Triggers will slow planet wrecking
It was pleasing to read that, last year, investments in the global energy transition (US$1.1 trillion) equalled fossil fuel investments.
However, as Peter Sainsbury explains, half of the transition investment was made by China and investment needs to “triple immediately” for the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
While Sainsbury is justified in pointing out that Australia is one of twenty “planet wrecking” countries for its “aggressive exporting of CO2 pollution”, it’s important to differentiate Australians from their governments.
Australia leads the world with residential rooftop solar and two Australians, Professor Andrew Blakers and Professor Martin Green, the “fathers of photovoltaics”, are confident solar power will completely decarbonise the world by the early 2040s. They appear to be right.
Bloomberg forecasts that by 2050, global electricity demand will have grown from 1300 Twh today to 38,700 TWh. Using the long-term annual solar power growth rate of 20 per cent, the world will reach the Bloomberg estimate around 2041.
Introducing water and climate triggers into Australia’s pending environment laws will make it harder for Australia’s planet wrecking to continue. All power to the Greens, independents and environmental lawyers working to make this happen.
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