Councils beat target

Adelaide Advertiser
Thursday 1/2/2007 Page: 1

MOST local councils have already reached a statewide target for renewable energy use years before a 2014 deadline set by the State Government only months ago. Thirty-eight of the 66 local councils connected to the national electricity grid are obtaining 20 per cent of their power from renewable energy.

Local Government Association acting executive director Chris Russell said yesterday the remaining councils were expected to reach the target in the next year.

In October last year, Premier Mike Rann challenged all South Australians to increase their use of renewable energy to 20 per cent of total electricity consumption by 2014. The Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Bill 2006 also set a target to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60 per cent by 2050. Before the challenge, some councils were considering using only about 5 per cent to 10 per cent of green electricity.

Mr Russell said the cost of using more expensive renewable energy was offset by improving and consolidating council contracts. "On balance, it means the total bill (to ratepayers) is the same," he said.

"The reality is the councils have taken the SA Strategic Plan seriously, and we've been doing a lot of work on assessing those targets and where the councils fit in." SA Federation of Residents and Ratepayers Association president Kevin Kaeding said ratepayers would probably be happy to pay a small amount to help the environment, if that was required. Council facilities are now powered by Origin Energy Green Power and AGL, sourced from renewable resources including wind, hydro generation, solar, landfill and biomass gases.

Premier Mike Rann said he was ''absolutely thrilled" at the move. "We as a state are leading the nation in the push for renewable energy, and soon we will be only the third jurisdiction in the world to enshrine in law our greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy targets," he said.

"It's through the initiatives like this that we.. . can continue to lead the nation in tackling climate change." Mr Rann said the Government was also on track to meet its environmental targets, and was giving South Australians incentives to use renewable energy in their homes.

Opposition Leader Iain Evans said the target was "arbitrary", and there were no programs in place to support it. "The state Liberal Party were the first to set a target on the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gas of 60 per cent by 2050," he said.

"If you want to reduce greenhouse gas, you have to reduce energy consumption or use energy that doesn't produce greenhouse gases. "There are no penalties in this Bill, so it really is just a Bill that sets an arbitrary target." Renewable energy experts agreed that the target was still not enough.

Renewable Energy Generators chief executive Susan Jeanes said she only expected renewable energy to get to about 14 or 15 per cent of total electricity supply by 2014.

"It's a nice target, but there are no new incentives for any further large-scale renewable energy development," she said. Business SA chief executive officer Peter Vaughan said the business community was realising that "good environmental practice equates to good business practice".