ANZ builds its own green house

Australian
Thursday 3/5/2007 Page: 19

ALMOST on cue, the wind picked up and the dust flew as ANZ boss John McFarlane turned the first sod yesterday for the nation's most environmentally sustainable office building, to be built on a barren stretch of Docklands real estate in Melbourne. In three years' time, the same kind of stiff breeze will be powering six wind turbines perched on top of the gleaming, 10-storey ANZ tower, helping the bank generate 10,000kW hours of electricity a year. The turbines are part of an expected capital outlay of about $250 million on a series of environmental measures designed, among other things, to make ANZ carbon-neutral through the purchase of enough renewable energy to offset its greenhouse gas emissions.

ANZ spent $16 million on electricity last year and emitted a total of 185,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. It is not, by any means, the first local corporate to promise carbon-neutrality. National Australia Bank said in March it would do the same by September 2010, following the lead of Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB operation in Britain. Then-Westpac chairman Leon Davis said at last year's annual meeting that the bank would become carbon-neutral, having already cut emissions by 45 per cent since 1996.

Mr McFarlane, who will retire before the end of the year, downplayed the competitive aspect. "Westpac has done some great things, and good luck to them," he said. "I don't think the environment is a competition; the right thing is that everyone does it." ANZ's plans for the nation's greenest office building come amid a gladiatorial, pre-election contest between John Howard and Kevin Rudd on climate change and sustainability.

Labor's policy is to slash greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent on 2000 levels by 2050. Mr Howard has said that any emissions target embraced by the federal Government would not "wreck the Australian economy and destroy jobs in the mining industry".

The ANZ building, coincidentally, will produce 60 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to the average commercial building equivalent to the removal of 3600 cars from the nation's roads each year. Mr McFarlane was careful to steer a non-contentious path yesterday when asked if he thought Australia should aspire to such a target by 2050, in line with Labor policy. "It's easy to design a new building for such a massive reduction but Australia already exists, and therefore to change the whole country is much, much harder," he said. "It's more a government matter than for me, but certainly the world is heading in that sort of direction."

ANZ's estimated $250 million capital outlay includes $34 million of environmental features for the $512 million Docklands project, which will be home to 5500 staff from 2010. Apart from the wind turbines, the features include solar sliver cells, a landscaped roof, stormwater reuse, water recycling, air conditioning with 100 per cent fresh air and a trigeneration plant where natural gas will be used to simultaneously generate electricity, heat and cooling.

The purchase of renewable energy to offset ANZ's carbon emissions will cost a further $5 million a year, and Mr McFarlane announced plans yesterday to finance new capacity in the renewable energy sector. The cost was not disclosed, but the projects will be chosen through a competitive tender process to be unveiled in the coming months. The ANZ chief said his personal preference was to be a direct owner of the projects. "But we've got to do a negotiation, and giving away too many boundary conditions in the lead-up to that is probably not too smart," he said. As for the turbines, Mr McFarlane chuckled when it was suggested they could be painted in ANZ's signature sky-blue. "There's a nice sort of ring to that; that would be the coolest way of doing it." he said.

Turnbull promises $40m to tackle greenhouse gas threat

Age
Thursday 3/5/2007 Page: 4

PROJECTS to reduce methane gas emissions from underground mines and store electricity from wind and solar sources will receive almost $40 million in the budget as the Federal Government continues to try to sell its green credentials in the lead-up to the election.

Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday Labor's pledge to cut emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 would "put lead in the saddlebags of Australian business". Mr Turnbull said Australia would meet its Kyoto targets "through our own actions within our own national borders".

But critics said figures released by the Australian Greenhouse Office that showed there had been no growth in greenhouse gas emissions between 2004 and 2005 were nothing to boast about. "Emissions from energy have continued to climb and the only reason for the drop in overall emissions is a decline in emissions from metal production and prescribed burning of savannas and an increase in forest sinks," the executive director of the left-leaning think-tank The Australia Institute, Clive Hamilton, said.

Mr Turnbull said the Government would spend $18.5 million to work with China, which produced more than 40 per cent of the world's coal, on projects to reduce methane emissions from underground mines. "This funding will support the safe capture of waste methane gas, which will then be used to generate electricity or be converted to less harmful gases," he said. Underground black-coal mines, which are mainly in NSW and Queensland, emit 12 million tonnes of greenhouse emissions each year.

