By Evolution Solar Sunshine Coast
As we did last week, we are here again to bring you a short and sweet version of the week’s on-goings. No waffle, just facts.
The Newman Government announced that it was no longer necessary for new builds in Queensland to install rainwater tanks or any form of efficient hot water service whether it is solar hot water, gas hot water or heat pump hot water. Ray Hopper, Katter’s Australian Party leader said that “this government should be saving for a rainy day. Instead they are flushing water security down the drain.” Rodger Hills of the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors said, “If the Newman Government wants to see the voters who got them into office paying more for power and water in new homes, then scrapping these sustainability measures is the way to do it.”
We saw many articles coming through saying solar power users are avoiding their share of network costs and the government considered applying a tax and are still considering different rates to make up the difference. This caused many to wonder how the uptake of solar power is actually affecting those who have not yet taken up solar power on their homes. We found that solar actually benefited non-solar households and electricity companies by reducing demand during peak times as well as emissions. Efficiency is the new ‘thing.’ People are upgrading to more efficient appliances and products which means that our power use drops. Therefore utility companies decrease their revenue and raise prices to compensate. It is not just solar power that is raising prices, rather electricity companies.
State and Federal Governments as well as the coal industry announced a $27mil investment to go towards ‘clean coal.’ The Callide Oxyfuel Demonstration Project aims to trap carbon dioxide and store it underground (and hope it stays there!) The money is going to keeping the demonstration open for another fifteen months to allow the project to achieve 10 000 accumulative operating hours. Apparently feed-in tariffs and encouraging cleaner, greener energy was costing too much but it’s alright to spend $27mil on non-renewable energies that cause some of the biggest emissions, not just of CO2 but of mercury as well?! Go figure.
On Wednesday, the Renewable Energy Target (RET) had its first review. Many in the industry have welcomed the review because it was not as bad as it could have been. Most have taken the stance that ‘it is what it is’ and now it’s time to move forward. Most of the changes recommended are for small scale renewable energy schemes (SRES). Installations above 10kW will now be considered as large scale generators, the minister will retain control SRES price cap and deeming periods (currently at 15years) will decrease by one every year from 2017 finishing by 2030.
The Renewable Energy Targets will remain the same in a bid to create some certainty for investors who have projects in the pipeline awaiting the review. The CCA also recommended that the review process go from every two years to every four years.