Making the transition to a renewable energy future will have environmental and long-term economic benefits and is possible in terms of energy return on energy invested (EROI), UNSW Sydney researchers have found.
Their research, published in the international journal Ecological Economics recently, disproves the claim that a transition to large-scale renewable energy technologies and systems will damage the macro-economy by taking up too large a chunk of global energy generation.
Honorary Associate Professor Mark Diesendorf, in collaboration with Prof Tommy Wiedmann of UNSW Engineering, analysed dozens of studies on renewable electricity systems in regions where wind and/or solar could provide most of the electricity generation in future, such as Australia and the United States.
The Clean Energy Australia report states that renewable energy's contribution to Australia's total electricity generation is already at 24 per cent.
Read more at University Of New South Wales