Mr Tumbull said that where there were high concentrations of methane, the projects could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 900,000 tonnes annually. The Government will also spend $17.5 million on projects to trial more efficient ways of storing electricity from renewable energy sources. Mr Turnbull said more renewable energy could be used if the electricity generated from sources such as solar and wind was available continuously day and night.

Speaking at the National Press Club, he said that moving into a less carbon-intensive world would be costly for Australia, which would be disadvantaged compared with countries that had large supplies of nuclear power, such as France, or hydroelectric power, such as Brazil.

Labor said the Government's only answer to climate change was to gamble Australia's future on 25 nuclear reactors. Meanwhile, in an open letter in The Australian Financial Review, five economists, including ANZ chief economist Saul Eslake, warned that climate change made it crucial that the Government took urgent action to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

Mt Mercer Wind Farms

Golden Plains Miner
Thursday 26/4/2007 Page: 1

Westwind Energy Pty Ltd is very pleased that the Victorian Minister for Planning, the Hon. Justin Madden has approved the Mt Mercer Wind Farm project in Western Victoria. The Mt Mercer Wind Farm is Westwind Energy's first wind energy project in Australia and is located 30 km south of Ballarat in central Victoria.

The wind farm comprises up to 64 wind turbines of the 2 to 3 MW class and will produce over 390,000 MWh of clean electricity per year. This is equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 73,000 average Victorian households and is more than twice the number of households of the City of Ballarat.

Westwind Energy Pty Ltd is an Australian company and is part of the Germany based Westwind group of companies. The Westwind group has already developed and built 20 wind energy projects in Germany and also operates all of its projects. Australia, and in particular Victoria, is a key international market for Westwind's activities due to its abundant renewable energy resource and increasing State Government support for renewable energy projects. The Victorian Government's support for the wind energy industry has given Westwind Energy the confidence to establish its headquarters in Victoria and to develop wind energy projects here.

The Mt Mercer Wind Farm will also support the establishment of a major service and maintenance centre for wind turbines in the region. Not only will this bring new jobs and investment to provincial Victoria, the project will also contribute significantly towards the Victorian Governments initiatives to safeguard Victoria's energy future and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power generation sector.

The Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) scheme has stimulated a lot of interest in the Mt Mercer Wind Farm project from the electricity industry sector. The VRET scheme will require electricity retailers to purchase a minimum of 10 % of their power from renewable sources by 2016, up from the current level of around 4%. The scheme is designed to deliver substantial reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and is an important part of the Victorian Government's Environmental Sustainability Action Statement.

The company will continue to work with all stakeholders during the detailed planning, construction and operation phases and is hopeful to also earn the trust of those members of the community who still have some reservations about the project. Now that a decision has been made the whole community will be able to make the best out of a significant renewable energy project at Mt Mercer.

Westwind Energy will endeavour to become an integral part of this and other communities where the company plans to establish wind energy facilities. The Mt Mercer Wind Farm has been very carefully sited to comply with the Victorian guidelines for the development of wind energy facilities and is located in one of the windiest regions of Victoria that is close to existing major electricity grid infrastructure.

Westwind Energy is confident that, with the planning approval issued by Minister Madden, the project will soon reach financial closure. Subsequent to the preparation and endorsement of an Environmental Management Plan (and other documents referred to in the permit conditions) construction may commence in 2008.

The following is a response from the Golden Plains Shire. "Wind farms fall under the jurisdiction of the state government's planning process and Council has not played a direct role in the decision making associated with this project," CEO Rod Nicholls said. "In addition, the figures presented by the Planning Minister in his statement last Thursday highlight the significant environmental and economic benefits to be delivered by the project for the region."

Experts talk warming

Barrier Daily Truth
Tuesday 1/5/2007 Page: 12

BANGKOK - After two gloomy UN reports on global warming, scientists and governments yesterday began looking at how to fight climate change, with green groups saying the world has the means to cut emissions at little cost.

At least 400 scientists and experts from about 120 countries are attending the five-day, third session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN's leading authority on global warming. A raft of solutions will be issued on Friday after review by the delegates. The draft report warns that time for inexpensive fixes is running out because of a surge in greenhouse gas emissions. The survey is the third this year by the IPCC. "Science certainly provides a lot of compelling reasons for action," IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri told reporters.

