Carbon Tax in Australia and Energy Efficiency
In Australia, a carbon tax has been implemented across the society as of October 2011. These emissions trading scheme is meant to reduce global warming. Australia’s carbon production, in the amount of 500000000 tones of pollution a year has led the government to implement measures to stifle these smokestacks. Since there are many negative externalities associated with pollution, a cost will be applied to those who produce this form of pollution. This must be included in budgets for Australian industries and businesses. The carbon tax in Australia will change how business is done, since the initial price of pollution under the tax scheme is $23 per tone of pollution, people must act.
To counter this rising cost of doing business, industries must dramatically reduce the energy they consume. There are many measures of energy efficiency and ways to implement them. Broadly, some of these include light dimming, energy management and load shedding.
Light dimming can be an easy way to reduce energy consumption. For HID bulbs, such as metal halide, high and low pressure sodium and pulse start lamps, a regulating system can be applied to the voltage. By lessening the voltage, there are corresponding reductions in power consumption. The Volt Miser HID light dimming system from EG Energy Controls. This system is the only light dimming system that is approved to operate within required limits for warranties on ballasts and bulbs. As well, voltage can be reduced further, causing increasing savings. Supermarkets, warehouses, automobile dealerships and sports arenas can all benefit from this technology.
Light dimming can also be combined as part of an effective load shedding schedule to counteract the carbon tax in Australia. Load shedding, as demonstrated by the demand control system from EG Energy Controls. A large portion of industrial energy costs comes from peak energy usage, defined as the largest amount of energy used across a 15 minute period. The Demand Miser works on customized algorithms to shed loads that are not required for facility operation. This can include dimming lights across the facility, air conditioning in certain wings of the building or whatever the operator specifies.
An effective energy management system is key in successful navigation of the Australian carbon tax’s cost structure. A comprehensive energy management setup such as the Energy Surveillance System from EG Energy Controls allows for managers to finally be able to quantify and manage energy and other resources. This system operates by monitoring sub-loads through its monitoring modules. Sub-loads include electricity consumption for a given device, or set of devices, gas and oil consumption, as well as water consumption. Wasteful and expensive elements of the facility can be quickly identified and eliminated. Having this sort of knowledge into the energy and resource use will allow for immediately tailoring and streamlining without affecting facility operation.
The carbon tax in Australia was designed for businesses and industries to focus their attentions on cost-reduction strategies such as the ones outlined above. By putting a monetary price on pollution, rather than the negative externalities that are burdened by all, businesses must budget for the energy consumption in new ways, approaching it with more knowledge and control. EG Energy systems can help with these tasks.