Large-scale renewable energy investment in Australia has fallen to the lowest level since 2017 due to the uncertainty over federal policies. Without clear government signals and policy, companies and businesses lack the strong incentive to develop and transform towards alternative business models, which, in turn, slows the transition to a lower-emissions energy future. If that continues, we’ll be on a collision course where a groundswell of capital collides with a lack of top-down policy leading to a disorderly transition. With the federal government failing to act, states should take it upon themselves to cut emissions and increase resiliency through a “bottom-up approach”, which allows states and local governments to lay down a road map for lower-emissions energy by using innovative policies and regulatory approaches to incentivize capital inflow into the sector. Effectively, a clean energy grid for Australia would entail reliable, 100% renewable supply and secure infrastructure for its distribution. As such, it follows that achieving this requires a progressive transition from the deeply-entrenched fossil fuel power industry into renewable power, all while ensuring reliable supply and providing support for the livelihood of those who depend on fossil fuel power generation. While solutions to these problems exist, another barrier arises from the contested problematization of the issue and its controversial political dimension. Vested interests and lobby groups continuously resist and impede the existing momentum to slow down the transition.

“The QLD Government has already taken important steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and capitalize on Australia’s renewable energy boom. Nonetheless, current research suggests the 50% target will not be reached by 2030“. (Climate council, 2021)

Queensland faces these general issues in its own way, particularly relating to its supply dependency on coal power, weak infrastructure, and relative lack of progress when compared to other states in Australia. Although policy efforts exist and there is momentum toward transition, key elements remain capped by lack of a clear roadmap or commitment to net-zero emissions, lack of energy storage infrastructure, and existing dependence on coal power, most relevantly in rural regions. In light of said issues, states governments in Australia have a constitutional residual responsibility to ensure power supply as a utility, which currently stands jeopardized by the long-term unsustainability of fossil fuel power. While there are political pressures from international efforts, as well as demand pressures from concerned consumers, there are, most relevantly, strong market forces at play that are undoubtedly moving away from coal and towards potential opportunities in the renewable sector. These currents of influence provide a clear path of action, in line with international efforts, which emphasizes the importance of decisive action and planning. Opposing parties that seek to create controversy, then, represent rather a relative minority which, much like Queensland itself, will have to adapt to survive the political and economic environment of the following decades by:

A clear long-term plan is key to unlocking Queensland’s potential while mitigating any adverse effects of the transition. The said plan would serve to provide certainty where federal policy remains uncertain and would aid in incentivising the capital inflow and investment needed to effectively accelerate the transition.

Said road map would include policies like:

a) Stop government funding for the new development of coal power stations: In line with the IEA’s NetZero by 2050 report, withholding approval for new fossil power stations is a key element in decarbonising the energy supply and the economy in general.

b) Commit to a 50% clean energy target for 2030 as a minimum: Roughly 8GW of coal-fired power stations are due to retire in the next 10 years which will need to be replaced by renewables, creating an enormous opportunity for investment.

c) Establish a 2030 energy storage target: Given that generation continues smooth transition, said power is capped by energy storage and its secure distribution. This is an important area to exploit Queensland’s manufacturing potential and research capabilities.

d) Leverage these initiatives to drive investment: With a firm plan, Queensland can become a destination of choice for global green finance and investment.

e) Expanding JobTrainer to develop a robust retraining program from coal to renewable industry: While Queensland stands to overall gain from this transition, considerable amounts of jobs will be lost, and livelihoods will be challenged. The state can importantly capitalise on existing and transferable expertise and ensure labour supply exists for the demands of the growing renewable industry.

An important part of the long-term transition involves making this process politics-proof: not affected by future leaders, political or ideological interests, effectively constraining our future selves, so as to deter future discounting.

a) An Energy Transparency Rating: Under the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme, renewable energy producers can produce certificates of their renewable production so that energy retailers can meet their RET quotas. A rating as proposed would aim to inform the consumers of where their energy is being produced so that the consumers themselves can make considerations and discern whether they may want to support businesses and where they get their energy from.

b) A Rural Community Transition Program: Although the state government currently has a program involving remote Aboriginal Communities, and this ought to remain, it is important to also address rural communities whose livelihood depends on the fossil fuel industry. The idea would be to aid a strategically chosen town as a pilot, to be aided to completely transition to renewables. This would then serve as a building block and a selling point for future rural communities.

