Growing energy needs, growing emissions
Australia's biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions is electricity generation.1 Most of Queensland's electricity is generated by coal-fired power stations2 and as our electricity needs grow, so do our emissions. Conserving electricity and investing in renewable energy generation are effective ways to reduce emissions and tackle climate change.
According to Queensland's State of the Environment report, population growth and climate change are the factors creating the most stress on the state’s environment. Over the ten-year period to 2005, Queensland's electricity consumption grew by more than 53%3. We have more electric appliances in our homes, consuming more electricity and creating more emissions than ever before, including computers, air conditioners and large-screen LCD and plasma TVs.
Everyone playing their part
At Ergon Energy our desire is for everyone to play their part to reduce electricity consumption. The Energy Sense Hints on this website can help you do that – at home and at work. There's also an Electricity Emissions Calculator so you can develop your personal electricity reduction action plan to help you save money.
You can also make a significant contribution by investing in renewable energy, either by contributing to the Clean Energy program or by purchasing a renewable energy system, such as a solar photovoltaic (PV) system. Ergon Energy actively partners with renewable energy generators such as sugar mills, hydro-electric dams, wind farms and solar farms to develop the industry in Queensland. We have wind turbines, solar concentrator dishes, and a geothermal plant powering some of our isolated communities.
Ergon Energy has invested in solar PV systems on a number of our buildings and we are reducing our electricity consumption through energy conservation.
Water for generation
You may be surprised to learn that it takes an enormous amount of water to generate electricity in a coal-fired power station, which can consume the equivalent of 27 Olympic-sized swimming pools per day.4
Investing in renewable energy generation such as wind, hydro, and solar photovoltaic can reduce water requirements because these methods don't consume any water at all in the electricity generation process.
So saving electricity, or supporting renewable energy, also saves precious water resources.
Why use less electricity?
You might wonder why a company that sells electricity is encouraging people to minimise their electricity use.
There are three important reasons:
- When customers use less electricity at peak times it reduces the costs of upgrading the capacity of our network to cope with two or three high-consumption days each year.
- Lower electricity use means lower greenhouse gas emissions.
- We are committed to helping our customers reduce the financial impact of electricity use and achieve the same lifestyle with less electricity.
If we can help people save electricity, it's good for our customers, the environment and our business. So it makes good energy sense all round.
Sources:
1 Australian Greenhouse Office - National Greenhouse Gas Inventory
2 Department of Mines and Energy
3 Queensland Government Special Fiscal and Economic Statement 2005
4 Callide Power Station, Biloela, 2008/09
