Green savings

Age
21 February 2011, Page: 12

THE article "Climate cash up in smoke" (The Age, 15/2), showing the high cost of government greenhouse abatement programs, presented a picture of waste and expense. Unfortunately, it focused on the direct costs to government, and ignored benefits such as savings on energy costs.

The government's major industry energy efficiency program has been authoritatively costed at less than minus $100 a tonne of CO₂ avoided, while the appliance efficiency program has been costed at under minus $20. This means the community actually makes money: businesses are saving a lot of money on their energy bills. The amount of money saved far exceeds the cost of running the program and the businesses making the required investment.

Some programs reviewed are expensive but are seen as having other worthwhile objectives., , The renewable energy target aims to build a renewable energy industry. Its cost should be compared with subsidies to the car industry, not just the cost of reducing emissions.

Alan Pears, RMIT University