Roundtable underscores opportunities for improving energy efficiency in Australia

• Attendees included representatives from government, academia, local food manufacturing businesses, engineering consulting services, water utilities, and non-profit organisations including Climateworks Centre.
• Heidi Lee, CEO of Beyond Zero Emissions, delivered a keynote presentation on "Catalysing the Green Energy (Supply) Chain Reaction."
• The roundtable discussion at the event was chaired by Luke Menzel, CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council.
• A live poll revealed that 100% of the attendees agreed that Australia needs to increase its investment in initiatives aimed at reducing the impact of climate change.

ABB, in collaboration with Engineers Australia, the Energy Efficiency Council, and the Energy Efficiency Movement, held an exclusive roundtable discussion this week focused on increasing energy efficiency in Australia.

The attendees included delegates from local food manufacturing businesses, engineering consulting services, academia (Faculty of Engineering), and major water utilities. The Climateworks Centre was also represented, a non-profit organisation bridging the gap between research and action to achieve system-level transitions necessary to reach net-zero emissions across Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.

Directors from the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment, and Water also took part in the discussion. They shared updates on their recent efforts in electrification and efficiency, including a conversation about Australia's upcoming mandatory climate disclosure regulations, set to take effect on January 1st, 2025. These regulations will refine reporting transparency surrounding the true climate impact of businesses.

During a keynote presentation titled "Catalysing the Green Energy Supply Chain Reaction," delivered by Heidi Lee, CEO of Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE), attendees gained insight into some of the findings from BZE's ambitious non-partisan research on emissions reduction pathways. This research aims to unlock economic, environmental, and social benefits for industries, regions, and communities.

Heidi reaffirmed that the technologies necessary to reduce Australia's emissions already exist and that we must support their adoption better. Heidi also discussed renewables, noting that in Australia, we need to reimagine how we look at energy and national assets. 

"A better industrial ecosystem creates efficiencies beyond energy."

For example, Australia’s existing fossil fuel export value could be tripled with renewables.  BZE research shows that the country’s revenue from new green exports can reach AUD 333 billion by 2050.

She stressed the importance of supporting the clean energy revolution, pointing out that domestic decarbonisation goes further than simply provisioning economic benefits.  “A better industrial ecosystem creates efficiencies beyond energy. It also improves quality of life with cleaner air, creating a healthier environment to live in overall.”

Luke Menzel, CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council, led the roundtable discussion at the event. He encouraged participants to share their experiences to promote value exchange and emphasised that collaboration opportunities can extend across the globe.  This was exemplified in the recently published "Further, faster, together" report, which explains how Germany and Australia are working together on industrial energy management to decarbonise the industry.

This prompted participants to learn from each other's sustainability initiatives and implementation strategies that have already yielded positive outcomes and to consider how these could be applied in their own business models.

Rory Paltridge, Head of the Motion business area for ABB Australia, discussed the Energy Efficiency Movement, which is an independent non-profit association with a mission to enhance knowledge about energy efficiency and facilitate organisations in connecting and sharing knowledge and solutions on energy efficiency.

In an April 2024 survey, Rory noted that the Energy Efficiency Movement found that half of the businesses cited cost as the primary barrier to reducing energy consumption.

"There's an ongoing battle between CAPEX and OPEX costs for businesses in Australia. More consideration needs to be taken to understand the operational costs across the equipment's lifetime," he says.

Cutting costs upfront can end up costing more in the long term. Legacy technologies are the most carbon-intensive, so while purchasing cheaper equipment like motors may seem like a good idea at first, newer high-efficiency technology is actually more cost-effective overall due to their reduced energy consumption over the product's lifetime.

Rory continued, “We cannot ignore this issue because the demand for electric motors is expected to double by 2040. In Australia, electric motors make up nearly 30% of total electricity consumption across all industries. However, Australia is falling behind the rest of the world in establishing Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for this technology. While the EU has made IE4 mandatory for 75 to 200kW LV motors as of July 2023, Australia has not yet set a minimum efficiency requirement of at least IE3 for electric motors. Additionally, IE2 is still considered acceptable."

Upgrading from an existing IE2 motor to an IE5 synchronous reluctance (SynRM) motor and drive package cuts energy losses by approximately 50%.  A variable speed drive (VSD) adjusts a motor’s speed to correspond with its load requirements, which means whenever a motor is not operating at full speed, it’s saving power.

"Two-thirds of Yarra Valley Water's electricity is consumed by motors, which means that a significant portion our total lifetime infrastructure cost is directly attributable to the operational cost of energy used by these motors."

Simon Prunster, Head of Energy and Emissions at Yarra Valley Water expressed the same sentiment.

"We're Melbourne's largest water utility, providing an essential service to more than 1.8 million people. Two-thirds of Yarra Valley Water's electricity is consumed by motors, which means that a significant portion our total lifetime infrastructure cost is directly attributable to the operational cost of energy used by these motors."

Simon acknowledges that the decisions they make today impact the business for the next 30-40 years. That's why they have chosen to embed efficiency standards and implement ambitious sustainability goals. These efforts are paying off, as they are on track to achieve net zero (Scope 1 & 2 emissions) from July 1^st 2025.

100% of the attendees agreed that Australia should increase its investment in initiatives dedicated to reducing the impact of climate change.

The discussion ended with a live poll, revealing that 100% of the attendees agreed that Australia should increase its investment in initiatives dedicated to reducing the impact of climate change. Respondents suggested that to encourage Australian industries to better prepare for industrial decarbonisation, we should develop more funding pathways, create better incentives for early adopters, and share more local success stories to facilitate peer-to-peer learning.

Additional feedback accentuated the importance of overcoming barriers related to policy clarity, a lack of understanding of where to start, resistance to change, and the prevailing like-for-like thinking on infrastructure replacements or upgrades. Moreover, attendees voiced that Australia should create incentives to drive actions based on science and establish a standard definition of net zero to foster realistic expectations.

This event highlighted the need for Australia to come together to tackle the climate crisis. Technology alone cannot resolve the problem; addressing the issue will require a combination of improved policy and regulatory frameworks, better financial incentives for businesses, digitalisation to support transparency for energy improvement opportunities, workforce development, collaboration through industry associations, and ongoing support. However, it's crucial to act now to speed up progress. By collaborating and changing mindsets, we can ensure that broader actions are taken to achieve positive energy transition outcomes effectively.