Friday 26 December 2008

Confusion over renewable energy target

Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Thursday 18/12/2008 Page: 8

Yesterday's announcement of the Federal Government's renewable energy targets has prompted concerns that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has curtailed his ambitious climate change vision. Clean Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said yesterday that while the draft legislation for the renewable energy targets contained some 'novel policy initiatives,' the plan also had 'potentially serious design flaws.'

Critics singled out a proposal to give electricity produced by residential solar panels five times as many renewable energy certificates (RECs) as electricity generated by wind farms and other commercial-scale renewable energy operations. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the scheme would deliver Labor's promised 45,000 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy in 2020, but Pacific Hydro chief executive Rob Grant warned the proposal 'may lead to the 20 percent [renewable energy target] not being met.' Australian geothermal Energy Association chief executive Susan Jeanes and National Association of Forest Industries chief executive Allan Hansard also voiced doubts about the benefits of the scheme.

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