Improving employment and restoration of local manufacturing capacity is an opportunity Dr Scamps said can be unlocked by cheaper energy provided by renewable energy sources.
“We have got a huge opportunity ahead of us. One of the things that was holding Australia back was the cost of electricity and energy for manufacturing. Now with the renewables being sources of cheaper electricity, we can see manufacturing become much more viable again.
“Instead of being the clever country, we have been the ‘dig it and ship it’ country. There is a whole lot more we can do to value add, and make sure that our economy remains strong into the future.
“We saw at the start of the pandemic how reliant we were on overseas manufacturing. We have also seen again how reliant we are on overseas oil markets. We need to bring back our own manufacturing and our own control of our energy sources, so that we are in a position to be world leaders into the future and are not constantly having crises,” said Dr Scamps.
The importance of Australia switching to renewable energy sources is not just one of tackling climate change according to Dr Scamps, but also important for Australia’s national security.
“We have got to have control of our energy, we need energy security. We have got short-term and intermediate goals with that, such as having refineries on shore. We need to move away from having to import oil and other resources and being reliant on international autocrats and events.
“I think that the government does realise we need to have that control of our own energy. It is absolutely fundamental to our security and the safety of our country, as well as the cost of energy and cost of living. As oil prices go up, not only are people paying for that at the petrol bowser, but they are also paying for it in the supermarket for their food, the transport costs for everything around the country,” said Dr Scamps.
To deliver reliable energy supply based on renewable energy, Dr Scamps advocates vertically integrated capability to produce, store and deliver renewable energy on-demand.
“Reliability of energy dispatch will come down to the interconnected grid, so that all the different regions around Australia that are producing electricity through renewables are connected. When it is raining non-stop, we can get our electricity from somewhere else.
“The Business Council of Australia has said that if Australia wants to maintain its current standard of living, then we absolutely must diversify our economy from where it is at the moment. That does mean starting to manufacture, that does mean value adding.
“Not only should we be mining lithium and the rare earth minerals, we should be refining them and building the batteries. We will have the cheap energy, Australia should be a world leader. We should not be importing those products, like cars and batteries, for high prices. We should be selling them to the rest of the world,” said Dr Scamps.
