Earth Day is an opportunity to play our part for the planet

Read on for your chance to win a $500 EFTPOS gift card! Host of Ipswich's Changing climates series, Dr Christa Pudmenzky, explores Australia's renewable energy potential.

Experts observe that Australia's climate is warming.

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It's Earth Day this Friday, a day to come together and appreciate our unique planet.

The day highlights an opportunity to adapt to more environmentally friendly ways of living, which will help us play our part to reduce the worsening impacts of climate change.

Since the invention of the first coal-fired steam engines in the 1700s, we have been unnaturally warming our planet by emitting excessive greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

We are seeing evidence of this unprecedented warming first hand in Ipswich.

Since the early 1970s the temperature of our hottest autumn day has increased by around 2.2C.

Capitalising on renewable energy:

To minimise further warming, Australia has committed to a net zero target by 2050.

This means achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we produce and those we can draw out of the atmosphere.

Reaching net zero by 2050 will require significant investment in renewable energy.

This means energy that comes from an infinite source, such as sunlight or wind.

Our abundant sunshine, windy hills, and blustery coastlines are ideal for making Australia a renewable superpower.

In fact, in 2021, a third of Australia's electricity came from renewables - almost double that of 2017.

This was mostly due to the rapid uptake of household solar, and extensive investment in large-scale solar and wind farms.

And even further growth is projected for this sector.

In fact, Australia's solar and wind resources have the potential to produce up to 400 times the energy we currently consume.

Offshore wind farms provide an opportunity to increase renewable energy production and remove the competitive pressure on agricultural land.

Furthermore, the cost of renewable technology is continuing to fall, and reducing energy prices along the way.

We can see these changes at a local level, with Australia recently revealed as having among the lowest energy prices in the OECD.

By 2024, households are expected to pay 6 per cent less for electricity than they do today.

Clearly, accelerating our renewable energy use shows a future where Australia's electricity costs less, is more reliable and has zero emissions.

Ipswich residents can help reduce emissions by investing in rooftop solar or in businesses with a low carbon footprint.

Alternatively, you can stop investing in fossil fuels simply by changing your bank or super fund.

Joining or establishing a community-owned renewable energy project can also help your neighbourhood be part of the global shift towards clean energy technologies.

See what's happening in Ipswich:

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Want more information on how your climate is changing? Check out the last article in this series.

Dr Christa Pudmenzky is a climate scientist at the University of Southern Queensland.

This column is part of a collaboration between Monash University and News Corp to deliver hyperlocal weather and climate information.