Overview

This book provides an accessible and critical appraisal of Australia’s regional energy transition initiatives. The book begins by situating Australian energy transition in the context of Australian and international debates about climate change and energy transition. It then explores how energy transition planning was made possible in Australia’s regional energy heartlands even while public transition planning was impossible. The authors consider five case studies of key early transition initiatives in the Latrobe Valley (Victoria), Hunter Valley (NSW), Central Queensland (Queensland), Port Augusta (South Australia) and Collie (Western Australia). They explore how transition came onto the agenda and outline the key actors, decision points and actions. The authors go on to critically assesses the successes and failures of the initiative, drawing out key learnings for other regions. The book concludes by evaluating the key cross-cutting themes emerging from the five case studies and draws out the lessons they teach about how to achieve a just transition. This concise book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy transitions, climate action, social justice, economic renewal and regional transition challenges and strategies, both in Australia and overseas.

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9781032854861

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Reviews

“Australia’s energy transition is uniquely fascinating: cheap renewables are taking over a coal dominated system, and the prospect of declining fossil fuel exports is set against the allure of future clean energy exports. These changes create complex dynamics at the regional level. Written by academics who engage at the ‘coalface’ and practitioners, this collection presents a unique set of insights into how energy transition can be achieved at the regional level.” Frank Jotzo, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Head of Energy, ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions “From ‘impossible to possible’ is a testament to hope and tenacity. Despite the climate wars that have held Australia back, this book shows the progress possible with the power of community and place based development. The lessons learned from these regions demonstrates that the support of and co-creation with workers and community along with Government support make the difference. Valuable reading.” Sharan Burrow, former General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation “As a non-academic operating at the interface of research and policy I must admit that I like this book a lot. It is deeply anchored in evidence, yet relatively easy to read. It talks about general trends but also dives deeply into relevant case studies. And more importantly, it does not talk about prehistoric cases, rather focusing on the past 15 years – a period most readers can actually still remember! As an advocate of fossil fuel transition based in Europe I am also very pleased to have a thorough piece on Australia. Understanding of Australia’s transition in Europe (and also in the Americas and Africa) is largely anecdotal and patchy – so a freshly written comprehensive piece is very much needed. We are now at a critical stage of the global energy transition. Many jurisdictions have analysed and engaged on various options for that transition. But we still lack a global exchange of well documented regional cases where one can follow the entire journey, understand the drivers and impacts and see both the national and regional contexts. Regional energy transitions in Australia: from impossible to possible does precisely that for Australia and I hope it will be followed by studies on other jurisdictions.” Andrzej Błachowicz, CEO, Climate Strategies “People decarbonise society, not technology. This book puts people into the picture, charting region-level experiences across Australia. It gives us a grounded understanding of what works, what doesn’t, and why. It makes an appeal for participatory planning against top-down imposition, and puts widespread public support for renewables at the centre of energy policy. The book is a vital antidote to current technocratic and neo-liberal approaches that exclude the public and make transition vulnerable to the fossil fuel lobby. That antidote is urgent and necessary, and not just in Australia, as governments across the globe face a backlash against corporate renewables and big ‘green’ capital.” James Goodman, Professor of Political Sociology and director of the Climate Justice Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney “As the IPCC has again recently confirmed, limiting global warming to close to 1.5 degrees requires a rapid shift away from unabated coal consumption. This book provides a valuable contribution to this increasingly urgent task by exploring learning from Australia (a major coal producer and exporter) about the development and implementation of equitable policies for accelerating the phase out of coal.” Jan Minx, Head of Working Group on Applied Sustainability Science, Mercator Research Centre on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin “This book offers a timely perspective on early Australian experiences in the transition away from fossil fuels, an imperative in the global response to climate change. The book is an insightful collection examining regional transition processes and responses which highlights emerging lessons that can inform responses by government and other actors as they embark on the complex process of successful transition both in Australia and elsewhere. A unique selling point is the combination of academic and real world analysis by those involved in the transitions on the ground, making a valuable contribution to the just transition and economic development literature and also offering practical insights for other coal regions where regional transformation remains a pressing issue. Case studies link the local specifics of place with emerging themes across different regions, and the political and socio-economic dynamics will resonate with those involved in coal transitions across the world. A must-read for those interested in seeing how different social actors, political economy, and socio-economics intertwine to shape transition in coal dependent regions.” Jesse Burton, Senior Researcher, Energy Systems Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town

Author Information

Gareth A.S. Edwards is a Visiting Associate Professor in the School of Global Development at the University of East Anglia, UK and a Visiting Fellow at the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney. He was the recent holder of a Leverhulme International Fellowship for research on justifications for ongoing coal extraction in Australia and India. He also led a British Academy-funded project ‘A just transition away from coal in Australia’ which sought to understand what ‘just transition’ means in Australia, the challenges Australia will have to overcome to achieve a just transition away from coal, and the opportunities for reframing just transition ideas in ways which stimulate productive discussions between different stakeholders and communities. John Wiseman is a Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne Climate Futures and Adjunct Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne and Chair of the Board of The Next Economy. He is the author of numerous articles, book chapters and reports on climate change policy and energy transitions including Wiseman, J. & Wollersheim, L. ‘Building Just and Resilient Zero Carbon Regions’, Melbourne Climate Futures 2022. His most recent book is Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis, Palgrave Macmillan 2021. Amanda Cahill is the CEO and Founder of The Next Economy, a non-profit organisation that supports regional communities across Australia to build more resilient, climate safe and socially just economies. Amanda has supported all levels of government, industry, workers and community groups to manage the energy transition across Queensland, the Hunter Valley, the Latrobe Valley and the Northern Territory. Amanda sits on the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Social Licence Advisory Council, the National Hydrogen Strategy Advisory Council, and is a Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne Climate Futures at the University of Melbourne, an Industry Fellow at the Sydney Policy Lab and a 2023 Churchill Fellow.

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