Solar Energy Development in Sydney

I have read a plan called City of Sydney 2030 recently. In this plan, it indicates many great designs and projects for the next decade in Sydney. And one of the best parts which attract me is renewable energy development in the future. The plan’s target is to reduce greenhouse emission by development of renewable energy instead of coal and fossil fuel. The table below shows the different renewable energy which can be used in Sydney. Although there are many types of renewable energy can be

Table 1

Source: City of Sydney (2012)

considered, the solar energy is the first in the list for Sydney. Because Australia has a large potential solar resource, so that it is an enormous advantage to develop solar energy.

The opponent may argue that to build solar energy system is expensive and not effective as traditional power system. But we should focus on the future, for the environment and energy sustainable. In the other hand, solar energy also has many advantages which cannot be ignored. Firstly, when the solar energy system build up, the maintain fee is cheaper than traditional power machines. And the electricity charge is also cheaper than others. The chart below shows the different cost of electricity.

Figure 2

Source: City of Sydney---Renewable Energy Master Plan

Secondly, it can generate electricity continually if there is a sunny day. In addition, it can be equipped on many devices to supply energy. For example, the solar system can be set on traffic lights to supply electricity. Therefore, it can instead of traditional power perfectly. Thirdly, it won’t generate the greenhouse emission to the environment. Finally, the biggest advantage of solar energy is that we can obtain this sort of energy from everywhere. The picture shows the solar source in city of Sydney.

Figure 3 Solar Resource Mapping

From this map, it shows that we can obtain solar energy even in the city of Sydney. Because of this character, it can be widely used in many conditions and locations.

  In this plan city of Sydney 2030, a major target is to helping the City meet its renewable energy targets. When this plan has finished in 2016, it will deliver 1.7 gigawatts per year or 5.3% of current electricity demand. And the solar energy plays a vital role in this plan. Besides of its disadvantages, solar energy has much more advantages such as less pollution, access easily. Although solar energy is a new energy which is still in research, there is no doubt that it will become an important energy resource in the future.

The video below is about the renewable energy and traditional energy.

Reference:

1. Schulte, P.A.; Chun, H. Climate change and occupational safety and health: Establishing a preliminary framework. J. Occup. Environ. Hyg. 2009, 6, 542–554.

2. IPCC. Forth Assessment Report, AR4; Cambridge University Press: Cambrige, UK, New York, NY, USA, 2007.