When asked how the IPCC could convert the report into government action, he said: "The IPCC doesn't have any muscle, it has grey matter. The muscle will have to come from somewhere else." Major polluters such as United States, China and top oil producer Saudi Arabia are expected to seek to water down the report, wary of language that proscribes targets to cut emissions or threatens their oil and gas industries.

The UN climate panel issued its first report in February saying it was at least 90 per cent certain that mankind was to blame for warming. The second report on April 6 warned of more hunger, droughts, heatwaves and rising seas.

Green groups say the time for bickering by governments is over. "The key thing is whatever they decide here that it cannot be ignored anymore that climate change is happening in a big way. It's happening much faster. We have more solutions out there than before and it's not as costly as some people want us to believe it is," said Stephan Singer, head of the WWF's Climate Change Policy Unit.

The report estimates that stabilising greenhouse gas emissions will cost between 0.2 per cent and 3.0 per cent of world gross domestic product by 2030, depending on the stiffness of curbs on rising emissions of greenhouse gases. Under some scenarios, GDP growth might even get a tiny net spur from less pollution and health damage from burning fossil fuels, blamed as the main cause of warming.

The conclusions broadly back those by former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, who estimated last year that costs of acting now to slow warming were about one per cent of global output - 5 to 20 per cent if the world delayed action. More than 1,000 amendments have been proposed to the draft 24-page summary for policymakers. Some countries complain it is hard to understand and too laden with scientific jargon.

The report lays out solutions such as capturing and burying emissions from coal-fired power plants, a shift to renewable energies such as solar and wind energy, more use of nuclear power, more efficient lighting and insulation of buildings. But it says that temperatures will rise by at least 2 to 2.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels even under the most stringent curbs. The European Union says a 2-degree Celsius rise is a threshold for "dangerous" changes to the climate system.

The more deep and rapid the emissions cuts, the more costly to economies, says the draft report, which gives a range of stabilisation levels of greenhouse gases in the future. By 2030, the costs of letting greenhouse gas concentrations rise to 650 ppmv (parts per million volume) of CO2-equivalent are 0.2 per cent of global gross domestic product, it says. Greenhouse gas concentrations are now at about 430 ppmv of carbon dioxide and rising sharply.

South African delegate Peter Luckey said any talk of stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations at 650 ppmv "is quite disturbing to us". He worried that some governments will try to water down the draft recommendations. "Our major mandate is to defend the document as much as possible," said Luckey, chief director of air quality management in South Africa's Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism.

Reuters

For all of us, going green means getting down, brown and dirty

Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday 2/5/2007 Page: 11

When are we going to get over this saurian idea that eco-mindedness is leftwing? John Howard, green clad but still myopic, says he'll address climate change only when he's close enough to read the price tag.

Malcolm Turnbull, the Environment Minister, derides the Climate Institute Australia as a "left-wing think tank". Morris Iemma talks green but rather than simply fitting every house with a rain tank, relentlessly pursues a desal plant that will chug electricity and wreck Botany Bay. And Clover Moore, who rightly wants dedicated cycleways and water reservoirs in the great man-made caverns under Sydney, will find herself choker-deep in bureaucratic merde when she tries to make it happen. Meanwhile, the rest of Sydney's councils are still busy making it hard for people to recycle stormwater, purify on-site sewage or secede from the grid.

For most of us the problems of going green, as opposed to talking about it, are many-sided: aesthetic, economic, political. Aesthetically, the obstacles are mainly about the sheer, icky brownness of green: the lawn gone brown with drought, the bog paper that's brown when you buy it, the bath that stays brown after cleaning. Brown is the child's first heartbreak, having mixed all the colours in hope of yet greater glory. It's the colour of the swamp, of earth's reclaiming us as territory, of entropy. The colour of war, of dark ages and of old, nicotiney, communist Europe. Brown is what makes the hairshirt irredeemable fashion death. That's problem No. 1.

Problem two is economic: the sheer cost of water tanks, plumbing, photovoltaics, microturbines, smart cars and phosphate-free detergents. This, against the abject cheapness of energy and water, means that any technology you install will be obsolete well before it pays for itself, especially if you count interest. Lesli Berger, the developer of the new no-name green office building in Double Bay, says sustainability cost him half a million, in a $5 million building. And that's not counting the $1.2 million Woollahra Council is still trying to slug him for eschewing car parking, or the several thousand Sydney Water wanted for not connecting to the mains.

