Power boost: State pledge fuels wave energy hope

Border Watch
Wednesday 20/2/2008 Page: 1

THE State Government's pledge to be carbon neutral by 2020 has boosted the South East's chances of securing a multi-million dollar wave energy plant. It may also lead to the development of additional wind farms in the region which is already home to a significant proportion of the state's wind energy.

Carnegie Corporation managing director Michael Ottaviano said the announcement would definitely have an impact when it came to selecting an appropriate site for the world first $450m wave energy plant. "It can certainly only be a positive when we're looking at prospective sites for any sort of carbon neutral energy plant or desalination facility," Dr Ottaviano said. Dr Ottaviano said the Carnegie Corporation "applauded" the initiative announced by Premier Mike Rann on Monday. "I think it's the way the whole world is going and the South Australian Government is at the forefront of that," he said.

Wattle Range Council chief executive officer Frank Brennan also welcomed the announcement and said it may result in further renewable energy developments for the region. "We will look to take advantage of that with expansion in wind farm development in the Limestone Coast region," Mr Brennan said. "I think that we will see a raft of other renewable energy projects get up throughout the state. "When you look around in the Limestone Coast there has been a number of additional wind farm projects that have been mooted in the past four or five years and I think they will be brought back, reviewed and implemented." Mr Brennan said South Australia was a national leader in terms of renewable energy. "I would agree that South Australia probably leads the rest of the nation in terms of embracing renewable energy targets and taking on those initiatives," he said.

He said wind farms had been extremely important for the Wattle Range Council in terms of the economic activity and employment generated as a result. Premier Mike Rann vowed on Monday that South Australia would be home to the first carbon neutral government. He said the State Government was one of the largest greenhouse gas emitters in the state. "The State Government will now work towards becoming carbon neutral for its own operations by accelerated purchases of accredited Green Power and other carbon offsets," Mr Rann said.

He said the aim was to offset all greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to achieve carbon neutrality by purchasing an equal amount of Green Power and other carbon offsets. "We hope that our determination to reduce our carbon footprint will in turn inspire and encourage industries and other governments to follow our lead - thereby further increasing demand for green energy," Mr Rann said. "By ramping up its purchase of Green Power, the Government will encourage demand for renewable energy which should lead to greater installation of sustainable energy generators." Mr Rann said South Australia was currently home to almost half the nation's wind power, 45pc of the nation's grid-connected solar power and more than 80pc of all geothermal exploration activity in Australia.

For more information on climate change in South Australia, visit www.climatechange.sa.gov.au.