion of 10 pre-feasibility studies for the ARENA-funded ‘renewable process heat’ project. The studies demonstrate that there are significant numbers of attractive opportunities for electrifying process heat using heat pumps to replace boilers and steam systems. The project should lead to implementation of several substantial demonstration projects.
We have also started a project with NSW DPI to facilitate support for demonstration projects of energy innovation in agriculture. We have a vision of an agriculture sector that moves from a place of competitive disadvantage in energy costs to competitive advantage, providing the foundations for increased value adding in the sector.
It would be great to have your opinions and inputs to my LinkedIn blog arguing for a focus on the economic opportunities from the energy/carbon transformation and the need to establish a transformation authority to manage this transition effectively. I got some great responses including being linked with work done in other countries like New Zealand and their ‘just transition’ plans. Again, our Kiwi cousins seem so far advanced on energy and climate (not to mention rugby).
Finally, I wanted to congratulate the Energy Efficiency Council for its 10th anniversary and the wonderful work they have done over the years. I was sorry to miss the photo taken at the anniversary party of the original board members, as I was pleased to contribute to the board for the first few years. A2EP will celebrate our 10th anniversary next year.
All the best
Jon Jutsen, CEO, A2EP
Innovating Energy for Food
Tuesday 23 July, Ipswich. A one-day briefing for growers and processors
FIAL and A2EP invite you to a must-know briefing in the context of rising prices, emerging technologies and developing opportunities. This briefing showcases technologies and enterprises that are transforming energy supply and use, with a focus on farmers, processors and their relationships. The content, including case studies, is specific to Queensland. Info here. Register here
In the news
The fork in the road?
A new report from CSIRO seeks to answer the question “What will Australia be like… economically, socially and environmentally in 2060? The Australian National Outlook extends earlier work “to understand and analyse the connections in Australia’s physical economy many decades into the future”. The Outlook models two scenarios, one that factors only modest improvements in energy productivity, the other that assumes a doubling of energy productivity. The Slow Decline v Outlook Vision is being played out in reality right now. James Deverell, Director, CSIRO Futures writes in The Conversation: It’s time for Australia to commit to the kind of future it wants.
A ‘green new deal’ for industry?
Recent elections for the European Parliament resulted in a so-called green wave. That wave may lead to a green deal for industry. Industry4Europe has called for governments to ensure that the Union “remains a hub for leading, smart, innovative and sustainable industry”. The detail is here.
Why did the chickens leave the grid? For more than a million dollars
In Western Australia a poultry farm is set to save more than $1.5 million on energy costs, after investing in solar through an innovative renewable agriculture venture. “Investment payback periods of 3-4 years are frequently attainable, equivalent to an internal rate of return of 25-30 per cent, compared to major bank cash investment returns of 1.5-2.5 per cent. Our scoping study for NSW DPI and the feasibility/pilot project now underway
highlight other opportunities for innovation on farms.
National leadership. From Adelaide.
In a speech to the Energy Policy Forum convened during Australian Energy Week, the Hon Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP, [Liberal] South Australian Minister for Energy and Mining, remarked on the need for an orderly energy transition, the desirability of consistent national approaches, the role of partnerships between industry and markets. He observed that “we should raise the ambition of the National Energy Productivity Plan. There is work underway in all jurisdictions on energy efficiency, but we can and should do more”. Let’s hope this minister’s voice is heard when COAG Energy Council is next convened.
National leadership. From business.
Investing (and risking) his own money, including in high tech food production, Mike Cannon-Brookes makes a stake. “The mission a few of us have is to get Australia 200 per cent renewable,” he says. “Two hundred per cent is actually easier than 100.” A profile in The Saturday Paper and in a podcast on 7am detail his ambition.
Buying
renewables: Matchmaking with ARENA and BRC-A
The knowledge sharing people at ARENA have have revealed their latest Insights. The success of the BRC-A is a story of the right solution at the right time. A growing number of Australian organisations are eager to shift their energy use to 100% renewables and renewable energy developers are keen to lock in longer term contracts to finance their projects. Simplifying the corporate PPA process provides a financial win-win for all parties and plays a major role in scaling up renewable energy deployment.
Energy efficiency: Highlighting what works
Coincident with its 10th anniversary celebrations, the Energy Efficiency Council recently published The world’s first fuel: How energy efficiency is reshaping global energy systems. The “report examines the policies that global leaders have introduced and lessons for Australia. The report is informed by extensive research and interviews with global experts.”
