The end use pattern is interesting in that it shows how dependent we are on petrol, oil and natural gas compared with electricity and coal. Since 1980 the pattern and the quantities have changed a little, as can be seen in Table 1.

Table 1 Australian Primary Energy Supplies and Final Uses 1980/81 and 1984/85


Source for 84/85 data Department of Resources and Energy

Solar energy does not appear on the chart, but is listed in the Table. It could appear as a line from left to right ending in Domestic usage. In 1987 solar water heaters provided about 1 per cent of domestic energy. This excludes windmills, solar salt production, clothes drying, and its passive use in homes, where the sun shines through windows in winter and is excluded by shades in summer.

Although coal is the nation's largest energy resource and also its largest earner of foreign currency, oil is the biggest component of end-use energy and directly serves transport, industry and homes. For many years the economy was almost entirely dependent on imports for this vital commodity, so it is not surprising that the discovery of large oil fields in Australia was enthusiastically welcomed by all sections of the community. By the early 1970s, two-thirds of the country's needs were being met from local sources.

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering