Business incentive

Electrical Connection
01/01/2008 Page: 68

The Clean Energy Council has welcomed the New South Wales government's announcement of a $30 million green business programme - saying it can contribute to meeting the state's future electricity needs. The council, an amalgam of the Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy and the Australian Wind Energy Association, says the program "marks a key step towards a clean energy future."

Under the plan businesses can apply for funding for commercial and industrial energy and water saving projects. Clean Energy Council CEO Dominique La Fontaine says that under programs like the one in NSW, renewable energy and natural gas generation all the state's electricity needs for the "foreseeable future" can be provided for "without the need for new coal or nuclear energy stations."

She also welcomed the NSW government move to establish a taskforce to build on the existing greenhouse gas abatement scheme. "While the forthcoming national carbon emission trading scheme will mark a major breakthrough we should continue to build on the foundations of the NSW scheme which started emissions trading." The NSW greenhouse gas abatement scheme is the second biggest greenhouse gas trading scheme in the world.