b'ENVIRONMENT| LEGAL SECTOR| 2022SUSTAINABILITY INSIGHTRENEWABLE ELECTRICITY AND CARBON OFFSETS Renewable Electricity Renewable electricity is generated from sources other than fossil fuels. In Australia, the most common renewable electricity sources are wind, hydro, solar and bio-energy.Electricity retailers in Australia allow consumers to purchase some, or all, of their electricity as renewable energy or as the certified product called Greenpower). The purchase of renewable energy is a legitimate product substitution that reduces the production of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity and reduces a firms overall carbon footprint.In 2021, 29 per cent of Australias total electricity generation was from renewable energy sources, including solar (12 per cent), wind (10 per cent) and hydro (6 per cent). The share of renewables in total electricity generation in 2021 was the highest on record, with the previous peak being 26 per cent in the mid-1960s.Solar and wind have been the primary drivers of a doubling in renewable generation over the last decade. Small-scale solar generation grew 29 per cent in 2021 and by an average of 28 per cent per year in the previous ten years. Wind generation increased by 19 per cent in 2021 and an average of 15 per cent per year over the last decade. Hydropower output has fluctuated around a reasonably consistent level according to rainfall and market conditions, losing predominance as generation sources diversified.Voluntary Carbon OffsetsAnother means of reducing the impacts of carbon emissions from electricity and gas use or business travel is by purchasing carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are produced by organisations and projects around the world that avoid or remove carbon emissions (such as renewables, revegetation, land management/agricultural practices, building efficiency, and biogas projects). These projects often deliver a wide range of collateral benefits. In addition to the capture of carbon, which supports environmental biodiversity, as social and economic outcomes benefit the communities where the project is located. One carbon credit unit removes or prevents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. Australian companies purchased sixteen million Australian carbon credit units or offsets in 2021.Offsets cannot create a carbon-neutral or carbon-positive world without deep decarbonisation of energy, land use and agriculture.In 2019 the global economy was responsible for 36.5 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. In comparison, in 2021, it could only produce 239 million tonnes of offsets. This is a gap of more than 99 per cent.In the 12 months to June 2021, the average price of offsets increased from$2.63USD to $3.80USD (44 per cent). Forecasts for an increasing demand for offsets range from twenty to one hundred times by 2050.The increase in supply is heavily dependent on hard-to-predict factors, includingRate and complexity of establishmentThe creation of carbon sinks is a cost, land and time-intensive process with technical hurdles for reliable measurement & verification, which need to be overcome for every offset technology.Renewables and Offsets 700006000050000Tonnes4000030000 Several of our member firms who have sought NCOS accreditation or seek to be carbon 20000 neutral often purchase a greater number of carbon offsets than their gross total emissions 10000 detailed in this report. This is because, as part of NCOS accreditation, firms must include 0 carbon emissions from additional sources 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (such as hotel accommodation and travel to and from work) which are not included in Carbon Offsets Renewable Electricity AusLSAs reporting.70'