Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, gas electricity generation fell by nearly 19 percent while renewables accounted for 26 percent of Australia’s total energy output, a release by the Climate Council reveals.
According to the climate research organisation, gas provided a mere 8 percent to the National Electricity Market in 2020.
The “shocker” decline in gas is a milestone towards achieving a more wind and solar-energy dependent Australia.
In July 2020, the Australian Energy Market Operator announced the Integrated System Plan which outlines a pathway for the transition to 90% renewables in the 2030s.
“This latest data clearly shows that gas is on the way out and has no role to play in our economic recovery. It is foolish to waste taxpayers’ money building new gas power stations. It is completely unnecessary,” said Climate Council researcher Tim Baxter.
Power stations in New South Wales plummeted to 1.6 percent from the pre-pandemic generation of 46 percent, while in Victoria the 52 percent fall was even greater.
“The Federal Government needs to abandon the folly of new gas in the electricity sector and let the states and territories get on with the energy transition and economic recovery,” said Baxter.
According to Baxter, gas is a significant factor in climate – a phenomenon that has been attributed to worsening bushfires in Australian grasslands and mass bleaching events of the Great Barrier Reef.
“The good news is we do not need any new gas infrastructure,” said Baxter.
“Renewables and storage are affordable, reliable and clean. They create jobs, attract investment across regional Australia and drive down power bills.”
