22 February, 2017
Renewable installation rates must double in NSW over next five years
Nature Conservation Council Campaigns Director Daisy Barham will tell a Senate committee today that coal-fired power generation in NSW can and should be phased out within 14 years.
However, the NSW Government needs to develop a strategy for ramping up renewables investment to ensure the state’s energy needs are met during and after the transition.
“Coal-fired power plants in NSW should be replaced by renewable energy sources and storage technologies by 2030, but it will require strong leadership that has been lacking at state and federal levels,” Ms Barham said.
“The federal government has been missing in action on this issue for the past five years, and while the NSW Government claims to want to make the state carbon neutral by 2050, it doesn’t actually have a plan to get us there.
“We are calling on the Turnbull and Berejiklian governments to urgently develop a comprehensive plan to ramp up renewables investment to replace the state’s old polluting coal-fired power stations.
“Renewable installation rates over the next five years need to double to prepare the state for the scheduled closure of Liddell Power Station in 2022.”
The Nature Conservation Council is calling on the Berejiklian government to:
- Set enforceable targets to source 40% of NSW’s electricity from renewables by 2025 and 100% by 2030;
- Develop a plan for a quick and orderly phase-out of coal-fired power stations that is fair to power-station workers;
- Create incentives for the development of storage technologies, including batteries and pumped hydro.
“The rapid transformation of our energy system is essential if are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change for communities and nature,” Ms Barham said.
“The extreme weather we have experience this summer is just a taste of what’s to come if we don’t act urgently to cut emissions.
“International Energy Agency modelling of the 2-degrees scenario demonstrates that coal-fired power plants in OECD countries must be almost entirely phased out by 2035.
"The timeline must be even shorter if we are going to limit temperature rises to 1.5°C, as Australia agreed to in Paris.”
References
[1] New renewable energy projects point to biggest year for industry since Snowy Hydro
www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news/2017/February/2017-renewable-energy-projects-snowy-hydro.html
Tags
Air pollutionClimate and energyCoal and gas
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