CO2 Emissions Reduction Vs. Reducing Energy Bills – Poll Results

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Recently published poll results indicate addressing energy pricing is considered a more important priority by Australians than reducing carbon emissions.

In the October 2018 Fairfax Ipsos Poll, those surveyed were asked the question:

“When thinking about energy policy, which of the following do you think should be the main priority for the Federal Government?”

47% of all voters chose the option of reducing household bills and 39% nominated reducing carbon emissions.

It will come as no surprise that a much greater proportion of Greens (74%) and Labor (53%) voters chose reducing carbon emissions compared to Coalition voters (22%). Also no surprise was the result from One Nation voters – just 9% thought carbon emissions reduction was the top priority.

Overall, younger voters (aged 18 – 24) were more likely to support making a reduction in carbon emission the priority (55%).

More from the October 2018 Fairfax Ipsos Poll can be viewed here.

It Doesn’t Have To Be Either/Or

Some may have seen the overall result as a nod from the Australian public for coal fired power generation to continue. But reducing carbon emissions and household power bills doesn’t have to be a case of either/or. We can have both.

A recent Lazard report states renewable energy costs in the USA have decreased to the point they are now at or below the marginal cost of conventional generation. The low-end levelised cost of electricity¹ from unsubsidised onshore wind power is $US29/MWh and for utility scale solar it’s $36/MWh. For existing coal, the average illustrative marginal cost² was $36/MWh. The LCOE of coal was noted as $60-$70/MWh.

Here in Australia, large-scale and rooftop solar power has been helping to rein in the cost of wholesale electricity for years.

That still leaves the issue of intermittency, but the large-scale energy storage sector is also rapidly evolving. Energy storage is more than just batteries – other technologies such as pumped hydro are tried and tested. Last year, ANU researchers identified 22,000+ potential pumped hydro sites across Australia, representing storage capacity of 67,000 gigawatt-hours.

A report released by the Australian Energy Market Operator in July stated modeling indicated retiring coal plants could be most economically replaced with a portfolio of utility-scale renewable generation, storage, distributed energy resources (such as solar power), flexible thermal capacity, and transmission. However, it also stated existing generation assets should be retained; but only for as long as they can be economically relied on.