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ENERGY
> Stationary Energy> Transport> Buildings> Industrial Processes> Land Use, Forestry & Agriculture> Renewable Energy Superpower
Zero Carbon Australia Project Overview
A research partnership
ZCA Overview
Stationary Energy PlanThe Stationary Energy Plan details how a program of renewable energy construction and energy efficiency can meet the energy service requirements for the future Australian economy. Further, it provides a model for how most economies around the world can meet their energy requirements from renewables alone.
The key question surrounding renewables, resource variability, is overcome using molten salts for cheap, efficient large scale energy storage. All the labour, resource and manufacturing requirements are detailed, and are shown to fit within current availability at an affordable cost.
Future versions of the Plan will look at further optimisations of the generation mix, and the energy saving results of the Buildings and Transport Plans will be fed back into Version 2.0 of the Stationary Energy Plan to create the most comprehensive scenario on
decarbonising the Australian economy.
Transport PlanThe Transport Plan will detail how Australia can run a zero-fossil fuel passenger and freight transport system. The main focus will be on a large roll-out of electric rail and electric vehicles, as well as application of sustainable biofuels where appropriate and necessary.
Australian cities are the most sprawling in the world. On the upside this means they can accommodate metro-style rail by using existing land surface corridors, unlike more densely occupied European cities which need to build underground subways. The expertise of the Europeans, Japanese and Chinese can be leveraged to bring high-speed intercity rail to Australia.
Designs for the key intercity high-speed rail lines will be included in the Transport Plan, as willl examples of the metro rail and electric vehicle infrastructure requirements for a number of cities and regional towns. For a city like Melbourne this will be the first serious comprehensive plan for our transport system since the 1969 transport plan.
Buildings PlanThe Buildings Plan will quantify the energy savings possible from a comprehensive retrofit of Australia’s buildings stock, and zero emissions standards for new buildings. The main parameters will include energy efficiency and passive design upgrades, full electrification of heating services and optimisation of onsite renewable generation.
Gas is currently designed into much of Australia’s building stock to provide space and water heating, and cooking. The Buildings Plan will show how this can be replaced with solar energy and renewable ambient heat via heat pumps powered by renewable electricity.
All of these measures will require an upfront investment, but the future savings on energy will be significant. As with all of the reports, an economic analysis and comparison to Business-As-Usual is included, showing how much money homes and businesses can save on their energy bills.
The Zero Carbon Australia Project (ZCA) is an exciting initiative of Beyond Zero Emissions and the University of Melbourne’s Energy Research Institute. The project will develop a roadmap for the transition to a decarbonised Australian economy on a decadal timescale.
The latest and most credible science tells us that such a transition is necessary to maintain a safe climate.
The Project draws on the enormous wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise in the community to develop a blueprint for transitioning Australia to a zero carbon future.
Industrial Processes PlanThis Plan will examine how our industrial energy requirements can be supplied primarily from a 100 per cent renewable grid, and investigate replacement of chemical fossil carbon requirements.
Industry is our largest user of natural gas, which will need to be replaced with zero-emission options such as high-temperature electric heating. Where appropriate, the feasibility of direct onsite renewable generation will also be assessed.
Most non-energy related industrial process emissions come from direct chemical reactions from steel production and for the calcination of lime to make Portland cement.
Approximately 5 Mt of steel is produced from blast furnaces located at Whyalla and Port Kembla. Blast furnaces are no longer the global preferred technology for new steelmaking as the industry moves to direct reduced iron (DRI), which is more compatible with utilisation of biomass for chemical carbon.
The Industrial Processes Plan will address the calcination and heat requirements of cement making and show the alternatives for structural and non-structural applications of Portland cement.
Land Use, Forestry & Agriculture PlanSixteen per cent of Australia’s emissions are from land use change, forestry and agriculture. Most is produced from ruminants; the remainder from various sources including rice growing.
The issue of carbon in this sector needs to be addressed in tandem with broader issues such as land use efficiency and land use competition for different purposes and products.
Pressing questions include: What products/food stuffs should we prioritise for our land? How do we provide ecological restoration? Should we convert periforest agricultural land to ecological vegetation classes that bolster and buffer native forests? How much can be used as a sustainable energy source without competing against food production?
Importantly, the final vision is that human land use practices will be net sinks and stores of atmospheric carbon. The Land Use Plan will provide a comprehensive look at the way Australia can manage its productive capacity, ecological heritage and ecosystems services for the future.
Renewable Energy Superpower Plan There are huge opportunities for Australia to leverage its natural advantage in solar and wind resources. Photosynthesis and direct solar-heat processing could allow Australia to be a leading global supplier of next-generation biofuels.
While export of electricity is difficult, there may be significant opportunities to export embodied electricity. Globally, the aluminium industry is moving towards countries with low-carbon sources of power, to hedge themselves against future carbon pricing policies. Australia’s abundant solar and wind could be a huge economic advantage in a carbon-constrained world by providing cheap renewable electricity for metals and minerals processing.
Japan currently has a population of 130 million and yet is only half the size of NSW. Land constrained countries like Japan and South Korea are already moving away from Australian coal imports in their efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions but they could become a market for our zero carbon energy exports in the future.
> Australia’s energy is provided entirely from renewable sources at the end of the transition period.
> All technological solutions employed are from proven and scaleable technology which is commercially available.
> The security and reliability of Australia’s energy supply is maintained or enhanced by the transition.
> Food and water security are maintained or enhanced by the transition.
> The high standard of living currently enjoyed by Australians is maintained or enhanced by the transition.
> Social equity is maintained or enhanced by the transition.
> Other environmental indices are maintained or enhanced by the transition.
ZCA Project’s Guiding Principles
ZCA Project timeline
Getting the Stationary Energy Plan
You can download the ZCA 2020 Stationary Energy Plan, purchase a hardcopy and find out more by going to www.energy.unimelb.edu.au/zero-carbon-plan/
Contacts
Melbourne Energy Institute
McCoy Building, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, AustraliaT: +61 3 8344 3519 F: +61 3 8344 7761 E: [email protected] W: www.energy.unimelb.edu.auABN: 84 002 705 224
DirectorProf Mike SandifordE: [email protected]: +61 3 8344 7221
Executive ManagerSusannah PowellE: [email protected]: +61 3 8344 3519
Systems DesignDr Roger DargavilleE: [email protected]: +61 3 8344 3514
ZCA Research FellowPatrick HearpsE: [email protected]: +61 409 419 818
Beyond Zero Emissions
Executive DirectorMatthew WrightE: [email protected]: +61 3 421 616 733
Director CommunicationsMark OggeE: [email protected]: +61 3 421 272 884
> The Stationary Energy Plan was published in July 2010.
> Work is underway on the Land Use, Forestry & Agriculture Plan, Transport Plan and Buildings Plan.
> The project will run over three years.
