Atmosphere is electric in wait for green funds

Australian
Monday 20/7/2009 Page: 25

SOME time over the next few weeks, the federal government will announce which projects have been chosen to receive some of the $300 million set aside to bring new baseload energy technologies into commercial production. It will be a momentous decision for Australia's clean energy industry, and will more or less decide which handful of technologies get the front running to provide zero emission baseload power into the future.

The hope in the industry is that the government will find it impossible to decide among the two dozen or so geothermal, ocean energy, biomass and other candidates and decide to double, or even triple, the funding on offer. There's good reason for this. Such a gesture would provide a clear financial signal to those technologies with the potential to transform the supply of Australia's energy needs and can be given similar funding to that offered to solar ($1.4 billion) and carbon capture ($2.5bn).

And, fear not, Australia would not be acting alone. The US is spending $3bn in direct support on renewables, Britain has just unveiled its low-carbon transition plan that increases direct support for large-scale renewable projects, while significant incentives remain in many European countries.

It makes sense that Australia, with unmatched natural resources, and the technological knowhow, should want to showcase its own achievements and give equal opportunity to the various technologies within each of the broader categories. If not, the risk is that technologies such as ocean energy will simply migrate overseas, while less transportable initiatives, such as the various geothermal projects, will simply suffer more delays.

The geothermal, marine and solar energy industries are also troubled by the proposed structure of the renewable energy target (RET), and concerns that the scheme is geared too heavily to wind energy. The three industries propose to make a joint submission to the Senate inquiry suggesting several options to ensure that these three emerging technologies can access their share of credits.

Similarly, there are concerns a push by the coal industry to have waste coalmine methane included in the RET is also raising concerns. Such projects currently qualify for credits under the NSW greenhouse gas abatement scheme, but green groups contest the fact that is a renewable energy source.

They suggest that it should be included in the emissions trading scheme, or if it is to be added to the RET, then it should be part of an expanded target or hold a particular category of its own that does not result in genuine renewable industries being crowded out of the market.