{"id":152951,"date":"2021-07-24T13:52:15","date_gmt":"2021-07-24T11:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=152951"},"modified":"2021-07-24T13:52:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-24T11:52:17","slug":"the-guardian-japanese-green-energy-targets-threaten-australias-gas-exports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=152951","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian: Japanese Green Energy Targets Threaten Australia\u2019s Gas Exports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Guest essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to The Guardian, Japanese offshore wind power and hydrogen will replace Australian natural gas exports at a faster rate than the Aussie government expects. But if there is such a market for green energy, why is government intervention required to realise this \u201copportunity\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia\u2019s reliance on gas exports questioned as Japan winds down fossil fuel power<\/strong><\/p>

Government urged to speed up transition to green energy as Australia\u2019s biggest market shifts away from LNG and coal<\/p>

Adam Morton<\/a> Climate and environment editor
@adamlmorton<\/a> Fri 23 Jul 2021 03.30 AEST<\/p>

A Japanese pledge to wind down gas and coal-fired electricity much faster than previously planned has sparked warnings Australia needs to speed up a transition away <\/strong>from fossil fuel exports.<\/p>

A draft revised energy mix<\/a> released by Japanese officials on Wednesday said the country \u2013 Australia\u2019s biggest market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and thermal coal \u2013 would cut gas-fired electricity generation nearly in half and reduce coal power by more than a third by 2030.<\/p>

The plan, devised to help the country ramp up emissions cuts by 2030, would require renewable energy to provide up to 38% of generation. Coal, LNG and nuclear energy would each provide about 20%.<\/p>

While a shift away from coal has been widely forecast, the expected fall in Japanese gas-fired electricity is at odds with claims by the Australian government and the $36bn LNG export industry that its product would displace coal and help reduce global emissions.<\/p>

Llewelyn Hughes, an associate professor at the Australian National University\u2019s Crawford School of Public Policy, said the Japanese announcement was a \u201cbig deal\u201d for Australia and consistent with the country\u2019s target of having 45GW of offshore wind energy<\/a> capacity \u2013 nearly equivalent to Australia\u2019s current power grid \u2013 by 2040.<\/p>

He said some thought it would be challenging for Japan to meet its revised targets, but the commitment showed the country was on a trajectory to using fewer fossil fuels. \u201cIt indicates a long-term decline in coal and gas,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>

\u2026<\/p>

Rebecca Mikula-Wright, the chief executive of the Investor Group on Climate Change, said the draft energy mix was \u201ca clear signal of the country\u2019s intent to speed up its decarbonisation\u201d. Australia\u2019s other major customers in Asia \u2013 China and South Korea \u2013 were also heading towards net zero emissions and would reduce demand over the coming decade, she said.<\/p>

\u201cTo remain competitive in global export markets, Australia needs to quickly put in place the right climate policy and investment signals to help ensure we are producing the green energy and other products that our major trading partners will increasingly demand,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\u2026<\/p>Read more: https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2021\/jul\/23\/australias-reliance-on-gas-exports-questioned-as-japan-winds-down-fossil-fuel-power<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Japan suffers frequent typhoons and the occasional earthquake driven mega-tsunami, and they have wind droughts like everyone else, so I\u2019m a little dubious they will meet their target. There is only so much you can do to harden offshore wind turbines against hurricane force winds and pounding seas, and Japan has plenty of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But say Japan do start demanding imports of green hydrogen. Why would \u201cthe right signals\u201d be required at any point from the Australian government? Why wouldn\u2019t private investors come up with the cash, if an investment opportunity appeared?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To my knowledge nothing is stopping green energy entrepreneurs from raising private cash and building their solar hydrogen complex in the Aussie desert \u2013 other than an almost total lack of demand for their overpriced product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

via Watts Up With That?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ift.tt\/3yg1oDP<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 24, 2021 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest essay by Eric Worrall According to The Guardian, Japanese offshore wind power and hydrogen will replace Australian natural gas exports at a faster rate than the Aussie government expects. But if there is such a market for green energy, why is government intervention required to realise this \u201copportunity\u201d? Australia\u2019s reliance on gas exports questioned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","has-post-thumbnail","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-DMX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":250836,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=250836","url_meta":{"origin":152951,"position":0},"title":"$60 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