1.
The Political Economy of Renewable
Energy Generation in Australia
Jemma V. Williams
Fenner School of Environment & Society
Australian National University
Jeremy B. Williams
Asia-Pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise
Griffith University

2.
0C
<2

3.
November 2011

4.
Aims to transform Australia’s energy
production, distribution and usage
systems
The carbon pricing scheme
Improving energy efficiency
Creating opportunities in the
land sector to cut pollution
Promoting innovation and
investment in renewable
energy

5.
The Australian Capital
Territory Region (ACR)
Is a quasi-official subregion of the state of
NSW, with Canberra in
the ACT as a regional
capital city

6.
Legacy
Grid
Regulatory
hurdles
Public
Antipathy
Policy control by
incumbents
Political Discord
Barriers to the
adoption of
renewable energy
Institutional
Dissonance
Technical Hurdles
Economic Hurdles

7.
Barriers unique to renewable energy policy
Legacy
Grid
Public
Antipathy
Institutional
Dissonance
Regulatory
hurdles
Policy control by
incumbents
Political Discord
Technical Hurdles
Economic Hurdles
Barriers not unique to
renewable energy policy
Barriers addressed by the CEF
renewable energy initiatives

8.
Barriers unique to renewable energy policy
Legacy
Grid
Public
Antipathy
Regulatory regulatory control Policy control by
Policy and
by the incumbent
hurdles
incumbents
Political Discord
Institutional
Dissonance
Technical Hurdles
Media
Misinformation
Economic Hurdles
Barriers not unique to
renewable energy policy
Barriers addressed by the CEF
renewable energy initiatives

9.
Barriers unique to renewable energy policy
Legacy
Grid
Public
Antipathy
Institutional
Dissonance
Media
Misinformation
Barriers not unique to
renewable energy policy
Policy and regulatory control by incumbents
Political Discord

10.
Clive Hamilton
Climate Change Authority
“So the Clean Energy Package … it’s a small first step [but] nowhere near enough to be an
adequate response to what the science demands.
… But at least it has initiated the process and has some small but significant impact.”

11.
Meeting the Cancun Agreement commitment
 International commitment to limit
global warming to 2°C above preindustrial levels
Dr. Malte Meinshausen
 Meinshausen et al calculated that to
reduce the chance of exceeding 2°C
warming to 20%, the global carbon
budget for 2000-2050 is 886Gt CO2
 Deducting emissions from the first
decade of this century, leaves a
budget of 565Gt CO2 for the 40 years
to 2050

12.
July 2011

The carbon budget for the 40 years to
2050 is 565Gt CO2

All of the proven reserves owned by
private and public companies and
governments are equivalent to
2,795Gt CO2

Only 20% of the total reserves can be
burned unabated, leaving up to
80% of assets
technically
unburnable
http://www.carbontracker.org/wpcontent/uploads/downloads/2012/08/UnburnableCarbon-Full1.pdf

13.
At the present rate of consumption, the 2000-2050 carbon budget will be exceeded around
2024

14.
Nick Robins, Head of the Climate Change Centre at
HSBC Bank, London, on the impact in Europe of a
deflating carbon bubble:
Could nearly halve the value of coal assets on the
London exchange, and knock three-fifths from the
value of oil and gas companies.
“At the moment this risk is not being priced at all”

15.
John Hewson
Asset Owners Disclosure
Project (AODP)
“The average pension fund invests about 55 per cent of its portfolio in high-carbon intensive
industries and only 2 per cent in their low carbon counterparts.
How are they going to manage the risk of catastrophic climate change going forward? The best
way is to put a higher percentage of their funds in low carbon-intensive industries.”

16.
@TheGreenMBA
@jemmavwilliams
slideshare.net/jembwilliams
slideshare.net/jemmavwilliams