Introducing Blockchain technologies can be a key tool to accelerate the decarbonization process of the Queensland energy grid. The technology behind cryptocurrencies and decentralized organizations (DAOs) provides traceability, security and speed to transactions. This technology makes the green energy supply more efficient, flexible, and transparent, thereby encouraging 100% renewable energy production and consumption.

How? This technology makes it possible to assign generation assets in an agile way to the point of consumption and even establish a hierarchy of priorities in the sources of origin. Thus, it is possible to accelerate and automate the renewable energy certification processes since a higher degree of traceability is obtained. This point is crucial when there are long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) based on renewable assets. One of the requirements established by these PPA’s is the need to prove the 100% green origin of the electricity supplied. These agreements play a fundamental role today because they drive the growth of renewable energy by encouraging the contracting of this type of energy by large companies. In addition, it guarantees the transparency and security of the transaction since it is registered in the platform in an immutable way, allowing all parties to audit the results. Likewise, this technology makes it possible to work under smart contracts that are self-executed when the two parties comply with the agreement, eliminating intermediaries and simplifying the process.

Since 2017, WePower has been working with generators, retailers and energy users to quietly re-shape how energy is traded in Australia. But lack of policy and regulations prevent the scaling and adoption of blockchain in the energy sector.

“Here in Australia the regulatory environment hasn’t kept pace with technology, and retailers who want to innovate are constrained from doing so. Ultimately it’s the energy users paying the price.” — WePower co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Kaspar Kaarlep.

Queensland enacting specific policies and rules for the use of new technology can significantly help Queensland's local energy markets. Policies should address; uncertain stakeholder roles; tokenization of energy or blockchain platforms; prosumer licenses; balancing obligations; grid interconnection codes, network consignment fees, the smart meter measurement act, privacy protection, and centralized decision making (Rao, 2020).

August 2021 - JS & SDB.

The University of Queensland

Large-scale renewable energy investment in Australia has fallen to the lowest level since 2017 due to the uncertainty over federal policies. Without clear government signals and policy, companies and businesses lack the strong incentive to develop and transform towards alternative business models, which, in turn, slows the transition to a lower-emissions energy future. If that continues, we’ll be on a collision course where a groundswell of capital collides with a lack of top-down policy leading to a disorderly transition. With the federal government failing to act, states should take it upon themselves to cut emissions and increase resiliency through a “bottom-up approach”, which allows states and local governments to lay down a road map for lower-emissions energy by using innovative policies and regulatory approaches to incentivize capital inflow into the sector. Effectively, a clean energy grid for Australia would entail reliable, 100% renewable supply and secure infrastructure for its distribution. As such, it follows that achieving this requires a progressive transition from the deeply-entrenched fossil fuel power industry into renewable power, all while ensuring reliable supply and providing support for the livelihood of those who depend on fossil fuel power generation. While solutions to these problems exist, another barrier arises from the contested problematization of the issue and its controversial political dimension. Vested interests and lobby groups continuously resist and impede the existing momentum to slow down the transition.

“The QLD Government has already taken important steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and capitalize on Australia’s renewable energy boom. Nonetheless, current research suggests the 50% target will not be reached by 2030“. (Climate council, 2021)

Queensland faces these general issues in its own way, particularly relating to its supply dependency on coal power, weak infrastructure, and relative lack of progress when compared to other states in Australia. Although policy efforts exist and there is momentum toward transition, key elements remain capped by lack of a clear roadmap or commitment to net-zero emissions, lack of energy storage infrastructure, and existing dependence on coal power, most relevantly in rural regions. In light of said issues, states governments in Australia have a constitutional residual responsibility to ensure power supply as a utility, which currently stands jeopardized by the long-term unsustainability of fossil fuel power. While there are political pressures from international efforts, as well as demand pressures from concerned consumers, there are, most relevantly, strong market forces at play that are undoubtedly moving away from coal and towards potential opportunities in the renewable sector. These currents of influence provide a clear path of action, in line with international efforts, which emphasizes the importance of decisive action and planning. Opposing parties that seek to create controversy, then, represent rather a relative minority which, much like Queensland itself, will have to adapt to survive the political and economic environment of the following decades by:

A clear long-term plan is key to unlocking Queensland’s potential while mitigating any adverse effects of the transition. The said plan would serve to provide certainty where federal policy remains uncertain and would aid in incentivising the capital inflow and investment needed to effectively accelerate the transition.

