How government inaction fuelled Australia's renewable energy boom-roof solar mounting structure

Another report, another plan and yet still, we are as far from political consensus over energy and the environment as ever.

After the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released the findings of its long-running review into the electricity sector last week, Canberra once again went to war, duking it out along the very same battlelines it has been for two decades.It follows the Finkel Report, the ongoing fight over the National Energy Guarantee and the bitter war over carbon pricing.But those despairing Australia will ever solve its energy crisis should take heart.ground solar mounting systems

Canberra appears to be increasingly moving into a parallel universe, fighting ideological battles over coal-fired power generation, while the nation simply moves on.

Like many other countries, Australian business and consumers have left their political leaders behind, opting for renewables backed up by gas, hydro and, to a smaller but growing extent, batteries.

The global rush to renewable

According to the International Energy Agency, renewables last year saw the highest growth of any energy source, meeting around a quarter of global demand growth. China and the US are leading the push.

This chart compiled by BP shows the rapid acceleration in renewable uptake across the globe. Like its competitors, the oil company too has joined the renewables race.

Here in Australia, we are on track to wildly overrun our renewable energy targets as households rush to rooftop solar. You can thank Federal Government policy failures for that.

As political battles between and within the two major parties raged for 15 years, power companies refused to invest. As ageing coal fired generators were shut down — reducing supply — electricity prices spiked. And that provided a direct incentive to households to take matters into their own hands.

That has coincided with plummeting costs of solar panels and wind power generation, making the decision for many a no-brainer. In fact, the next big push for rooftop solar is expected from manufacturers and businesses looking to cut electricity bills.