CPRS Green Paper Submission

Plan to Build Australia as a Centre of Excellence for Clean Technology

Australian CleanTech made a submission to the Department of Climate Change on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper. The submission focussed on how to best secure the long term opportunities that are being presented by the transition to a low carbon economy rather than focussing on short term gains or losses by industry participants. A seven point plan is presented in this submission with an overview presented below.

For a full copy of the submission see http://www.climatechange.gov.au/greenpaper/consultation/submissions.html or request a copy at info@auscleantech.com.au

Stage 1 - Carbon Risk: Don’t back long term losers
Understand the carbon risk of current Australian industries and make sure that, other than transitional measures, we do not back those industries that will inevitably decline as carbon pricing increases. Australia will not deliver a prosperous future by being the last to be supporting legacy industries.

Stage 2 - Facilitate Easy Wins: Back Energy Efficiency Service Providers
Back the suppliers and service providers of the ‘easy wins’ for emissions reduction through matched expansion funding. Energy efficiency products and services will provide the quickest return on investment. By investing in the service providers rather than grants to emitters there will be greater and longer term economic development from generating expertise and commercial knowledge, rather than simply providing greater longevity for single companies.

Stage 3 – Build Supply Side Capability: Cleantech Parks – Promote and support the development of sustainable manufacturing and innovation hubs. Examples of State based initiatives include the Tonsly Park proposal in South Australia and the Springfield development in Queensland. To make these true successes, they need to very specifically target and attract Australian and international companies that are or have the chance to play on the world stage. This process should also look at attracting industries at varying points in their maturity.

Stage 4 – Build the Demand Side through the Australian Climate Initiative
Taking the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) as a template, there may be an opportunity to stimulate the sustainable manufacturing initiatives of Stage 3 by effectively forming a buying group of local councils and State and Federal Government departments. To do this on an Australian scale, an ‘Australian Climate Initiative’ (ACI) would only require an initial group of several State and Federal Government departments and some key Councils. Through publicity and exposure, others would be encouraged to join across all three tiers of Government.

Stage 5 - Local Empowerment: Facilitate Local Innovation
Promote projects and provide facilitation services to enable local councils and local communities to develop smaller scale projects in their own area. This will allow the community to feel part of the solution, will harness many more hands, will attract greater and more diverse investment models and will deliver significant community behaviour change. A Victorian example is the Hepburn Wind Farm project. Another example is the proposed Just Peachy project in the northern suburbs of Adelaide that combines urban regeneration, increased social capital underpinned by the growth in sustainable businesses.

Stage 6 – Negotiate Infrastructure Hurdles
There are some large scale infrastructure projects that are unlikely to be developed in the short term without Government leadership. If these projects are delivered, however, they will provide a step change in the delivery of new technologies and a spring board for the country to become a centre of excellence. The best example of this is a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable that could be constructed from the renewable energy resource rich areas of the country to the energy demand centres.

Stage 7 – Demonstrate Success: Power Parks
Professor Stephen Schneider from Stanford University suggested the South Australian Government develop power parks promoting multiple low emissions technologies and ‘showcase the State as a centre for innovation in greenhouse emissions reduction and renewable energy development’. This concept could be developed across the country with demonstration facilities in specific sectors show casing the best of breed for many technologies.

Cleantech Growth through Collaboration

Tangible cleantech outcomes can only be effectively achieved through collaboration between the four core groups of cleantech participants and by adopting a four point collaboration strategy.

The four core participant groups of the cleantech industry are business, governments, researchers and the finance community. Extraordinary outcomes will be achieved by combining the knowledge, capacity and resources of each of these groups.

The combination of innovative research, business needs, commercialisation skills, financial drivers and all three tiers of Government can deliver solutions that not only meet environmental needs but also deliver economic and social dividends. If any one of the core groups is missed from any stage of the process then the result will be, at best, sub-optimal.

Collaboration between the core groups must occur throughout the lifecycle of the project. The adoption of a four point collaboration strategy facilitates behaviours which lead to cleantech innovation and growth.

• Strategy 1 - Networks. Cleantech networks are starting to emerge. They provide valuable forums for making new connections and starting new discussions. One example is the Adelaide Cleantech Network, which organises educational events to facilitate cleantech growth in addition to other opportunities for members of the core groups to meet and exchange information and opinions.
• Strategy 2 – Drive Demand. Through establishing buying groups of companies, government departments, local councils or businesses, it is possible to jump start emerging technologies.
• Step 3 – Drive Innovation. The establishment of cleantech manufacturing and development parks creates and enables the positive interdependencies between researchers, companies and financiers. This enhances product development both in terms of quality and time to market.
• Step 4 – Demonstrate Success. Highly publicised demonstration parks or projects are required to provide access to multiple technologies in-situ. The successful technologies are likely to be those that were conceived at network events and borne from the impetus of buying groups and cleantech parks.

Amidst the noise of emissions intensive industries crying foul, the voice of opportunity is starting to be heard. Grasping this opportunity requires the implementation of a comprehensive collaboration strategy that brings together the four core groups of cleantech participants. Governments and other facilitators can lead this strategy, but it requires commitment from all four groups for it to succeed. Once implemented, the multiple dividend streams of cleantech will be fully unleashed.

This is an edited extract of an article that was originally published on Environmental Management News. For a full version of the article please email info@auscleantech.com.au