4631.0 - Employment in Renewable Energy Activities, Australia, 2015-16 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/03/2017   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

GLOSSARY

Accredited solar PV installer

The Clean Energy Council holds the authority to grant accreditation to installers of solar PV systems. A solar PV system installed by an accredited installer becomes eligible for feed in tariff and Small-scale Technology Certificates.

ANZSIC

The Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) is the standard classification used in Australia and New Zealand for the collection, compilation, and publication of industry statistics.

Bagasse

Bagasse is the fibrous stalk of sugar cane which remains as residue from the sugar cane milling process. It is typically used as a fuel to produce electricity for the milling and refining of sugar cane.

Bio diesel

Bio diesel is an oil produced from renewable organic sources containing fatty acids using a process of condensation called transesterification.

Bio ethanol

Bio ethanol is ethanol produced from renewable organic sources, typically from agricultural feedstocks such as sugar cane.

Biofuels

Biofuels are fuels produced from renewable organic sources. Biofuels include bioethanol and biodiesel which are commonly used as transportation fuels, and landfill gas which is commonly used in the generation of electricity.

Black liquor

A liquid residue formed during the pulping of wood to make paper, having a high concentration of lignin and capable of being used as a biomass fuel.

Conversion loss

The generation of energy typically involves its conversion from one form (e.g. coal) into a preferred form (e.g. electricity). In such a conversion part of the original energy is lost, for example, through dissipation in the form of heat, and this is termed a conversion loss.

Direct employment - renewable energy

Direct employment in renewable energy activities is employment directly related to the production of renewable energy, and/or by the design, construction and/or maintenance of renewable energy infrastructure. See also “Indirect employment - renewable energy”.

Electricity

Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. Electricity is commonly derived from burning organic matter, especially coal and natural gas. Other sources include hydro, wind and biomass.

Employment factor

An employment factor describes the number of FTE employees required to manufacture, assemble and install one unit of renewable energy generation capacity. See also “Employment factor approach”.

Employment factor approach

The employment factor approach is a method used to estimate FTE employment in renewable energy activities. It combines an employment factor with a measure of renewable energy generation capacity. See also “Employment factor”.

Environmental accounts

Environmental accounts are accounts produced using the principles of the SEEA. These accounts are produced in a systematic manner, using underlying principles that allow their integration with information produced in accordance with the System of National Accounts. See also “System of Environmental-Economic Accounting”.

Full time equivalent (FTE)

Full time equivalent (FTE) employment is a unit of employee workload whereby employee numbers are expressed in terms of the hours of a typical full-time employee. Thus, the FTE of a full-time staff member is equal to 1.0. The calculation of FTE for part-time staff is based on the proportion of time worked compared to that worked by full-time staff performing similar duties. The use of FTE enables comparisons of employee workloads across various contexts.

Geothermal power

Geothermal power is generated by using the thermal energy naturally generated and stored in the Earth.

Hydropower

Hydropower (hydro) is a process in which flowing water is harnessed to generate power, usually as electricity.

Indirect employment - renewable energy

Indirect employment in renewable energy activities comprises all employment related to the production of intermediate inputs related to installing, operating and maintaining renewable energy infrastructure. See also “Direct employment - renewable energy”.

Kilowatt (kW)

A Kilowatt (kW) is a measure of electric power, equal to one thousand watts.

Kraft milling process

The kraft process (also known as kraft pumping or sulfate process) is the process of conversion of wood into wood pulp, which consist of almost pure cellulose fibres, the main component of paper.

Landfill gas

Landfill gas results from the breakdown of putrescible materials in waste deposited at landfill sites. This gas may be used to drive turbines to generate electricity.

Megawatt (MW)

A Megawatt is a measure of electric power, equal to one million watts.

National Accounts

The national accounts are a systematic summary of national economic activity produced in accordance with the recommendations of the System of National Accounts (SNA). At a detailed level they show a statistical picture of the performance and structure of the economy. For further information please refer to the Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, sources and Methods, 2015 (cat. no. 5216.0).

Non-profit institutions

Non-profit institutions (NPIs) are organisations that are not-for-profit and non-profit-distributing; they are institutionally separate from government and are self-governing.

Petajoule

A petajoule is a measure of energy, equal to 1,000,000,000,000,000 (10 to the power of 15) joules.

Production boundary

The SNA production boundary is a definition of activities deemed to be 'productive' and therefore to be included in SNA measures of output and production. The production boundary thus determines the size and nature of national accounting aggregates such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Renewable energy activities

Renewable energy activities are those activities principally motivated by the production of renewable energy, and/or by the design, construction and/or operation and maintenance of renewable energy infrastructure.

Roof-top solar photovoltaic (PV)

Roof-top solar photovoltaic (PV) is a renewable energy generation system that uses PV modules ('solar panels') sited on a rooftop to convert solar energy into electricity. A solar inverter converts this electricity from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) to match the type of electricity coming from the network.

Satellite accounts

Satellite accounts are accounts that provide a framework linked to the core national accounts and which enable attention to be focussed on a particular field or aspect of socio economic life in the context of the national accounts.

Solar energy

Solar energy refers to energy used for electricity generation (by photovoltaic conversion or solar thermal generation) and to energy used to heat water in solar hot water systems.

Solar hot water system (HWS)

A solar HWS uses solar collectors to absorb energy from the sun and heat water.

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA)

The central framework of the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) is an international statistical standard for environmental-economic accounts ('environmental accounts'). It is a multipurpose conceptual framework for understanding interactions between the economy and the environment, and for describing stocks and changes in stocks of environmental assets. It is consistent with the SNA.

System of National Accounts (SNA)

The System of National Accounts (SNA) is an international statistical standard for economic accounts. It is a framework that provides a comprehensive, consistent and flexible set of macroeconomic accounts for a range of applications. It is consistent with the SEEA.

Wind power

Wind power refers to the conversion of wind energy into electricity using wind turbines.