Problem three is the usual political googly, in reverse. It's not that sustainable buildings are unpopular, but that politicians think they are, or might be. This, it seems, deprives all pollies with power to change anything of the courage to do it.

As anyone with half an ear to the ground knows, Australia is well behind the world in developing renewable energy and distributed grids. As the Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy says, `Australia's global position has slipped over the last five years" because of our refusal to use either tax or pricing incentives to encourage renewables. And, in Australia, virtually everyone is ahead of the Government.

Some local weather makers, such as Tim Flannery, have argued that's the way of it; that sustainability, like charity, must start at home. Think global, act local. To some extent, as the amount of eco-guerilla action in Australia suggests, he's right. But where things need the power and abstraction of government is where our governments, in refusing to be part of the solution, are part of the problem.

In theory, anyone could do what Michael Mobbs did with his sustainable terrace house in Chippendale, or what Berger (with Mobbs's help) did in Double Bay - secede from the water and sewage grids and, in the case of the house, feed surplus electricity back in. Berger's four-storeyed Double Bay building, by Eeles Trelease Architects, collects its drinking water and recycles its sewage. It doesn't generate electricity, partly because EnergyAustralia insisted on taking about $700,000 worth of ground floor space for a substation.

But, as speculative office buildings go, it's distinctly green-hued. How green? As green as Melbourne City Council's CH2 overlooking Swanston Street, or 40 Albert Road, both six-star green buildings, both touted as "Australia's greenest"? The simple answer is: no one knows. This is partly because, as the Green Building Council of Australia's Romily Madew notes, the buildings' legendary six-star ratings relate only to design intent: their performance is still unmeasured. And partly because there are dozens of green rating systems, with more being produced every minute; all different, all incompatible.

In terms of renewable and distributed energy, it's the same. In 2001 the Howard Government set a renewables target so risible it was superseded within months. So now it's up to the states. Victoria has mandated 15 per cent by 2016 and NSW may follow. But the obvious accompaniments are tax breaks for renewables and a "smart grid" system, like those in trial across Europe and the US, to encourage local or distributed generation by offering "parity pricing", where consumers are paid for their excess or "feed-in" at the purchase rate.

Like 19th-century Britain, crisscrossed by a dozen private railroads with incompatible gauges, this needs intelligent government. Government that sees the stupidity of tailgating climate change. Clean your contacts, John; if you're close enough to read the price tag, you're already road kill.

Pentagon told it must give up oil

Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday 2/5/2007 Page: 8

WASHINGTON A study ordered by the Pentagon warns that the rising cost and dwindling supply of oil - the lifeblood of fighter jets, warships, and tanks - will make the US military's ability to respond to crises around the world "unsustainable in the long term".

The study, produced by a consulting firm, concludes that all four branches of the military must "fundamentally transform" their assumptions about energy, including taking immediate steps towards fielding weapons systems and aircraft that run on alternative and renewable fuels.

The Pentagon must "apply new energy technologies that address alternative supply sources and efficient consumption across all aspects of military operations", the report says. However, weaning the US military from fossil fuels quickly would be a Herculean task - especially because the bulk of the US arsenal depends on fossil fuels, and many military systems have been designed to remain in service for at least several decades.

However, Pentagon advisers believe the growing consumption of fossil fuels leaves military leaders with little choice but to break with the past as soon as possible. The report says the military is using 16 times more fuel per soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan than in World War II. The Pentagon commissioned LMI, a government-consulting firm, to produce the report.

Transforming the way DoD Looks at Energy is intended as a potential blueprint for a new military energy strategy and includes a detailed survey of potential alternatives to oil - including synthetic fuels, renewable biofuels, ethanol and biodiesel fuel as well as solar and wind energy, among many others.

The Boston Globe

King Is switches on to solar

Hobart Mercury
Wednesday 2/5/2007 Page: 16

A SOLAR energy project on King Island could play a role in solving the island's power woes. A trial project could soon be under way after a deal was struck between Australian company CBD Energy Limited and German company Solon AG. CBD is already working with Hydro Tasmania on energy projects for King Island and the new deal could help expedite the process. A 100 kilowatt solar energy plant is to be built on the island, supplementing diesel and wind generation.

