Renewable energy is very much in the news and of interest to consumers.
CFA has a consumer representative on Standards Australia Technical Committee EV-020 Sustainability criteria for bioenergy. The committee has contributed the Australian position in the development of the recently published new International Standard ISO 13065 Sustainability criteria for bioenergy.
Some bioenergy technologies are well established in Australia and are currently in commercial use. Bioenergy currently accounts for nearly 1% of Australia’s electricity production, and 7% of renewable electricity production. Biofuels account for approximately 1-3% of Australia’s fuel consumption.
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (AREA) was established to make renewable energy solutions more affordable and increase the amount of renewable energy used in Australia. Renewable energy is energy which can be obtained from natural resources that can be constantly replenished.
Renewable energy technologies include technologies that use—or enable the use of—one or more renewable energy sources. Types of renewable energy technologies include:
Greenpeace International has released a report predicting that the world could shift to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050, and, more importantly, it could do so for a net economic gain – the savings from avoided fuel costs alone more than compensating for the investment necessary to build renewable generation capacity and transform grids.
The report, Greenpeace’s Energy [R]evolution scenario 2015, maps the phase-out of coal, oil, gas and nuclear energy as fast as technically and economically possible, by expanding the renewable energy share to 42 per cent in 2030, 72 per cent in 2040 and 100 per cent in 2050.
CFA provides volunteer representatives on Standards Australia Technical Committees as part of the CFA Standards Project; if you are interested in finding out more about the Project and/or becoming a volunteer CFA Standards Representative please contact the Standards Coordinator at standards@consumeraction.org.au