Natural gas will play a key role in Australia’s transition to a carbon-neutral economy, according to Cooper Energy managing director David Maxwell.

Mr Maxwell told guests of the Energy Club of WA’s March industry dinner that across all scenarios for a net-zero emissions economy, gas demand grew along with renewable energy.

“Wind and solar are growing year-on-year,” he said. “Small-scale solar generation has grown by an average of 44 per cent per year over the past 10 years. Large-scale solar has grown by 825 per cent in the three years to 2019, albeit off a low base.”

He said that with this growth came associated challenges, including potential supply chain constraints. “The faster the transition, the more likely the national energy market will struggle to meet or dispatch supply effectively,” he said.

“As a result, gas-powered generation becomes more important to energy security.”

According to the Australian Energy Statistics, renewable energy growth continues, albeit slowly. Renewables accounted for 21 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation in 2019, up from 19 per cent the previous year.

While it is largely recognised that the transition to a low-carbon future is becoming more important and more affordable due to advancements in technology solutions, Mr Maxwell believed natural gas still played a key role in that future as a friend to renewable energy.

“The quality and richness of our lifestyles have been built around hydrocarbons, which has contributed in material ways to our health and our wealth,” he said.

“There’s a case of how to have your cake and eat it as well. It’s about finding the balance.”

Mr Maxwell said it was in this context that Cooper Energy made the decision to become Australia’s first carbon-neutral domestic gas supplier, with the company fully offsetting its FY20 scope one, scope two, and controllable scope three greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the decision to becoming carbon neutral was not one Cooper Energy made lightly.

“Investors are seeking a multi-layered approach that goes to monitoring and measuring carbon intensity, credible targets for emissions reduction, progress reporting, and scenario analysis,” Mr Maxwell said. “This needs to be backed up with evidence of risk identification and management, disclosure, board attention, and alignment to corporate scorecards and management incentives.”

Cooper Energy offset its emissions over 2020 by partnering with Greening Australia subsidiary Biodiverse Carbon Conservation. “We saw the tangible co-benefits of offsets with Australian carbon credits, which is considered the gold standard,” Mr Maxwell said.

He said the plan was to continue to fully offset Cooper Energy’s carbon emissions annually, due to the recognisable long-term benefits to the business, the environment, and the communities in which it operates. “We are seeing positive results (from this plan) in terms of the engagement with our workforce, business partners, financiers, community stakeholders, and investors,” Mr Maxwell said.

More broadly, Mr Maxwell said that gas would continue to play an important role in Australia’s pathway to reduce emissions. However, realistic stretch targets, not unrealistic global targets, should be set in pursuing net-zero emissions. “Calls for the world to get to zero emissions by 2050, in my view, are very ambitious,” Mr Maxwell said.

“To meet future global energy demand and reach net-zero emissions for the electricity sector, it would require us as a globe to build, commission, and bring online two 2.1-gigawatt nuclear power plants, 6000 2-megawatt wind turbines, or 500 square km of solar panels every day until 2050.”

Thank you to our March Industry Dinner event sponsors EnerMech, Rystad Energy and Technip Energies. 

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