CBD executive chairman Gerry McGowan said the developments reflected productive business partnerships with Hydro Tasmania and Solon. The King Island projects will also include a remote area power system including CBD's energy storage technology. The technology involves storage in graphite blocks and Mr McGowan said that represented a breakthrough in energy markets where energy storage wasn't commercially available.

Hydro Tasmania's technology manager John Titchen said the storage project had been the focus of work with CBD. "The technology is of value to us because we have quite a bit of wind energy, but can't always use it at its peak," Mr Titchen said. "We have been looking at ways to capture it so it doesn't go to waste." He said the CBD proposal for a solar power installation was quite interesting for Hydro Tasmania.

"It is in keeping with King Island's role in renewables, as the first location in Tasmania using wind energy," he said. "It is a good place to try these new types of generation because of the high cost of supply." He said Hydro was aiming to do whatever it could to displace diesel with clean energy. "Working on this on King Island gives us an opportunity to try it, get a foothold and possibly go further in the future. "This would be our first solar project so it's quite exciting." Solon is a major producer of solar power modules in Europe. employing more than 500 people across Europe.

The deal means Solon becomes a major CBD shareholder, investing about $4.9 million.

Renewable focus

Daily News
Wednesday 2/5/2007 Page: 5

THE GECKO environment group has called for Australia's economic future to be based on renewable energies, not the nuclear fuel cycle or mining more uranium. Gecko nuclear free campaign spokesperson Irene Wareing said there had been no public debate on the pros and cons of expanding uranium mining or nuclear power in Australia.

Matter of facts in green power play

Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday 1/5/2007 Page: 12

John Howard says renewable energy can't meet Australia's electricity needs but scientists and other experts disagree.
The claim by the Prime Minister, John Howard, that only coal or nuclear energy can meet the nation's power needs has been condemned as "an outrageous furphy". Speaking at the weekend, Howard said: "There are only two ways that you can run power stations, generate base-load power in this country. You can do it on fossil fuel or... with nuclear power."

But advocates of renewable energy say the Prime Minister is wrong and that wind energy and bioenergy - the burning of waste from agricultural crops - could meet half Australia's electricity demand within 40 years. If all forms of promising renewable energy sources, including solar and geothermal power, were developed, all Australia's electricity demand could be met within 50 years.

Mark Diesendorf, from the University of New South Wales's Institute of Environmental Studies, says renewable energy experts "should be screaming from the rooftops" over Howard's comments. Ric Brazzale, the executive director of the Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy, describes Howard's remarks as "frustrating".

Diesendorf says no single renewable energy source offers the solution. However, a mix of different technologies, combined with curbs on energy waste, would work. He estimates that because of wind fluctuations at any particular site, a wind farm with 1300 turbines, each generating up to two megawatts - a total of 2600 megawatts - would reliably replace a 1000 megawatt coalfired plant.

"Although a single wind turbine is indeed intermittent," Diesendorf says, "this is generally not true of a system of several wind farms, separated by several hundred kilometres and experiencing different wind regimes." Wind power could meet 20 per cent of Australia's base-load demand by 2040. Another 30 per cent could be met by a network of small generators burning agricultural leftovers from sugar and wheat crops, and plantation forests.

"We could be 100 per cent renewable by the middle of the century" if other technologies, such as solar thermal and geothermal were also pursued, Diesendorf says. While using batteries to store electricity generated by solar cells remains expensive, solar energy could heat water, rocks or even salt during the day. The heat could be used at night to drive turbines. Geothermal technology, in which turbines are driven by water pumped through naturally hot rocks under the ground, also offered "a huge potential".

Diesendorf estimates that while three-quarters of Australian homes could use solar hot water systems, only 5 per cent have them. Peak afternoon energy demand for air-conditioners could be slashed by encouraging people to install solar panels facing the north-west. "What we cant do," he says,"is allow demand to double and redouble every few years. There is a huge amount of energy waste." Insulation and highly efficient electric motors could make significant cuts in demand.

Brazzale, who represents 300 companies with investments or interest in renewable power, estimates 17 per cent of South Australia's power will be wind-generated by the end of next year. "Why can't the rest of us do it?" he asks, calling for a national renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020 - more than double Australia's current capacity. Photovoltaic solar panels would have "no problem" eventually meeting 30 per cent of national demand.

