The Federal Government is currently considering major decisions on a renewable superpower strategy. Our organisations agree that the global transition to net zero emissions can provide substantial and broadly shared economic and jobs opportunities for Australia, while preventing the worst impacts of climate change.
A net zero world needs:
- clean manufacturing of essential energy-intensive products like aluminium, alumina, ammonia, cement, fertiliser, iron and steel; powered by
- renewable energy that is scalable, firm and competitively priced; built out with
- componentry, infrastructure and appliances that are available, affordable and clean; made from
- minerals and materials that are responsibly extracted, processed and recovered; all made possible by
- the education, engineering, training, and skills to fill clean economy jobs.
Australia has opportunities in each area and could be a major player, meeting global needs while delivering benefits across our nation. Our natural advantages are strong, but we will need more than advantage to succeed.
There is no pathway to successful transition, let alone renewable superpower status, without immense and efficient construction. While higher energy performance and smart distributed energy resources are vital, we will still have to accelerate and expand our deployment of essential major clean energy infrastructure like transmission, grid-scale storage and renewable energy generation – faster, cheaper, and with higher productivity than…
