Queensland Conservation Council's Path To A 100% Renewable Queensland

PRESS RELEASE - Queensland Conservation Council today released their vision for Powering Up Queensland with 100% renewable energy. 

QCC commissioned two Australian energy system experts, Dr Ben Elliston from University of NSW and Tristan Edis from Green Energy Markets  to provide possible scenarios for 100% renewable energy in Queensland. They have made it clear that this is possible, and achievable. 

“Queensland actually has a multitude of options for how it might achieve 100% renewable and reliable and affordable electricity supply.” -Tristan Edis, Green Energy Markets.

Building on findings from both of these reports, QCC has developed its own combination of renewable energy technologies - distributed in regions right across the state – which could provide all Queensland’s domestic electricity needs. 

QCC’s Climate and Energy Campaigner, Claire Fryer,  explains “We can replace all dirty coal-burning power stations in Queensland with clean energy sources to give us plenty of electricity, at the right times, in the right place, with stable 24-7 supply.”

“This process could generate around 9,400 full-time jobs in construction and installation activity if this transition was undertaken over a 15 year period. The ongoing full-time equivalent jobs in operating and maintaining the renewable energy facilities and batteries is estimated to be just under 11,000.”

Queensland Conservation Council is calling on the next Queensland government to implement a well managed plan to replace dirty coal with renewables and to stop throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at ageing coal-fired power stations just to keep them operational. 

“A recent report by leading experts, Climate Analytics, found Queensland must stop burning coal for power by 2030 to play our part in keeping global heating to 1.5 Celsius under the UN's Paris Agreement targets.” A rise of more than 1.5C would "virtually guarantee the extinction of most of the Great Barrier Reef’’ outlines Claire Fryer.

“Despite this there is still currently no plan in place to phase-out the state’s coal fired stations and make the essential transition over to renewable energy.” 

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