'Some negative projects will get up, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader goals’, says WWF Australia A map of operating windfarms in Queensland does not take too long to survey – of the 100 or so across Australia, only six of them are in the sunshine state. But this is about to change in a very big way. According to state government data, there are 46 separate proposals for windfarms in Queensland with four more already under construction. Many of those plans target the winds that sweep across the spectacular mountains and ridge tops of the Great Dividing Range from central Queensland to the state’s far north. While this wind-grab will help wrench the state away from its reliance on coal, the movement is taking turbines and access roads into critical habitat for threatened species. “It’s going to be messy, and some negative projects will get up, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader goals,” the senior manager of energy transitions at WWF Australia, Rob Law, says. By 2040, Queensland’s energy plan says wind will generate about 40% of the state’s power. In only eight years, the government wants to get from 27% renewable electricity to 70%. Environment campaigners fought long and hard for this level of ambition and are now having to navigate difficult terrain – advocating for wind power while, at the same time, calling out bad projects and pushing others to make modifications to reduce their impact. “We are in a position for the first time where we have to consider trade-offs,” Law says, “and understanding climate change is a significant threat to our biodiversity and renewable energy is a solution to that, but renewable energy can also have impacts on habitats and biodiversity. We are seeing projects being put up that are not in the right place.” Clare Silcock, an energy strategist at the Queensland Conservation Council, is tracking the new developments. Eighteen projects in the state –... |