Monday, May 22, 2017

NSW Energy Security Taskforce report a wakeup call on climate and technology

The Greens NSW Energy spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham said today that the NSW Energy Security Taskforce's initial report should serve as a wakeup call on the threat climate changes poses to energy security, and that the NSW Government should embrace the transition to new technology by providing a timetable for the closure of coal-fired power stations.
"This is a remarkable and frightening report which recognises that climate change represents a monumental risk to our energy system and way of life,” Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said.
"The biggest threat to energy security is a rapidly changing climate, including heat waves that trigger surges in demand and more severe storms that can knock out infrastructure.
"This is a wakeup call for the government to accept that major technological changes are happening in the energy system and that it is vital to implement a transition plan for a cleaner more distributed system, rather than thrash around trying to prop up old centralised coal generation.
"The Greens want the NSW Government to provide a timetable for the closure of the remaining coal-fired generators in NSW so that industry has the certainty they need to plan for replacement renewable energy generation and communities can plan to restructure their local economy.
"We are experiencing a national energy crisis due to a decade of cheap politicking rather than the serious energy planning and policy that is required with such rapid technological change.
"There is no doubt we are headed to a more distributed, smarter, energy network run on renewable energy with storage. Governments should adopt an energy intensity scheme or carbon price so that we harness the market to drive the transition that we need to reduce emissions and create a more secure energy system.
"The Government should use this report as an opportunity to embrace changes in energy technology to create a cleaner and more secure energy system for NSW,” Mr Buckingham concluded.

22 May 2017

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