$180,000 rates windfall

Border Watch
Tuesday 1/5/2007 Page: 10

Glenelg Shire Council and Pacific Hydro have completed the rate agreement for the Portland Wind Energy Project. Shire Mayor Gilbert Wilson said council had actively participated in the State Government's review process of the rating of electricity in Victoria, which was undertaken in 2004 and 2005. The review applied to all electricity generators located in about 15 Victorian municipalities, including coal, hydro, gas and wind generators.

"Together with the Moyne Shire and the Ararat Rural City, the Glenelg Shire took an active approach by advocating for an appropriate rating mechanism for electricity generators, especially given the proposed development of Pacific Hydro's Portland Wind Energy Project," Cr Wilson said. "The Review Panel received a diverse range of submissions from municipalities, electricity generators and industry groups and conducted public hearings.

"Unfortunately, the panel and the State Government did not accept the rating formula suggested by a number of councils." Following receipt of the panel's final report, the State Government amended the Electricity Industry Act (Section 94) to incorporate a formula for the consistent rating of all electricity generators in Victoria.

In summary, the formula specifies a base initial payment of $40,000 plus $900 per megawatt capacity indexed by CPI annually. "Unlike the rate agreements for other large industries, the proposed rate agreement with Pacific Hydro is a procedural document, as the financial formula is prescribed by legislation and cannot be negotiated," Cr Wilson said.

Based on the total number of wind generation towers indicated on the maps provided by Pacific Hydro for the Glenelg Shire section of the Portland Wind Energy Project and the proposed megawatt capacity of the project, the estimated payment in lieu of rates will be around $180,400 per annum with annual CPI increases. However, if the Portland Wind Energy project is built in stages over more than one financial year, the amount will be calculated on a pro rata basis based on the actual installed megawatt capacity.

Protest signs stolen

Ballarat Courier
Tuesday 1/5/2007 Page: 3

THE repeated thefts of protest signs against a proposed windfarm development near Smeaton has angered the Spa Country Landscape Guardians group. The group represents residents and landholders opposed to the proposal of 19 turbines to be constructed near their town. SCLG spokesman Will Elsworth said about 40 signs had either been pulled down or stolen and the thefts would be reported to police.

We are very concerned at the community cohesion and a potential breakdown," Mr Elsworth said. "Many people opposed to the development have been here for years and put a lot into the community and it's easy to tear the fabric of the community apart. We find it ironic proponents are happy to pull down a small sign, but are willing to host a turbine stretching into the sky."

However, one Smeaton resident has said he believed the Spa Country Landscape Guardians group was part of a noisy minority and opponents needed to look to the future of clean energy. Rob Talbot said he would be happy to host a turbine on his land and it made sense to have the turbines near Smeaton. "Wind power makes sense," he said. "I don't know whether the opposition is politically-based. I have been up close to them and you can hardly hear them. They look picturesque and when you see them you can see that something is actually being done to reduce our green house gases. I'd have one on my property."

Hepburn Shire councillor Tim Hayes said the council had not received a planning application from the developer, Wind Power, and until then residents needed to be patient.

Market key to climate change

Australian Financial Review
Tuesday 1/5/2007 Page: 8

Ross Garnaut, the head of the states' inquiry into the economics of climate change advocates a market-based approach to greenhouse gas abatement, and warns against governments favouring options such as carbon sequestration, nuclear energy or wind energy. The Australian National University professor says the cheapest solution to climate change would be a global 'cap and trade' regime in which a decision was made on total global emissions and quotas were allocated between countries and then traded internationally.

Mr Garnaut argues that although Australia could potentially be a big loser among rich countries from global warming, it has a strong interest in galvanising international support for a global effort to control greenhouse emissions and could benefit from the development of an efficient global regime, especially if energy-intensive exporters such as Alcoa are compensated so their international competitiveness is not adversely affected by differences in countries' greenhouse regimes. However, he expresses reservations about the Business Council of Australia's argument that industry should be given emission permits free of charge, preferring to see the money raised from auctioning permits directed to financing tax cuts or tax reform.

Mr Garnaut concedes nuclear power and sequestration of carbon dioxide in thermal power as well as renewable technologies such as wind energy potentially have a place in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but warns governments against trying to guess which technologies are going to be 'great winners' or granting public research funding to vested interests. He says with the right incentives and investment in research and development, industry will find cheaper and diverse ways of producing the same things with less emissions, while an eventual move towards targeting the emissions of energy users rather than energy exporters will see a more balanced quota distribution system based on population emerge.