State raises bills to lower greenhouse gases: Grants for alternative energy

Age
Thursday 29/3/2007 Page: 6

VICTORIANS' energy bills are set to rise to fund a major new scheme to cut household greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent within three years.

But the State Government says that even with a "very, very small" price rise, it expects average households could save more than $100 a year on their energy bills by meeting the target, through proposed new subsidies for energy-saving appliances, insulation and heating systems. Details of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target scheme are still being finalised.

The Government yesterday released an issues paper and called for public comments on its proposals, which could mean landlords will be offered incentives to upgrade insulation in rental properties, or householders offered free or cheap home energy audits. Households produce about a third of Victoria's greenhouse emissions, with businesses responsible for the remainder. The Government is considering extending the scheme to cover small and medium-sized businesses.

Minister for Climate Change John Thwaites said there were no plans to set a reductions target for major industrial energy users because the state's biggest 250 energy and water users were required to make energy efficiency savings with a payback of three years or less. Business Council for Sustainable Energy executive director Ric Brazzale applauded the scheme but said the lack of a target to reduce industrial energy use was "a key policy gap".

The Government also announced grants yesterday to support more affordable solar energy and development of hydrogen-fuelled cars. Melbourne University researchers who are hoping to replace costly silicon-based cells on solar panels with organic cells will receive $6 million towards a $12 million project, which would work by printing dyes and electronic components onto plastic films rather than using silicon. Ken Ghiggino, professor of chemistry at University of Melbourne, said households could be using the technology on their rooftops to generate solar power within 10 years.

"It is a new technology but in Victoria there are some groups that are probably world leaders in that area," he said. "The idea over the next three years is to really test the basic science and produce prototype devices which could then be scaled up." Fellow University of Melbourne researchers were awarded a $1.2 million grant to work with Ford in developing a car fuelled by hydrogen.

Professor Harry Watson said the project was "near term rather than long term" and that Victorians could be driving cars with lower greenhouse emissions in five years. "Ultimately we would like to see some demonstration of this technology in rural Victoria where there is wind at night and there is not a high demand for electricity at night, so that wind energy could go to producing hydrogen," he said.

Link: www.dpi.vic.gov.au