Essay Competition
What will Australia be like in year 2050
“What will Australia be like in the year 2050” was the subject the 2009 Essay competition. Entries were judged in the context of the ATSE Symposium Theme “Future-Proofing Australia – Rising to the Challenge of Climate Change”, taking into consideration the relevance to the Theme, understanding of underlying issues, evaluation of alternative technologies, presentation and originality of the essay.
The five national winners of the jointly sponsored ATSE (Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering) and API Essay Competition:
Robert Bartlett (The University of Queensland)
"In 2009, as a first year engineering student, I won a bursary from the Australian Power Institute to support my undergraduate studies in Power Engineering and to encourage me to work in Australia’s Power Industry.
I remember being attracted by the challenge to “make a real difference to society and the world by helping to solve the world’s climate change problems”.
This was reinforced by an invitation to write an essay on what Australia would be like at the end of my career, had Australia been successful in overcoming climate change challenges. Looking back, this started me on an exciting and rewarding life time pursuit which is only now reaching its goal..."
Genevieve Beart (University of Melbourne)
"However, given Australia's heavy reliance on fossil fuels and the sheer amount of infrastructure currently in place to support this dependence in concentrated areas such as the Latrobe Valley, it is naive to conclude that Australia in 2050 will meet all of its energy needs independent of fossil fuels. Hence, while phasing out coal sources is ideal from an environmental perspective it is economically impractical for this to occur by 2050. Thus, in addition to the gradual reduction of the use of fossil fuels, efforts need to be concentrated towards making coal generated power a zero-emissions sector. As the production of CO2 is inevitable in the combustion process of coal-based power generation the real challenge is to prevent CO2 from being released into the atmosphere[1]. As such, the continued development and application of carbon capture, transport, sequestration and re-use technologies will be required to meet this goal. Further government legislation is also needed to ensure that power stations have strict greenhouse emission quotas and that any new power stations have measures in place to be as close to carbon-neutral as possible..."
Jerom Fox (Queensland University of Technology )
"Australia in 2050 will be vastly different to the Australia of today. Carbon neutrality must and will be reached by that time. As the scientific evidence of future consequences continues to mount, and governmental and public inertia on the issue is prolonged, time obviously becomes vital. While Australia must in 2050 become a carbon neutral nation, there are two roads that can lead there. Firstly, continued inactivity can linger, and perhaps other national issues can take priority. Then, when a critical point is reached or a catalytic event occurs and it becomes obvious drastic action must be taken, a smooth transition of technologies is no longer possible. Massive change will be required, and without the careful planning and preparation essential to implement these changes there will be maximum disruption to the community..."
Beata Khaidurova (Monash University)
Many predictions have been made about the future, and many of these have focused on scientific discoveries and technological advances. When we think of the future, we often dream of teleportation, flying cars, and humanoid robots. While this may seem wonderful to many, the futures of our flora, fauna, and atmosphere are often neglected in these thoughts. Recently, there has been more awareness developing as to the impact our lives are making to the planet. The government is finally starting to take notice of what many people have feared for years – that greenhouse gases are slowly killing our planet. The Emissions Trading Scheme, the Government Energy White Paper, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference may soon be putting a lot of pressure on individuals and on industry to change their habits, and produce less greenhouse gas emissions. What Australia will be like in 2050 is not something to dream about – it is something we can plan, something we can create. There are many new technologies being developed to abate emissions, and we can only hope these will be implemented in the near future. 4 major emission sectors, and the types of changes they may undergo between now and 2050, are discussed below. ...
Essay Competition Results 2008
To read the winning essays for 2008 Click_Here