Government seeks input for technology roadmap

The Australian government is seeking stakeholder input on its national Technology Investment Roadmap for more affordable energy and lower emissions.

“The roadmap will help prioritise Australian investments in new and developing low-emissions technologies and allow us to work towards clear priorities over the short, medium and long term,” says the government. “It will provide a framework for setting economic stretch goals for priority technologies.”

The discussion paper lists a number of already identified technologies with the potential to significantly reduce emissions. HVAC&R is well represented here, including refrigerants (“new” and “natural”), solar thermal heating and cooling, heat pumps, heat recovery, passive design and phase-change materials, and personalised/task-based cooling.

The government is now looking for input into the roadmap. This will help inform Australia’s first Low Emissions Technology Statement later in 2020, which in turn will guide the government’s technology investment portfolio to reduce emissions, and will be the cornerstone of the Long Term Emissions Reduction Strategy.

“This is an opportunity to help shape Australia’s path to lower emissions and share your knowledge on challenges driving technology deployment across Australia’s economy,” says the government.

In particular, the government is seeking input on:

• The challenges, global trends and competitive advantages that should be considered in setting Australia’s technology priorities
• The short list of technologies Australia could prioritise for achieving scale in deployment through its technology investments
• Goals for leveraging private investment
• The broader issues, including infrastructure, skills, regulation or, planning, that need to be worked through to enable Australia to adopt priority technologies at scale while maintaining local community support
• Where Australia, including its regional communities, is well-placed to take advantage of future demand for low-emissions technologies, and support global emissions reductions by helping to deepen trade, markets and global supply chains.

The government is also particularly keen to hear about “economic stretch goals”, to help establish pathways for the cost-effective deployment of priority technologies. It has highlighted affordable hydrogen production and carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) as examples of these.

The deadline for input is June 21. To read the discussion paper and make a submission, click here.