“Together we can end the climate wars, we can be a renewable energy superpower,” said Australia’s 31st prime minister, Anthony Albanese, in his victory speech on election night. Words are powerful, and by uttering them, our nation’s new leader signalled a new way for our policy and politics aimed at uniting and strengthening our communities and economy.
But what sits behind the words of politicians is often more important, so let’s get into what it means for Australia to become a renewable superpower and how that will cast the climate wars into the history books where they belong.
Australia has some of the best renewable resources in the world.
But how do we leverage this enormous comparative energy advantage to make Australia a renewable superpower, accelerating climate action in the process?
Essentially, becoming a renewable superpower has four elements that we need to pursue concurrently.
First, we need to change our electricity system by replacing our coal power stations with the renewables and storage projects, with support for workers and communities.
Second, we must grow the size of our electricity system to electrify everything: replacing petroleum vehicles with electric ones; and replacing gas stoves and hot water heaters in our homes with efficient electrical alternatives (induction stoves and heat pumps).
Thirdly, getting on with the job of building off-grid and on-grid renewable energy zones to grow our manufacturing sector, reduce our reliance on imports and create a renewable export industry.
Finally, we should ensure we maximise the benefits of doing this for all Australians by growing clean energy supply chains, so that First Nations communities are at the forefront of these industries on their land and also so that low-income households are able to participate in the renewables revolution.
Going big on renewables will accelerate not just climate action in Australia but around the world.
Australia is the world’s third-largest exporter of fossil fuels after Russia and Saudi Arabia. These exports generate more than double our domestic carbon pollution. Investing in clean manufacturing and renewable exports, and replacing our fossil fuel exports would, according to the Australian National University, help “reduce 8.6% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the Asia-Pacific and about 4% of global emissions”.
So how does this help end the climate wars?
The core narrative behind the climate wars prosecuted by vested interests and the hard right was to create a false choice between climate action and economic prosperity.
Tony Abbott’s “axe the tax” scare campaign that helped him win the 2013 election is a classic example. Abbott blamed rising electricity prices mostly due to higher network (poles and wires) costs on the government’s carbon price, as an example of how acting on climate hits everyday Australians’ hip pockets.
However, the idea of Australia becoming a renewable superpower fundamentally flips this false narrative on its head, because acting on climate means creating huge economic prosperity. And unlike the scare campaigns, the economic opportunities of Australia becoming a renewable superpower are facts, not divisive political fiction.
Increasing competition in the electricity sector by introducing low-cost renewables and storage lowers wholesale electricity prices for everyone.
Moving to electric homes and electric vehicles could, according to Rewiring Australia, save Australian households $5,000 per year. Growing a renewable manufacturing and clean exports sector could, according to the Sunshot Report by Business Council of Australia, Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Conservation Foundation and World Wildlife Fund–Australia, create almost 400,000 jobs and generate $89bn in new trade by 2040.
The jobs in these clean manufacturing and renewable export opportunities are almost double the number of direct and indirect jobs in fossil fuels.
The even better news is that many of these jobs will be in traditional manufacturing and mining regions. Making commodities such as fertiliser would reduce our reliance on ammonia imports and fossil gas, while green aluminium and green steel would value add to our world-leading iron ore and bauxite export industries.
In addition, there are projects in development to make components for clean energy technologies. Australia can do everything, from produce and recycle the minerals essential to clean energy technologies such as lithium, copper and nickel, to manufacturing wind turbine blades, inverters, batteries and even electric buses.
However, the clean energy superpower job opportunities are not just in the traditional mining and manufacturing industries. There are also jobs in the legal, financial, computer science, education, training and engineering professions deploying and managing renewable energy systems, household electrification, electric vehicles and more.
For example, Australia leads the world in the uptake of rooftop solar. As a result we have built significant software capability in the operation of and access to distributed energy. Australian businesses such as Allume are now providing these solutions to energy consumers in Australia and around the world.
Over the weekend Australians from the country, the suburbs and the city overwhelmingly voted for climate action. Even in electorates in central Queensland there was a swing to the ALP. This isn’t surprising given polling by centre-right thinktank Blueprint last year found that 80% of residents of Flynn back government investment in new industries such as renewable hydrogen. This suggests Labor’s strategy of focusing on clean energy and manufacturing opportunities stemmed the tide of defection from the last election in these seats and was sufficiently compelling in urban Australia to help pick up seats like Reid and Swan.
The challenge now for the ALP is to work with the parliament, state and territory governments, businesses, unions and the community to turn the breadth of these opportunities into reality and without delay.
It is only by Australia becoming a renewable superpower in practice, creating good jobs and lowering energy bills, that many in traditional fossil fuel heartlands and ongoing climate doubters will finally have their scepticism put to rest, ensuring the climate wars are a thing of the past and the future is stronger for all.
Nicky Ison is a clean energy commentator and strategist. She was formerly a researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney and Energy Transition Manager at WWF-Australia.
