Energy price shocks force factories to dump gas for cleaner alternatives
“Australia, with its access to low-cost renewable energy, is at the forefront of efforts to reduce Mars’ global carbon footprint,” said Craig Sargeant, managing director of Mars Petcare Australia and New Zealand.
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Unilever’s Tatura factory near Shepparton has installed solar thermal technology to replace the use of gas to provide temperature control in the mixing room for products including Cup A Soup. The company, which plans to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in its global operations by 2030, said that the new system consisting of 800 solar energy thermal tubes on the roof of the factory is the first stage of its effort to spread solar energy thermal technology to the entire factory.
Over the past decade, the wholesale price of gas in eastern Australia has more than doubled from $4 to $5 per gigajoule to $10 to $15 after the cheapest domestic gas fields were depleted and Queensland’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry began operating.
Rising prices have increased bills and added to electricity prices for millions of homes that still use gas for cooking, heating and hot water. The increases have also increased pressure on the survival of factories that need gas to fuel their furnaces and furnaces or as a feedstock for plastics, chemicals and fertilisers.
As the huge gas fields in the Bass Strait, which have supplied much of the east coast demand for decades, continue to dry up rapidly, concerns are intensifying across the manufacturing sector that gas prices could soon rise further as there is not enough new supply to replace them. Officials and experts warn that homes and businesses in Victoria and NSW could face gas shortages before the end of this decade unless more supply is made available or demand for gas is significantly reduced.
State and federal governments are investing in a number of initiatives to reduce gas use and encourage people to switch away from gas-powered heaters and stoves. But the Australian Energy Market Operator has warned that gas demand is not falling fast enough to ease the looming crisis.
This year the Albanian government began a comprehensive review to ensure rules requiring gas exporters to keep the local market well supplied are delivered “as intended”. Producers and the Victorian government have revived calls for Queensland to establish an east coast booking scheme for its LNG sector, similar to the practice in Western Australia, where gas exporters must hold a designated volume for the domestic market only.
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