BatteriesNotIncluded wrote on Apr 16
th, 2011 at 9:25pm:
Yeh, but take note that the bloke from BEYOND ZERO(he spoke at a forum when he released his plan for 100% renewable energy in Perth a few weeks back: Mathew something) reckons a carbon price won't be enough.... but, yeh, to get the ball rolling for sure!
They should extend the Renewable Energy Scheme somehow to include large generators.
This is how it stands now:
Quote:The RECs system was originally implemented to encourage an additional 9,500 Gwh of renewable energy generation per year by 2010 as part of the Renewable Energy Target. Renewable Energy Certificates will play an even greater role in the recently announced renewable energy targets to be achieved by 2020 via the Solar Credits Program.
How the new Renewable Energy Target works
* The government has implemented a target of 20% renewable energy sourced electricity by 2020
* The current RET requires 9500 GWh of renewable energy to be delivered by energy companies
* The 2020 target requires 45000 GWh
* 1MWh of energy equals 1 REC, so 45,000,000 RECs will be generated to meet the 2020 target
* To meet the target, energy companies must surrender RECs into their holding account at the end of every calendar year at an amount representative to 20% of their market share
* If energy companies don't put sufficient RECs into the holding account, the company is fined at a rate much higher than the REC value
So there is very little incentive to produce more than the 2020 target.
http://www.energymatters.com.au/carbon-trading/recs/index.phpThe incentive for large industries to invest in clean technology will only come with full carbon trading. The current scheme is limited by the level of revenue gathered from large volume energy users.