A new report by the Clean Energy Council and Green Energy Markets has revealed that Australia’s emissions have reduced by 30 per cent because a surge in renewable energy investments since 2015 has resulted in more than 200 million tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions.
Launched at COP29 in Baku, the Emissions reductions delivered by renewable energy – 2015 to 2025 report shows that by the end of 2025, emissions will be 40 per cent lower thanks to installation of renewable energy projects and solar systems since 2015.
According to the report, this will result in a saving of 340 million tonnes over the decade from 2015 to 2025.
Clean Energy Council Chief Executive, Kane Thornton, said the renewables sector is not only keeping the lights on as coal plants reach the end of their technical life, but creating wide-ranging benefits for Australians from income to farmers hosting renewable energy projects to lower power prices.
Mr Thornton said that decarbonising the electricity sector is important because it represents the largest source of emissions in the Australian economy and because it enables decarbonisation of other industries, which are otherwise reliant on fossil fuels for energy.
“If renewable energy projects currently under construction or contracted are completed as planned and rooftop solar continues to grow at the expected rate, emissions in 2030 alone are projected to be 179 million CO2 tonnes lower as a result of renewable energy growth since 2015, with aggregate emissions savings of 998 million tonnes between 2015 and 2030, which is an extraordinary effort by the sector,” he said.
Renewable energy now provides more than 40 per cent of Australia’s electricity, a figure that has doubled in the past five years.
By 2030, Australia has committed to cut its emissions by 43 per cent over 2005 levels as part of its contribution to international efforts to combat global warming.
“This report shows that the emission reductions delivered by the growth of renewable energy since 2015 are equivalent to reducing the emissions from all Australia’s cars, light commercial vehicles and aeroplanes to zero,” Mr Thornton said.
Key findings from the report:
- The emissions intensity of Australia’s electricity sector has fallen significantly over the past decade due to renewable energy investments.
- Since 2015, 40GW of new rooftop solar and large-scale renewable energy capacity has been deployed across Australia, with the share of renewables in the energy system climbing from 16 per cent to just shy of 40 per cent in 2023.
- This investment has resulted in emissions being 30 per cent lower today than they would have otherwise been without the renewable energy investment since 2015. In aggregate, this has resulted in more than 200 million tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions since 2015, relative to if Australia had continued to rely on the existing 2015 power plant fleet.
- By 2025, it is expected that renewable generation will be more than three times greater than it was in 2015, accounting for a 48 per cent share of Australia’s electricity supply. This would deliver savings of 340 million tonnes of CO2 for the decade from 2015, with annual power sector emissions almost 40 per cent lower than what would have occurred without this investment.
- The projected growth of rooftop solar, as well as the completion of projects currently under construction or which have already secured offtake or underwriting contracts, should ultimately see renewable generation grow further to 2030, to become four times higher than in 2015, accounting for a 60 per cent share of Australia’s electricity supply.
- If Australia achieves its 82 per cent renewable energy target by 2030, the total emissions saving between 2015 and 2030 is expected to reach 998 million tonnes.
