Adapting to climate change involves planning and action by individuals, communities and businesses to cope with the effects of a changing climate.
The Northern Territory Government released the ‘Climate Change Response: Towards 2050 PDF (1.6 MB)’, which provides a policy framework for the government’s strategic management of climate change risks and opportunities.
Key initiatives in the Northern Territory include:
Hydrogen opportunities
A Northern Territory renewable hydrogen strategy was released in July 2020, outlining the Northern Territory Government’s approach for the development of a renewable hydrogen industry in the Territory. This adaptive strategy outlines a five point hydrogen plan for government and industry to work together.
- Local industry development – preparing industry capabilities, logistics and supply chains to facilitate the adoption of renewable hydrogen.
- Resource management – investigate how to optimise the Territory’s resource and infrastructure to facilitate hydrogen industry development.
- Grow and harness demand – promote the Territory as an attractive export hub and investigate domestic hydrogen applications to build demand.
- Support innovation – incorporate new was of researching, trialling and adapting emerging technologies to optimise hydrogen opportunities.
- Response regulation – establish effective regulatory frameworks for the development of a safe and efficient hydrogen industry.
Local industry leveraging of renewable hydrogen production, in the early stages of developing a new hydrogen industry, will provide benefits for Territorians through employment opportunities and economic diversification. Hydrogen will also contribute to the Territory’s own decarbonisation efforts, providing opportunities for industry to switch to a more sustainable energy source.
To read the National Hydrogen Strategy visit the Australian Renewable Energy Agency website.
Electric vehicles
In November 2019 the Northern Territory Government released an Electric Vehicle Discussion Paper. Benefits of electric vehicles include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, supporting renewable energy and electricity demand management, reducing air pollution (with associated health benefits) and lower transport and maintenance costs.
National information on electric vehicles can be found from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency website.
Home and Business Battery Scheme
If you are a Northern Territory homeowner, business or a not-for-profit organisation, you can apply for a $6,000 grant for battery installations. You can use the grant to buy and install batteries and inverters. Homeowners that own a business can apply for their home and business.
For further information and application criteria see the Home and Business Battery Scheme page on the Northern Territory Government website.
These batteries significantly reduce costs for households and businesses by reducing the amount of power that has to be purchased from the grid. Batteries can also be designed to build resilience for families and businesses by maintaining power supply during unavoidable outages that can occur during cyclones and extreme weather events.