24 April, 2017
When it comes to renewable energy - wind, solar, hydro and the others, how much does WA really generate and use? And how do we compare to other states?
Each year the Office of the Chief Economist releases statistics on Australia's energy mix, giving us a snapshot of how we generate and consume energy today, including renewables.
A power hungry state
We've all heard about how power hungry our society is, and now here's the evidence. The data shows that every single year the amount of energy generated in WA - to be used by both business and
homes - is increasing. Why? Because the demand is there. Small note of interest, the measure is in gigawatts. Giga is from the Greek word meaning 'giant'.
Percentage of renewables in our energy mix
The good news is that year-on-year, we're increasing the proportion of renewable energy within our energy mix. The not so good news is that at current rates of increase, we are still a few years off hitting the 10
per cent mark.
The wind blows for renewables
Yes, WA is an extremely sunny place.And lucky for us, it's also a very windy place. That means that wind is by far the biggest source of renewable energy in WA and that's with less than 10 wind farms in WA, most
of which are owned by local community groups. Imagine if we had more?
Despite our abundance of renewable energy sources, including near constant sunshine and wind plus a growing wave energy sector, WA lags behind in the national competition, placing fourth in the proportion of renewables within the state's energy mix. The winner is Tasmania, leading the way on the back of its extensive hydro program. z
Source: Office of the Chief Economist, 2016.
How RAC is working towards making the future cleaner and greener
We're thinking about the future now so we're ready for the changes ahead. An important part of our planning for the future is looking at how we can live, work and move around our State more sustainably.Enjoy this story? Get more of the same delivered to your inbox. Sign up to For the Better eNews.
