Water, water everywhere....

This article was first published in the international Cleantech Investor magazine. Email info@auscleantech if you would like a full version of the article.

Australia is blessed with many natural resources to assist the growth of its cleantech sector. Some of the wind resources are exceptional, the wave resources are world leading and the hot rocks are driving big investments into the geothermal sector. Most of all, Australia is synonymous with solar radiation and much of the country has a ridiculous amount of solar resource to play with. There are of course issues with respect to NIMBY complaints for sites near communities and the fact that the best resources are never closest to those population centres – luckily the desert has few back yards to worry about.

Australia has another natural competitive advantage in the cleantech space: one that is not so apparent. The climate is highly variable with respect to its rainfall and as such there can be long periods of drought followed by long ‘wets’. Much of South-Eastern Australia is still suffering from the effects of a drought that started in the first years of decade. This has led to severe water restrictions in many areas, with the banning of sprinklers and specified watering days. This variability is likely to be exacerbated by climate change, but its existence is not new. The natural competitive advantage of having little water has therefore made the Australian water industry innovate to survive.

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