Wind can ease climate change – Opinion – theage.com.au
Wind farms are essential to help Victoria reduce greenhouse emissions, writes Theo Theophanus.
(Theo Theophanous is Victorian Minister for Energy Industries and Resources.)
Wind energy is once again in the news, and it is no bad thing. Not everyone will agree with the Bracks Government’s policies to develop a sustainable energy future for Victoria, but most Victorians understand we cannot keep treating the planet as we have over the past few hundred years. Changes must occur to our way of life to make things more sustainable.
The greatest threat to our beautiful coastline, to our alpine regions and to our agricultural industries is climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide. Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions are simply too high and using fossil fuels for energy production is the major cause.
If we just bury our heads in the sand and avoid making the tough decisions, we risk doing irreversible damage to our beautiful state. That is why the Government is determined to improve Victoria’s efforts to prevent climate change.
Across Victoria, wind farms are being built to change our energy mix towards more renewable sources of power.
They are the first major step to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The Government has set a target of 1000 megawatts of wind energy capacity, which we expect will be provided by about 600 turbines. Up to 10 per cent of all electricity generated in Victoria could come from wind power in the future.
By meeting this target, we will reduce greenhouse pollution by the equivalent of approximately 4 million tonnes each year. This would be the environmental equivalent of taking 920,000 cars off our roads.
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