Green energy is a bigger opportunity for Australia than the resources boom. Let’s not waste it

(The Guardian, 20 Apr 2023) The logic is simple. Australia has world class wind and solar resources, and an abundance of minerals and land needed in the transition to renewables.

If Australia seizes the opportunity offered by the world’s transition to zero net emissions it can repeat the experience of the China resources boom that peaked about 10 years ago. But this time the opportunity can be sustained for some decades – rather than boom and bust – and we can manage it better for productivity and broadly based development.

The logic is simple.

Australia is the world’s largest exporter of gas and coal taken together. Many focus on the costs of losing what has been our large comparative advantage. But two key points are often overlooked.

First, Australia has the world’s best combinations of wind and solar energy resources, and it has enormous sources of biomass for a zero emissions chemical industry.

Think about that.

The world is moving to a zero emissions economy – albeit at an uncertain speed – and we can have the lowest-cost zero emissions electricity available for large scale economic development in the world.

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The Guardian, 20 Apr 2023: Green energy is a bigger opportunity for Australia than the resources boom. Let’s not waste it