Energy from renewable resources in Australia

Australia generates approximately only 6% of its energy from renewable resources such as solar, wind and biomass. It has enormous potential to increase the amount of energy generated. Apart from renewable resources, Australia’s energy is derived from the following non-renewable resources: black coal, 29%; brown coal, 13%; crude oil, 34%; and natural gas, 18%. (See the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn, pages 35, 46, 63, 79 and 94–5). If Australia expanded its renewable energy capacity it would decrease or slow the use of non-renewable, greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. The burning of these fuels to generate energy releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has identified carbon dioxide as the main greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming (see the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn pages 189 and 190).

Windmills: A traditional form of wind energy technology

Windmills have been a common feature of Australia’s rural built environment for more than 100 years. They have been generally used to pump water for the use of livestock and the farm homestead. Until electricity and gas grids spread throughout non-urban Australia, small wind generators were used to provide energy on individual farms.

Recent Australian wind energy generating capacity

Australia now has a small wind energy generating industry. In recent years large-scale wind generators have been constructed in suitable localities in most Australian states and territories. The total installed wind generating capacity in Australia in 2001 was 71 MW (32 MW in 2000), which is enough to power 27 000 homes for one year. This is not a large capacity, but compare it with the 1999 and 2000 figures in the tables below.

The global situation for wind generating capacity (note the figures for France and Australia) is as follows:

The Australian wind energy generating industry

In its various publications the Australian Greenhouse Office (which is a Commonwealth Government agency) strongly advocates the advantages of wind energy. Here is an example:

If you have ever been out walking on a windy day, you’ll know how much power the wind can have ... The power of wind can also be changed into electricity using giant windmills called turbines ...

Australian Greenhouse Office (March/April 2000), Green power, page 2.

According to a national greenhouse gas inventory, Australia’s greenhouse emissions increased by 17.4% from 1990 to 1998. Australia needs to cut the emission of greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels for energy generation. Some other factors have also had an influence in the growth of the wind energy generating industry:

• The establishment of Federal Government legislation, The Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000, which makes it compulsory for electricity generating authorities to source a prescribed portion of their energy from new renewable sources or pay a ‘shortfall charge' on the proportion they do not source from renewable sources.
• A dramatic fall in the cost of generating electricity from wind sources. In the United States in the 1980s wind generating costs were US20 cents a kilowatt hour. In some US states in 2001 the costs were as low as US4 cents per kilowatt hour. In Australia, wind energy costs are estimated to be in the range of US6.5 cents to US8 cents per kilowatt hour while coal-fired electricity can be produced for US1.5cents to US3 cents per kilowatt hour.
• The need to create jobs in sustainable industries. At a wind energy forum in Canberra in July 2001 it was suggested that Australia could create thousands of new jobs in the wind turbine manufacturing industry.
• State governments are rapidly developing an interest in the wind energy industry. For example the Victorian Government is planning for the generation of a minimum of 5% of energy for the state, from wind power, within several decades.

Australian NGOs and wind energy generation

The Australian Wind Energy Association (AusWEA) and the environmental organisation Greenpeace believe that many regions of Australia are ideally suited for the establishment of wind energy generating plants. These two organisations have called on Australian governments to develop the capacity for production of 5000 MW of national wind energy capacity by the year 2010. This figure is equal to any one of the following:

• the generating capacity of two large coal-fired power stations
• the annual amount of energy required by all the homes in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
• an annual greenhouse gas saving of 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (a 3.8% cut in Australia’s total 1990 greenhouse gas emission level)
• removing 3.4 million greenhouse gas producing cars from Australian roads.

Greenpeace was a co-sponsor of a European report, Wind Force 10 (1999), which maintained that wind energy is capable of supplying 10% of the world’s electricity within 20 years, even though the total demand for electricity is likely to double over the same period.

Australia’s wind energy generating sites

See the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd Edition, pages 15, 41, 51, 75, 89, 99.

The CSIRO has identified the most suitable sites as being located in sections of Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia (page 51, grid references H1 and H2). These sites are in a broad region that comes under the influence of a wind known as the ‘Roaring Forties’.

