The Climate Council met today in South Australia ahead of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council meeting in Melbourne tomorrow.
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie and delegate Andrew Stock said in a statement there was strong consensus among attendees that renewable energy would be critical in securing Australia’s future and a national plan was needed to modernise the system.
“Australia’s coal-fire generation capacity is ageing… and some of the most polluting in the world,” the statement said.
“We need to modernise our energy system as more and more wind, solar and renewable storage comes on line.”
Attendees heard from New York Energy Czar Richard Kauffman who explained how the State had used microgrids, renewable energy and batteries to rebuild energy infrastructure.
Ms McKenzie said the consensus from the Climate Council was the statewide blackout in South Australia was caused by a weather event.
“Climate change is fuelling more intense and damaging extreme weather events, including storms,” she said.
“Our energy infrastructure was built for the 20th century, and we need to make sure it can cope with the changing climate of the 21st century.”
