I attended a conference last week here in Melbourne called Government Sustainability that attracted lots of people from local government as well as companies/consultants (trying to sell various "solutions") and a few associations and state agencies. Very few researchers attended ... a point that suggests a distinct lack of collaboration between academia and key local/state stakeholders in the field of sustainability?
I was struck by the large focus on sustainable or green buildings with Council House 2 or CH2 in Melbourne as it is called held up as a shining example. There were a few presenters who suggested the role of planning was on the rise in Australia, which is far more about districts rather than single buildings, and city-wide infrastructure.
This discussion highlighted again just how much Australia can learn from Sweden on sustainable urban development. For example, the Western Harbour in Malmö, known as Bo01, is an entire district focused on bringing about sustainability in action. In fact, it is now several inter-linking districts that has a momentum that means it is "creeping" into the whole city planning of Malmö.
I am looking forward to the Thriving Neighbourhoods conference, also to be held in Melbourne, where I suspect there will be a greater diversity of participants, more examples from the "world" outside Australia, and some more in-depth discussions on planning and thriving in a carbon-contrained economy.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
10. Creating investment conditions through sticking with targets
I read this today ...
Australia’s clean energy industry today called for the Federal Government to ensure the 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target remains unchanged in order to retain its investment-grade stability and drive job creation along with lower costs for consumers.
The Climate Change Authority is currently undertaking a review of the target, to source 20 per cent of Australia's energy from renewable sources by 2020.
“The Renewable Energy Target is the single most important policy measure for the entire Australian renewables sector,” Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green said. “Since its introduction, it has generated some $18.5 billion of investment and thousands of jobs – many of them in regional and rural areas where most of Australia’s abundant clean energy resources are found,” Mr Green said.
“It has seen more than 1.7 million Australian households moving to protect themselves from fossil-fuel-driven price rises by installing small-scale systems such as solar panels and solar hot water.
“In addition, the equivalent of more than 2.1 million households is now powered by large-scale renewables such as hydro and wind.
“To date, it has also been the single largest carbon abatement scheme in Australia and without it Australia would not have achieved its emissions reductions target under the Kyoto Protocol.”
Mr Green said the Renewable Energy Target in its current form stood to generate up to $30 billion more in investment and a total reduction of 380 million tonnes in carbon emissions over the life of the scheme.
But the ability of the Renewable Energy Target to deliver more investment, jobs, carbon abatement and energy security would be severely undermined if fundamental changes are made to it or the legislative and economic mechanisms underpinning it, Mr Green said.
Enough said I think!
Australia’s clean energy industry today called for the Federal Government to ensure the 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target remains unchanged in order to retain its investment-grade stability and drive job creation along with lower costs for consumers.
The Climate Change Authority is currently undertaking a review of the target, to source 20 per cent of Australia's energy from renewable sources by 2020.
“The Renewable Energy Target is the single most important policy measure for the entire Australian renewables sector,” Clean Energy Council Chief Executive David Green said. “Since its introduction, it has generated some $18.5 billion of investment and thousands of jobs – many of them in regional and rural areas where most of Australia’s abundant clean energy resources are found,” Mr Green said.
“It has seen more than 1.7 million Australian households moving to protect themselves from fossil-fuel-driven price rises by installing small-scale systems such as solar panels and solar hot water.
“In addition, the equivalent of more than 2.1 million households is now powered by large-scale renewables such as hydro and wind.
“To date, it has also been the single largest carbon abatement scheme in Australia and without it Australia would not have achieved its emissions reductions target under the Kyoto Protocol.”
Mr Green said the Renewable Energy Target in its current form stood to generate up to $30 billion more in investment and a total reduction of 380 million tonnes in carbon emissions over the life of the scheme.
But the ability of the Renewable Energy Target to deliver more investment, jobs, carbon abatement and energy security would be severely undermined if fundamental changes are made to it or the legislative and economic mechanisms underpinning it, Mr Green said.
Enough said I think!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
9. From geothermal energy to ranking cities
This week I have been reading over two thesis reports by international Masters students I am supervising. One on geothermal energy in Indonesia, looking at the business conditions and effects of policy that are trying to expand georthermal energy rapidly to meet growing energy demands. This is an intriguing story, since it points to how fast-developing countries with large populations can react strongly and quickly to the challenges of moving towards low-carbon societies and economies. The thesis concentrates on the realities of investing in geothermal energy from a bottom-up perspective, and what policy-makers can learn in their efforts to support investors from a top-down approach. The other student I am supervising has conducted research on how cities in the Öresund region, which covers part of Sweden and Denmark, are ranked in terms of environmental performance. The thesis looks at what role ranking systems can play in improving environmental conditions and regional cooperation. The Öresund Region has embarked on a vision to become the first carbon neutral region in Europe - a bold ambition! To get there, the cities in the region will need to regularly evaluate their performance, and at the same time actively collaborate. So two different topics, but one main goal - sustainable development and fast.
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