Australian
Monday 8/12/2008 Page: 28
GERMANS may not be famous for their sense of humour but members of a German solar energy trade mission seemed to have a good chuckle in Sydney last month as they explained how Germany was the world leader in solar energy despite having a northern European level of sunshine. The prospect of doing business in high-sunshine Australia also seemed to give them good cheer.
The reason for their success is the German Government's feed-in tariff system, so the meeting with the delegation was the right place for NSW Climate Change Minister Carmel Tebbutt to announce that NSW would join the other states in introducing a feed-in tariff system for solar energy, and that the NSW system would be along the lines of the anticipated federal system.
The design of a national feed-in tariff (FIT) system, and renewable energy sources to include, is the subject of a Senate committee report. FIT schemes are generally based on solar energy and, while it may not be appropriate for all renewable energies to be part of a national FIT scheme, wind energy is an obvious candidate for inclusion.
Two developments point to the inclusion of wind energy. The first is the imminent arrival of small wind turbines for houses and small properties, and the almost as imminent arrival of industrial windfarms for industrial properties in urban areas. Small wind is likely to prove popular with householders, and industrial wind is expected to interest businesses and commercial property investors. The technologies will allow both groups to make an important contribution to our energy supply and help their family or business budgets at the same time.
The second development is the much-anticipated arrival in a few years of the plug-in electric car. If it is as popular as expected, it could transform the national economy. It will substitute home-made electricity for massive oil exports and provide additional energy security. On the other hand, it will create an increase in electricity demand that needs to be met in a responsible way.
The electric car could also transform household and business budgets. Where a household may spend, say, $500 on electricity and, say, $3000 on petrol each year, it could change to spending the equivalent of $3500 on electricity. This would provide an opportunity to transform household and to some extent business budgets in a very positive way.
Instead of paying out, say, $3500 a year, families could dramatically reduce this cost or even generate cash if they could apply the full range of suitable renewables to the task. With potential 24-hour operation, wind is a logical inclusion in the feed-in tariff mix. The same applies to businesses and property owners.
A US hospital has turned its cat-park into a solar energy generator and a new source of cash flow. In Britain, industrial wind turbines have turned supermarkets and petrol stations into energy and cash generators. An Australian-owned company and its US partner are working to turn architectural shade cloth roofing into solar generators and revenue sources.
The trend seems global and unstoppable so let's go with it, and let the Government join in too. The Solar Schools Program is a good start, making it easy to envision solar panels on every school roof. Another step would be to put solar panels on every hospital, police station, prison, council and other government-owned roof. Many of these properties are also suitable for wind turbines.
With housing, investment, commercial and government properties generating renewable energy, we would have a national project that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil imports and provide energy security while generating income for families, small businesses and investors. How much is that worth? Victor Bivell is editor of Eco Investor magazine.
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