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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-25 Daily Xml
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WAVE POWER

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:57): I rise today to speak about wave power and to congratulate the Premier on the announcement in February of this state's first wave power licence. As we all know, it is imperative for us to look towards sustainable forms of energy. Relying on fossil fuels that have powered our lifestyles to this point is not going to be possible into the future. They will soon run out and, in the meantime, they are doing damage to our environment.

The government has stated its commitment in the State Strategic Plan to increase the amount of renewable energy sources used and created in this state by 20 per cent by 2014. We are well on track for meeting this target.

The announcement that the Carnegie Corporation will establish a test site for wave power on the Limestone Coast will add to the work that has already been done in South Australia in renewable energy sources—wind, geothermal and solar energies to date. People have sought to harness wave power for more than 100 years—or even longer—but it is only in recent times that significant attention and resources have been put into utilising it.

The world's first commercial wave farm opened just last year in Portugal. There are many ways of capturing and using this power, and there are different locations in the ocean where energy can be harnessed—shoreline, near shore or even offshore. As larger waves generally have more power that can be harnessed than smaller waves, the South-East of this state seems like a very appropriate place for trialling the technology in Australia.

What is the potential for wave power? According to Pelamis, a company based in Edinburgh which currently has projects off the coast of Portugal, Scotland and the United Kingdom, marine and renewable energy could one day provide the United Kingdom with 15 to 25 per cent of its energy consumption. Transfer that sort of result to South Australian's situation and you can really see the sorts of possibilities that we are talking about.

With Australia's coastline having some of the best waves in the world, the potential for this technology is, indeed, very exciting. Of course, with all such new technologies, there are obstacles for those working in the field to overcome. Some of the main concerns that need to be considered in the development of this technology were covered in the report of the California Energy Commission and California Ocean Protection Council of October last year—'Developing wave energy in coastal California: potential socioeconomic and environmental effects'. The report states:

Caution must be taken when developing wave energy conversion technology off the Californian coast. Impacts to human activities, wave exposure, benthic communities, fishes, birds and mammals are all certain, but the level of impact and the cumulative effects are currently difficult to anticipate and need further study.

Whilst the authors also describe the potential for impact on fisheries in the area, they also point to the employment opportunities for local communities working with those developing wave power technologies. Additionally, the costs of utilising wave power as a viable source of electricity are such that it will take time before it is really feasible. At the moment, it costs so much to construct and install the necessary equipment and to harness that power that it is not yet economically practical for the system to be widely used.

However, as with all things, new technologies are always expensive until someone works out how to do them just as well but without the prohibitive cost. I have no doubt that, as with other forms of alternative technologies, wave power will get to that point. There is simply too much urgency for us to convert to forms of alternative energy sources for this not to occur. However, these concerns must always be weighed against the option of not trying anything new, continuing to rely on the forms of energy that we have relied on to date, and accepting the damage that we are doing to our planet in the meantime. As I have said, this is really not an option.

Most of my colleagues would agree that, providing adequate attention is paid to the environmental and socio-economic impact of such technologies and any negative impacts are responded to appropriately, we need to be looking for these sorts of alternative energy sources and researching the possibility of their application in Australia. I look forward to seeing the results of the Carnegie Corporation's trial. I hope that it will soon be joined by other companies seeking to utilise alternative forms of renewable energy sources, and I congratulate our current governments, both state and federal, for giving this area of technological endeavour their full support.

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