Said road map would include policies like:

a) Stop government funding for the new development of coal power stations: In line with the IEA’s NetZero by 2050 report, withholding approval for new fossil power stations is a key element in decarbonising the energy supply and the economy in general.

b) Commit to a 50% clean energy target for 2030 as a minimum: Roughly 8GW of coal-fired power stations are due to retire in the next 10 years which will need to be replaced by renewables, creating an enormous opportunity for investment.

c) Establish a 2030 energy storage target: Given that generation continues smooth transition, said power is capped by energy storage and its secure distribution. This is an important area to exploit Queensland’s manufacturing potential and research capabilities.

d) Leverage these initiatives to drive investment: With a firm plan, Queensland can become a destination of choice for global green finance and investment.

e) Expanding JobTrainer to develop a robust retraining program from coal to renewable industry: While Queensland stands to overall gain from this transition, considerable amounts of jobs will be lost, and livelihoods will be challenged. The state can importantly capitalise on existing and transferable expertise and ensure labour supply exists for the demands of the growing renewable industry.

An important part of the long-term transition involves making this process politics-proof: not affected by future leaders, political or ideological interests, effectively constraining our future selves, so as to deter future discounting.

a) An Energy Transparency Rating: Under the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme, renewable energy producers can produce certificates of their renewable production so that energy retailers can meet their RET quotas. A rating as proposed would aim to inform the consumers of where their energy is being produced so that the consumers themselves can make considerations and discern whether they may want to support businesses and where they get their energy from.

b) A Rural Community Transition Program: Although the state government currently has a program involving remote Aboriginal Communities, and this ought to remain, it is important to also address rural communities whose livelihood depends on the fossil fuel industry. The idea would be to aid a strategically chosen town as a pilot, to be aided to completely transition to renewables. This would then serve as a building block and a selling point for future rural communities.

Introducing Blockchain technologies can be a key tool to accelerate the decarbonization process of the Queensland energy grid. The technology behind cryptocurrencies and decentralized organizations (DAOs) provides traceability, security and speed to transactions. This technology makes the green energy supply more efficient, flexible, and transparent, thereby encouraging 100% renewable energy production and consumption.

How? This technology makes it possible to assign generation assets in an agile way to the point of consumption and even establish a hierarchy of priorities in the sources of origin. Thus, it is possible to accelerate and automate the renewable energy certification processes since a higher degree of traceability is obtained. This point is crucial when there are long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) based on renewable assets. One of the requirements established by these PPA’s is the need to prove the 100% green origin of the electricity supplied. These agreements play a fundamental role today because they drive the growth of renewable energy by encouraging the contracting of this type of energy by large companies. In addition, it guarantees the transparency and security of the transaction since it is registered in the platform in an immutable way, allowing all parties to audit the results. Likewise, this technology makes it possible to work under smart contracts that are self-executed when the two parties comply with the agreement, eliminating intermediaries and simplifying the process.

Since 2017, WePower has been working with generators, retailers and energy users to quietly re-shape how energy is traded in Australia. But lack of policy and regulations prevent the scaling and adoption of blockchain in the energy sector.

“Here in Australia the regulatory environment hasn’t kept pace with technology, and retailers who want to innovate are constrained from doing so. Ultimately it’s the energy users paying the price.” — WePower co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Kaspar Kaarlep.

Queensland enacting specific policies and rules for the use of new technology can significantly help Queensland's local energy markets. Policies should address; uncertain stakeholder roles; tokenization of energy or blockchain platforms; prosumer licenses; balancing obligations; grid interconnection codes, network consignment fees, the smart meter measurement act, privacy protection, and centralized decision making (Rao, 2020).

August 2021 - JS & SDB.

The University of Queensland