Renewable Energy Zones
Climate change is one of the leading drivers of biodiversity loss and will only get worse unless we act now. The bushfires and floods over the last few years have given us a taste of what is to come if we don’t take urgent action.
A renewables-based global energy system compatible with limiting the average global temperature rise to 1.5ºC will reduce damage to biodiversity by around 70 per cent globally, saving up to 700,000 species from potential extinction.
Acting on climate change means significantly reducing our emissions. The best way to achieve this is to switch our energy generation from fossil-fuel polluting coal-fired power to renewable energy.
The NSW government has established five Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) to deliver the vast amount of large-scale renewable energy needed. REZs essentially act as energy hubs, where renewable energy infrastructure, generation, and high-voltage transmission are located close together.
The areas for REZs were chosen based on a variety of factors, such as:
- Strong renewable energy resource potential – lots of sun and/or lots of wind!
- Proximity to the existing electricity network – to reduce the amount of new transmission (the poles and wires that transport electricity) that needs to be built
The transition to renewable energy is well on the way. NSW is already at about 53% renewable energy generation capacity.
For a safe climate future we must have both a thriving renewable energy industry and natural environment. That’s why while we’re calling for a timely transition to renewables, we’re also advocating for stronger nature laws and a better planning system in NSW.
Wind Farms and Whales
Climate change and vessel strikes are the primary threats to whales worldwide, and there is no peer-reviewed evidence that offshore wind farms harm whales. Greenpeace, the group that was established to protect whales and marine life, has this great summary of the issue.
Nuclear Energy
We are proud to have a longstanding position of over fifty years of standing in solidarity with First Nations people in opposing uranium mining, nuclear energy and weapons production, and storage of nuclear waste. The impacts and risk to Country, nature and people have and will always be unacceptable. Read more.
Critical Minerals
The mining of critical minerals (also known as rare earth minerals) like all mining, has an impact on the environment. The reality is that without a substantial increase in critical minerals to supply parts to power renewable technologies we will not be able to limit global temperature rises to less than 1.5C. Read more.
Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicles offer a future with cleaner air, less air pollution, cheaper transport and dramatically reduced carbon pollution. Robust, peer reviewed evidence from independent organisations including the International Energy Agency have found that no matter how you look at it, electric vehicles produce dramatically less carbon emissions than petrol vehicles.
This includes the emissions associated with rare earth mining, manufacturing, and recycling the batteries, and is even true if the vehicle is charged with electricity generated by the burning of coal.
You can check out this nifty tool to compare the life cycle emissions of different types of electric vehicles and petrol cars.
What about the batteries?
EV batteries offer one of the most promising opportunities to develop a circular economy. Research has found that 95 per cent of battery materials can be recovered for other uses or turned into new batteries.
However, in Australia only 10 per cent of small lithium-ion batteries were recycled in 2021. The NRMA has done a great factsheet covering many of the concerns people have on EV batteries: How long do EV batteries last?
You can also find out more here: What happens when a battery is no longer fit to power an EV