Opinion: If the news headlines are anything to go by, Queensland’s prime agricultural land is at risk from renewable energy. Just two weeks ago we saw reporting from the ABC on the ‘environmental vandalism’ being inflicted on Queensland in the form of a new solar farm being built on cropping land outside of Warwick.
That solar farm is just one of many more to come. In the next decade Queensland will see a renewable energy boom. Renewables supply just 8 per cent of Queensland’s energy right now but the Palaszczuk Government has set a target of 50 per cent share by 2030. That’s a massive increase in anyone’s book.
Let me be clear, we need cleaner energy in the mix and that means more renewable energy. In fact through co-generation renewable energy technology like solar and wind match well with gas generation given gas’ ability to come online quickly when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. It’s a win-win - gas enables renewables and renewables enable gas.
However, what is becoming increasingly clear is the renewable energy industry needs to do more than just ride in on the coattails of ambitious government policy. The industry needs to understand some of the lessons of the past, more the case if its operational footprint could effectively sterilise hundreds of thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land in Queensland.
You see, when a gas well enters production the ongoing impact presents a well pad the size of one or two tennis courts. Normal agricultural activities can continue, and even benefit from access to water produced by the gas operation. This is vastly different to a solar farm which is designed to take-up entire paddocks or even properties.
As a hypothetical, if Queensland’s 50 per cent target was solely met using the type of solar farm built at Warwick, solar land use would top 200,000 hectares. To put it another way, that’s the equivalent footprint of over 2 million well pads. Even if solar accounted for half the requirement, we are still talking about 100,000 hectares, or the equivalent of 1 million well pads. Being a long-time industry observer, I cannot even begin to fathom the negative attention such a proposal would attract.
A decade ago, Queensland was at the start of a development boom the like of which had never been seen before. In just a few years over $70 billion was invested in new gas projects. We are now a major exporter as well as producing more than enough gas for our households and businesses.
We learnt from experience that building and maintaining positive, mutually beneficial relationships between industry, landholders, and the community can be challenging. There’s no such thing as too much community engagement.
A second key lesson is the need to explain what you’re doing and respond to every mis-truth. One of the great frauds of the Australian public debate over the past decade has been anti-everything activists masquerading as “farmers’ friends” on issues like gas and mining, while ramping up campaigns on live exports, native vegetation, and many other common farming practices.
These same groups are conspicuously silent when it comes to renewable projects being built on prime agricultural land. And, on the other end of the political spectrum, there are groups using the same tactics in an attempt to shut down renewables.
Gas, renewables, and agriculture have much in common. Together they are all the future for Queensland, providing both energy security and food security to the inhabitants of our state and our country. However, all energy providers need to be respectful and understand how their operations impact on communities and individuals. The gas industry has come a long way – the emerging renewable sector should take note.
Rhys Turner is the Queensland director of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.
