BUSINESSES EMBRACING RENEWABLE ENERGY
A report from the Australian Energy Market operator (AEMO) has revealed that the future of renewable energy is very positive, with the prospect of full adoption seen as attainable in as little as three years time.
AEMO’s latest Electricity Statement of Opportunities Report has forecast that renewable energy could supply up to 100% of Australia’s electricity demand at certain times by 2025, and that renewables backed by storage will provide a stable, secure electricity supply with coal-burning power stations set for retirement.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s Lindsay Soutar, who has led the campaign for Australian Businesses to adopt 100% renewable electricity, said AEMO’s sunny outlook should spur business to move faster on their energy transition.
“With investors and customers increasingly demanding strong climate performance, and with coal power in terminal decline, smart Australian businesses like Woolworths, Telstra, Coles and Bunnings have already planned ahead to make the switch to 100% renewable electricity by 2025”, Soutar said. “ALDI has already reached its 100% renewable electricity target”.
Soutar stressed that switching to 100% renewable electricity is the most cost cost effective way for a company to reduce emissions and brings significant business benefits including a cheaper, cleaner electricity supply.
Tom Daunt, CEO of ALDI Australia, said that his company was already seeing the benefits of switching to 100% renewable electricity.
“When we stood back and assessed our environmental footprint as a whole, we determined it made sense to first focus our efforts on the areas where we could have the biggest impact” Daunt said.
“We found 85% of our carbon emissions were derived from the electricity we used to power our operations. To mitigate this we prioritised investments in wind and solar and now our entire business, including all our stores and warehouses, is fully powered with 100% renewable electricity”. (Inside Small Business Spring 2021)
In the image below the NEM refers to the National Electricity Market.
