When you close your eyes and try to imagine what the world will be like in 100 years, do you imagine our mountains littered with wind farms, our deserts supporting rows of solar panels or our ocean currents producing high levels of hydropower?
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Or have you ever considered the possibility of our tar roads replaced with solar panels?
This is already on the forefront of many minds of those in the world of renewable energy academia. In fact, six months ago the world’s first solar road was established and is far exceeding expectations.
The road, which opened in the Netherlands in November, has produced more than 3000 kilowatt-hours of energy; enough to power a single household for one year.
The 230-foot stretch of road, which is embedded with solar cells that are protected by two layers of safety glass, is built for bike traffic, a use that reflects the road’s environmentally-friendly message and the cycling-heavy culture of the Netherlands. However, the road is hoped to withstand heavier traffic.
When considering a renewable electricity generation, the unique characteristics of some renewable resources may challenge how well our nation's electric system operates. Biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind resources are available at sufficient levels for use over wide areas; however, renewable resources can also be considered site specific. For example, values of solar energy are best in the sunny southwest, but the solar resource is more than sufficient to generate significant amounts of electricity across most of the country.
Scotland, for example, has set an ambitious target of meeting the equivalent of 100 per cent of electricity needs through renewable sources by the year 2020. Forty-four per cent of Scotland’s electricity needs come from renewables and is the world's leader in the growing green technology sectors.
There are 143 countries in the world with renewable energy targets and readers I’m ashamed to say, we are not one of them.
The Australian government have been discussing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) for years now, it is meant to ensure that Australia runs on 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020; this is not an ambitious expectation. As our Australian consumers are using less energy the amount of electrical consumption has dropped, therefore the RET has been in constant debate.
The problem - because Australians are using less energy, there should be a lowered target.
Austria has 68 per cent renewable energy, Sweden 61 per cent, our New Zealand neighbours use a whopping 80 per cent and Costa Rica has managed to run 100 per cent on renewable energy.
We are reported as the only country in the world to experience a decline in renewable energy and since the Liberal government took charge, investment in renewable energy has dropped 88 per cent, renewable jobs have dropped 15 per cent and renewable energy companies say that we are risking more than $10 billion in renewable investment.
Unfortunately, none of us can actually see into the future, the simple reality is; Australia needs to take a good step back and see a more global picture before, as the saying goes, our goose is cooked.