• Tasmania: It has been estimated that Tasmania could provide up to 1000 MW of wind energy. In 2001 development approval was sought to construct a 130 MW wind farm on Tasmania’s north-west tip. King Island (page 99, A5), which is off Tasmania’s north-west coast and already has a wind farm connected to the island’s Huxley Hill diesel generators. This wind farm was the second commercial site in Australia after one in Esperance in Western Australia (page 41, H2), and it provides about 20% of King Island’s electricity needs. The population of King Island is approximately 1400.
• Victoria: In Victoria a company called Pacific Hydro is planning to establish four wind farms near Portland (page 88, B3). These have been designed to generate enough energy for 100 000 homes. This has been described as Australia’s largest wind energy project and involves four sites on which 100 wind turbines will be constructed. It has been designed to produce enough electricity per year to reduce Australia’s greenhouse emissions by 600 000 tonnes a year. A similar development is planned for Victoria’s South Gippsland coast (page 89, F3).
• South Australia: In South Australia a wind energy project (120 turbines) is proceeding at Elliston on Eyre Peninsula (page 51, E4) and a further development is planned for the Willunga scarp south of Adelaide (page 51, G3 and page 52, B2 'Sellicks Hill Range'). See the table below for a summary of Australia's current wind farms:

Australia’s largest wind energy sites

The sites mentioned below are the largest in Australia, but only started generating wind energy in the last few years and are not included in the 1999 table above.

• The Stanwell Corporation, which is a Queensland-Government-owned black coal electricity generator, operates an 18 MW wind energy plant at Windy Hill, at Stanwell in north Queensland.
  
• Western Power operates the Albany wind farm in Western Australia, which has 12 turbines the height of a 20-storey building (65 metres). It produces 22 MW of electricity, which is sufficient to power 75% of the homes in the nearby town (see the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn, page 41, F1). The turbines' blades are 35 metres long. The site, on Western Australia’s picturesque south-western coastline, was chosen because of the consistency and strength of the region’s prevailing winds. They blow strongly against the coastal cliffs, which are approximately 80 metres above the Southern Ocean. The Albany wind farm will save approximately 76 000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. This Western Australian contribution will assist the Federal Government to meet its target of producing 2% of its energy production from renewables by 2010.
• The Albany community generally supports the establishment of the wind farm. It hopes that it will attract ecotourists who are interested in seeing the huge wind turbines and the sustainable energy development. A minority of locals are concerned that the very tall turbines will spoil the spectacular scenery on the coast and deter visitors from coming to popular fishing spots.

Opposition to the establishment of wind farms in Victoria

In 2001, court action from property owners kept the Pacific Hydro company in court over its plans to build the Portland wind farm in Victoria (see the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn, page 88, B3). By January 2002 the environmental concerns about the construction of wind energy farms, held by many citizens of regional Victoria, had reached such a level that the Weekly Times newspaper carried a lengthy article titled 'Winds of war lash the coast'. At the same time, fourteen wind energy localities where turbines had already been constructed or were being planned were identified. They were:

• 5 sites west of Warrnambool (Heinemann Atlas 3rd edn, pages 88–9, B3 and C3), for example at localities near, Portland and Port Fairy—Cape Bridgewater, Cape Nelson, Cape Sir William Grant, Codrington and Yambuk
• 2 sites east of Warrnambool (page 89, C3 and D3)—Nirranda and Princetown
• 1 site near Ararat (page 89, C4)—near Mt Buangor
• 1 site near Geelong (page 89, E3)—Marcus Hill
• 2 sites near Wonthaggi (page 89, F3)—Wonthaggi and Bass Hills
• 3 sites north of Wilsons Promontory in the South Gippsland region (page 89, G3)—Fish Creek, Toora and Welshpool.

In return for considerable financial returns from the power companies, many farmers and landowners in these localities are willing to allow the establishment of wind turbines on their land. When farmers are facing economic difficulties, receiving a regular income from such enterprises such as the citing of wind turbines may become an attractive proposition.

Nevertheless, the objections of the property owners who live near the proposed wind turbines west of Portland were:

• the loss of visual amenity in an otherwise beautiful rural landscape
• the possibility of establishing a planning precedent for the future—once one group of turbines were constructed it could lead to the addition of hundreds more
• the amount of noise generated (some of the turbines have a span equal to the length of a jumbo jet)
• the hazard that the rapidly spinning blades present to birds, particularly coastal and soaring species.

