INTHEBLACK February 2023 - Magazine - Page 26
AT A GLANCE
Australia’s goal of
achieving net zero carbon
emissions by 2050 will
require substantial use
of resources.
New, game-changing
systems and technologies
must be developed along
the way to make best use
of those resources.
As a bonus, employment
opportunities may emerge,
requiring Australia to
mobilise a significant
part of its workforce.
Net zero game
changers
The Australian economy can achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Along the way, the systems and technologies that enable us to meet
that goal will forever change how our economy operates.
Story Chris Sheedy
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26 ITB February 2023
For Australia to reach net zero by 2050, we will
need to drastically change how we perceive
both our land and sea use, says Associate
Professor Simon Smart, of the University of
Queensland’s School of Chemical Engineering.
“We’re talking about significant pieces of
land being used to house solar and wind farms,”
says Smart, who is also a director of Net Zero
Australia and a member of the Dow Centre for
Sustainable Engineering Innovation.
“We have dubbed them ‘Solar Tasmanias’
because each one will be roughly the size of
Tasmania. There will be six of them spread across
the north-west of Western Australia, the Northern
Territory and Queensland. They will likely bring
stark changes to the landscape,” Smart explains.
Net Zero Australia is a multi-year study
being conducted in a partnership between
the University of Melbourne, the University of
Queensland, Princeton University in the US
and the international management consultancy
Nous Group.
Its work so far has considered models that
include offshore wind farms, new onshore and
offshore transmission lines, and five million
hectares of new trees.
“All this work is scenario-based and is not
predicting the future,” Smart says. “But I would
consider it the most detailed look at net zero
pathways and scenarios for Australia.”
The project’s interim results were released in
August 2022. The report is a fascinating road map
of the decarbonisation pathways and infrastructure
requirements to achieve net zero by 2050.
In terms of game changers, Smart says, three
essentials have emerged.
1. RAPID ELECTRIFICATION
Whether or not Australia’s north is transformed
by six Tasmania-sized renewable infrastructure
hubs for the export of clean energy, we will
require a vast array of renewable generation
to feed the grid, Smart says.
The “six solar Tasmanias” described in Net Zero
Australia’s interim report would generate about
three terawatts of solar and wind power – about
60 times the current national electricity market.
Why such an oversized generation capability?
“If it was for the domestic economy only, then
we’d need renewable generation that is about
seven to nine times the size of the current
electricity market,” Smart says.
“Oversizing allows for an export market. It
means we can maintain the same energy value
that we export now, in terms of coal and LNG
[liquified natural gas].”
The progressive adoption of more energyefficient technology and switching to electric
vehicles, Smart says, will keep energy demand
close to 2020 levels, even with substantial
population growth – as far into the future as 2060.
2. CARBON CAPTURE, UTILISATION
AND STORAGE
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is
fundamental to all the scenarios suggested in the
study. This technology essentially describes the
transport, typically by pipeline, of carbon dioxide