Indicator description

Why is it indicative

What does the data show

Data

Acknowledgment

Indicator description

The sources of energy and the amount of energy from each source.

Why is it indicative

Generating and consuming energy inevitably produces wastes that can be harmful to the environment. Different sources of energy have different environmental consequences. For example, the burning of fossil fuels releases a range of gases and particles, but the mix of gases varies between natural gas, various grades of coal, and petroleum.

The energy sources are defined as:

Renewable	Non-renewable:
solar	coal
hydro	gas
wind	petroleum
wood	other non-renewable
other renewable

Source: ANZECC 2001

What does the data show

• The main fuel types consumed in Tasmania are petroleum products, wood and woodwaste, electricity and black coal.
   


• Hydro-electricity supplies 38.5% of Tasmania's total energy demand with the Great Lake system generating slightly over half the supply of hydro-power.
   


• Wood and woodwaste, particularly relative to Australia generally, is a significant source of energy for Tasmania.
   


• The Basslink undersea cable link to Victoria will enable Tasmania to import up to 2,600 GW/h/year of brown coal generated electricity, which is over 25% of the current annual electricity requirement in Tasmania (NSR Environmental Consultants 2001).
   


• Wind energy will become an increasingly important part of the Tasmanian energy mix.
   

Data

Energy sources in Tasmania - PJ (1998-99)

Non-renewable fuels

Black coal	Petroleum products	Town gas
9.8	35.4	0.1

Production of Derived Fuels

Coke (b)	Town gas	Thermal electricity
0.0	0.1	0.4

Renewable Energy

Hydro Electricity	Wood, woodwaste (d)	Solar energy
35.7	11.3	0.0
Total electricity
36.1
Total energy consumption
95.5

a Data concerning refinery input and output, production of petroleum products have not been shown in the table due to confidentiality, but are included in totals where appropriate.

b Coke consumption has not been published due to confidentiality restrictions.

c Total energy consumption is the total quantity (in energy units) of primary and derived fuels consumed less the quantity of derived fuels produced.

d Figure for wood and woodwaste differs from figure supplied by Todd (2001).

Source: ABARE 2001c

Acknowledgment

Core Human Settlement Indicator HS 1 (ANZECC 2000)