Despite sharing a similar climates, lifestyle and economy with Australia, the Next 10: California Green Innovation Index reveals the US state is seizing the opportunities of the clean energy boom while Australia is left behind.
California outperformed Australia across a variety of measures including carbon intensity, emissions per capita, energy productivity, share of renewable electricity and total energy consumption per capita.
The report showed that solar generation has increased by a 1375% in just five years in California and total residential megawatts of installed capacity grew 65% in 2015 and while emissions continue to grow in Australia, California’s emissions fell 0.62% last year and emissions per dollar of gross domestic product dropped by 39% between 1990 and 2013.
The state also pulled in more clean energy tech investment than any other state, increasing 35% in 2015 to $9.8 billion, a significant portion of the nation’s total clean tech investment, which was up 5% in 2015 to $14.5 billion.
Further, electric vehicle registrations have grown 244 % in two years and California is now the fourth most energy-productive economy in the world.
Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said the report read as a laundry list of missed opportunities for Australia.
“There are very few places in the world that have as much in common with Australia as California,” she said.
“But while California has been making huge progress in transitioning to a clean energy economy, Australia has barely left the starting blocks.
“The progress that has been made in transforming the Californian economy from being powered by dirty and polluting fossil fuels to being turbocharged by modern, clean renewables is startling.
“But none of this progress has occurred by accident- you can trace it back to policy solutions that have set in motion widespread business and economic change.”
She said policies that require California to source half of its electricity from renewables and double energy efficiency in homes, offices and factories by 2030, are prompting huge innovation and market opportunity.
“California shows us that while there is no silver bullet to climate change, a comprehensive policy approach and leadership from government will lead to the kind of economic growth and clean energy innovation we need to get the job done,” she said.
At the same time a new report suggests that electric vehicles play a central role in policy or technology portfolios designed to lower emissions, and this represents a significant opportunity for the energy sector.