The South Gippsland region of Victoria is a very beautiful area of that state. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the wind turbine sites has been prepared for this region. As with the Warrnambool region, many local property owners are very unhappy with the wind energy plans for this area. Their major arguments centre on:

• the impact of any project on the tourism industry, which depends heavily on the beautiful unrestricted views of the coastline and near-coastline rural landscapes
• the noise pollution for nearby residents.

Some Gippsland residents are pleased that this form of energy generation does not produce air pollution in the same way as the coal-burning power stations located in the nearby Latrobe Valley (see the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn, pages 94–5 and compare with the map of the Hunter Valley on page 79). However, other residents of the Gippsland region are disappointed that the wind farms do not generate employment opportunities (other than during the construction phase) in a region of high unemployment. They also point out that too often the discussion about wind energy is dealt with in general terms.

This sometimes allows those people who are opposed to the wind energy projects to be labelled as 'anti-environment'. Most would prefer the debate on wind energy to concentrate on the specifics of a particular project (its citing, scale, type of technology being advocated and location relative to farm or town houses) and the shortness of time allowed for people to respond to any EIA.

On 18 November 2001 the National Trust called for a halt in approvals for the construction of wind-energy generators in Victoria. The Trust’s Victorian chairman suggested:

• energy sources other than wind could prove more viable than 'ugly' wind turbines
• the Victorian Government could lock the state into 'unnecessary' developments for wind turbines before it developed a comprehensive plan on sustainable energy and wind power in particular.

It was also noted that with each announcement of the construction of a wind energy project there was no corresponding mention of plans to phase-out coal-burning energy generation. Some environmentalists are concerned about the lack of plans to phase out these greenhouse-generating stations over the next few decades.

Wind farm issues in France

As in Australia, governments are favouring green energy programs so that they might be seen as acting to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The French Government is also pushing ahead with wind turbine programs to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy.

Many Australian property owners and residents of affected rural regions have similar objections to those in the French, Mediterranean department of Aude (see the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn, page 146, D3, in vicinity of Narbonne). This region's rural landscape of vineyards and medieval villages is threatened with transformation into a giant wind farm. There are plans for at least 110 wind energy developments for this department and up to 800 in the Languedoc-Rousillon region (Languedoc is one of the windiest regions of France), in the departments of Pyrenees-Orientales, Aude, Herault, Aveyron, Lozere, Gard and Ardeche (see the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn, page 146, D3—north and north east of Narbonne). This will mean the locating of hundreds of wind turbines on ridges and hilltops. Wind energy generators have also been established in Brittany, a region with a rugged and striking coastline. (See the Heinemann Atlas 3^rd edn, page 146, C4, in vicinity of Brest, Nantes and Rennes.)

Some of the turbines will be 100 metres tall and will include aviation warning lights. Anyone living within a kilometre of the turbines will hear the endless churning of blades. The people opposed to these wind generators also raise the following objections:

• loss and damage to business and property prices
• loss of rural amenity
• the landscape changes in the region—from a vast expanse of beautiful scenery, visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, into an industrial site.

Decision-making issues associated with wind farms

People usually accept that decisions about controversial environmental issues, such as the location of wind farms, should be made only after there has been a thorough investigation of all related aspects. Sufficient time must have been given for the voicing of all opinions, particularly those of the people who are directly affected. A thorough weighing up of global, national and local concerns should also have been a part of this process. In Australia, for example, this might include an assessment of the benefits of a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions internationally, then for Australia and for its states and territories or regions, against the cost of changes in the character of rural landscapes and other environmental impacts.

Exactly how democratic this weighing up and these decisions are depends on how the final decision is reached and who makes it. In Australia, people who oppose these projects will also be accused of suffering from the NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome. Although the wind farm issue mainly affects the people of small rural regions, local industries, local government and the states or territory governments, it is ultimately the Federal Government who has the responsibility and authority in terms of national energy and greenhouse emissions policy. Democracy does not mean that everyone has to agree before a decision is taken. In reality some will be disappointed and quite dissatisfied with the outcome and may feel that their opinions were ignored, while others’ views will dominate.