“We’re going to have to innovate the shit out of this:” Forum urges fresh thinking on climate

Australia has been urged to stop flogging itself as a top source of iron ore, coal and gas, but must also prepare for emissions to initially rise as the economy is overhauled.

Assistant Climate Change and Energy Minister Josh Wilson says hydrocarbons must come out of the global energy system and there will be increasing demand for low-carbon products of every kind.

“We shouldn’t limit ourselves by sticking with old stories about who we are and what we can or can’t do,” he told the Better Futures Forum on Wednesday, in his first major speech in the role.

“There’s no reason why green hydrogen and green metals and new energy minerals shouldn’t be pressing their claim as leading Australian exports of the future,” Mr Wilson said.

Manufactured products such as battery systems and solar energy components should be part of the picture too, he said.

CSIRO net-zero expert Michael Battaglia said new energy systems must build local capacity and control – and generate wealth.

Borrowing a line from actor Matt Damon and his potato-growing exploits on Mars in the film Martian, he said Australia has to “science the shit out of this”.

But last-century thinking would not be good enough, Dr Battaglia warned, saying “we’re going to have to innovate the shit out of this” to mitigate climate change.

Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean said renewable energy was the most affordable solution available, supporting households and industries who depend on a clean, reliable source of power.

He is charged with identifying how the six major sectors of the economy can reduce their carbon footprint, and advising the federal government as it prepares to set a 2035 emissions reduction target.

With some calling for emissions to be cut by 75 per cent, climate economist Frank Jotzo said the headline number for 2035 would need some fine print to excuse an initial blowout in emissions.

Green hydrogen was expected to be the foundation of new clean energy industries in Australia, with wealth and benefits more widely shared, he said.

“We’re looking at a system where green hydrogen is produced in Australia and turned into green ammonia, fertilisers, fuels,” he said.

Using green hydrogen as a feedstock for iron ore processing, in particular, could support a green iron and steel industry in Australia as coal-burning steel furnaces are phased out.

“Let’s stop thinking about liquid hydrogen on ships to Japan and Germany,” Prof Jotzo said.

“We’ve got a very, very large export industry for iron ore, which faces significant risk of potentially being partly sidelined in the shift to green steel.”

But the construction of new industrial plants would increase Australia’s domestic emissions, before going “net negative” in decades to come, he explained.

Nor would Australia be able to make or subsidise every green industry, and should start with what it was good at before adding new ones, he said.

“Resources processing, not electric car making – to exemplify that starkly,” he said.

To stop big emitters simply moving operations offshore, Prof Jotzo is leading a review on so-called carbon leakage, with the final recommendations due to be handed to the federal government at the end of September.

Source: AAP