Coal and natural gas production hubs in Australia, one of the top exporters of the fossil fuels, should diversify their economies and can’t rely on potential new industries such as green hydrogen to preserve jobs, according to a study.
A global rush to add more cleaner energy sources will threaten regions that depend heavily on traditional industries, and better coordination is needed with local and national governments to boost innovation and prepare for shifts in employment, the Centre for Policy Development said Thursday in a report.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has pledged more than A$525 million ($348 million) to develop a hydrogen sector, and is targeting funding at many existing fossil fuel or mining centers, including the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and Western Australia’s Pilbara region. That funding pales in comparison with the nation’s current energy exports, which are forecast to reach a record A$238 billion in the year through June before falling rapidly.
The government’s plans envisage jobs in coal mines, power plants or gas facilities replaced by employment in clean energy equipment manufacturing, or in the production of zero-emissions hydrogen to be used as an energy source or feedstock for heavy industry.
“If the new anchor industry does not take off or succeed, communities are back at square one,” the think tank said in its report, following a study of 11 local government areas in Australia exposed to the energy transition. “It is critical to build a community’s economic resilience and adaptive capacity more generally.”
Australia employed about 49,616 people in coal mining and a further 18,693 in gas and oil exploration as of 2021, according to the report. They represent less than 3% of the total workforce in all but two of the nation’s 566 local government areas.
While the growth in renewables will deliver new jobs, those are likely to be unevenly distributed and often temporary — because projects typically require lower levels of staff for operations and maintenance after their initial construction, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia said in February.
