Restructuring the power industry
Strategies to restructure the power industry so that deep cuts in emissions can be achieved in a reasonable time frame. Presented by Chris Mardon.
Presenter
Chris Mardon is the Convenor of the Victorian Greens Energy and Climate Change Policy Working Group. He is a retired CSIRO scientist with experience in research on biofuels and in the chemical industry as an engineer, experience as a consultant to the Office of the Regulator General (ORG, the forerunner of the Essential Services Commission, ESC), and as the Environment Victoria representative on the state government deliberations for the creation of the Victorian Greenhouse Strategy.
Workshop outline
The aim is to explore realistic strategies to restructure the power industry so that deep cuts in emissions can be achieved in a reasonable time frame. This is not just a matter of technology, but also behavioural and institutional changes. Given the global financial crisis, the existing power stations are in no position to finance the changes required, and deregulated markets make it difficult to act, so direct government intervention will be needed. The question is how and to what end.
Background reading
NEMMCO: An introduction to Australia’s National Electricity Market, June 2008. http://www.nemmco.com.au/about/about.html
Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Victoria: Electricity Generation, consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria (2006). http://www.ces.vic.gov.au/CES/wcmn301.nsf/obj/publications/$file/Electricity+factsheet+v1.pdf
COAG: National Energy Reform Agenda
ATSE: THE HIDDEN COSTS OF ELECTRICITY: Externalities of
Power Generation in Australia, March 2009.
http://www.atse.org.au/index.php?sectionid=1288
Chris Riedy: Energy and Transport Subsidies in Australia
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/resources/reports/climate-change/energy-and-transport-subsidies
CEEM: The changing NEM context for climate policy (2008)
http://www.ceem.unsw.edu.au/content/userDocs/Iain_MacGill.pdf
Traralgon bypass supplementary enquiry. Expert witness statement. Dr David Brockway, CSIRO. Technologies for brown coal power generation (2007). http://www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/WebFiles/Business%20Services/LV2100/ExpertEvidence/DPI/Brockway%20Traralgon%20Bypass%20Statement%20070301.pdf
Treasury: Australia’s Low Pollution Future: The Economics of Climate Change Mitigation – Summary Report. See especially Chapter 3, Chart 3.6: Australia’s trajectory, actual emissions and permit trade
