The Net Zero Australia project found that Australia “must transform” to reach net zero by 2050. This includes large and long-term investments in new renewable generation, electricity transmission, hydrogen supply chains and more.

“Now that we have a national target for net zero emissions, the challenge is to understand how the target can be met,” said Robyn Batterham, chair of the Net Zero Australia steering committee.

The multi-year modeling project, led by experts from the universities of Melbourne, Queensland and Princeton in the US, provides insights that are objective, detailed and transparent.

"We hope it will help governments, businesses and the public make decisions about their contribution to the decarbonisation task," Mr Batterham said.

The project reveals some hard truths, revealing that the country will need around 40 times the total power generation capacity of today's national electricity market to reach the net zero target by 2050, including 1,900 gigawatts (GW) of solar and 174 GW of onshore and offshore wind energy capacity.

To achieve this, Australia would need to build six solar arrays the size of Tasmania, coupled with hydrogen centers in the north of the country.

"Remember, most of this is serving the rest of the world, not us," said Professor Michael Brear, one of the report's authors and director of the Melbourne Energy Institute at the University of Melbourne.

He assured that "others should pay for this, not us." "Others must provide a great deal of the technical know-how and perhaps even much of the labor."

But to do this significant work, the research also raised some serious questions about Australia's skills shortage. Namely, according to projections, to meet the 2050 target, the country will need 1 to 1.3 million with technical skills, including in renewable energy generation, transmission, energy storage, clean hydrogen and capture, carbon utilization and storage.

Most of their work will be in increasing exports to northern Australia, where there will be significant population growth.

The report also highlights the need to rally support among households, landowners, communities and traditional owners, noting that negotiations with key stakeholders should take place over the next year.

The Net Zero Australia project uses the approach pioneered by Princeton University's Net Zero America project and models the impact of net zero scenarios on energy use, energy sources, costs and employment.

Maja Garatsa Djurdjevic

Maya's career in journalism spans more than a decade in finance, business and politics. Now an experienced editor and reporter in all elements of the financial services sector, before joining Momentum Media, Maya reported for several established news outlets in South East Europe, looking at key processes in post-conflict societies.