Australia’s Climate Action Summit Greens NSW MP John Kaye June 2013, Glebe NSW

Making NSW renewable :

The next steps (politics)

The challenge – 2013

John Kaye Greens NSW MP 2

John Kaye Greens NSW MP 3

The barriers

Climate deniers Impact on probable next

federal govt Power of fossil fuel

industry Political and economic

Fear of change Job insecurity

Politicians lacking imagination No vision for a new future

The non-barriers

Technology UNSW, BZE …: 100% renewable NSW possible Existing technologies: wind, solar thermal, PV

Economics Costs plummeting Jobs:

73,800 in clean energy generation, vs6,000 in coal and gas generation

Investment capital $10 bn invest (+ 4,000 jobs + 22 Mt CO2) in wind

alone

Plummeting costs of renewables

Wind, sun, coal and jobs

John Kaye Greens NSW MP 7

Jobs in NSW

Coal-fired electricity (including mining)

6,000

Renewables & efficiency 73,800

Jobs in NSW

Aluminum smelting 1,500

Rooftop solar 5,400

The zero-carbon technologies Central

Wind Concentrating solar

thermal storage

Biomass Distributed

Rooftop panels Micro-hydro Energy efficiency

100% Renewable is: Possible

Technology is ready Investment is available Time is right

100% Renewable is: Affordable

makes economic sense renewables now cheaper

than new coal-fired PS Social costs of carbon are

economically unsustainable cost NSW: $2.4 bn to $6.9 bn Health, infrastructure

create thousands of new jobs up to 73,800 jobs in NSW

100% Renewable is: Essential

Unacceptable costs of fossil fuels: environmental social economic

NSW biggest CO2 emitter in Aus

Carbon addiction Dead end economy

Renewables Export growth area

Breaking through

Campaign of solutions: Possible, Affordable, Essential Focus on jobs growth Works with carbon price

Legislation: Transforming NSW Energy Sector (Towards 100 percent

Renewables) Bill 2013 A greenprint for a 100% renewable NSW Showing how it can be done Force debate on choice:

CSG & coal or renewables Councils as change agents

Towards 100% renewable communities

Part 1: Legislation

Objective: require NSW govt to take first steps to replace state's coal-fired electricity generating fleet

with renewable energy and energy efficiency Steps:

Develop the equivalent of 500 MW coal by 2017 solar, wind and energy efficiency

Close 500 MW unit at Wallerawang power station 2017

Guarantee employment all workers at Wallerawang Ban new fossil fuel power stations of 15 MW or more Remove artificial barriers to

distributed energy wind power

Establish timeline for closing all coal-fired power stations by 2030

Guarantee employment for all power station employees

Part 2: Councils as change agents

Councils best located to provide leadership coordination and support (esp. finding funding sources)

Councils know more than any other agency about: Community Housing stock Land Possibilities of renewable energy

Build confidence in new technologies Aggregating expertise and knowledge

Possible roles councils can take Direct installation

E.g. Waverley – 31 kW of PV Bulk purchase and retail

Warrnambool – savings Establish Renewable Energy Parks

Expand capacity as residents buy-in Works best with modular – e.g. solar PV

Establish/foster Renewable Energy Coop Central NSW RE Coop Hepburn Springs wind turbines

Community benefits

Jobs Low income participation Investment and economic activity Lower electricity costs Identity and community strengthening

“What’s great is that locals who are low income earners can even be part owners for as little as $100, and they have the same vote as everybody else - that’s inclusiveness and democracy at its best. I don’t have much money but I invested all I could in it.”

Hepburn member

Next step:

Gather baseline data and identify opportunities:

Towards 100% Renewable NSW Action needed at all levels of govt and

community Reduce emissions rapidly Secure jobs and build export markets Take pressure off power bills

Massive benefits Early adopters are winners

Community buy-in Create constituency for change Just transition

2013 – the year of transition

Greens moving Transforming NSW Energy Sector (Towards 100 percent Renewables) Bill 2013 Create the debate Demonstrate the possibility and affordability

Greens developing Councils as change agents Piloting in a number of local government areas On-the-ground demonstration of possibilities and

benefits We believe it is: Time to stop talking and start transforming