Climate Institute poll finds Australians support renewables

August 18, 2015 2024-09-05T09:53:46 by Leave a Comment
wind turbines and solar

Renewables appear to be a vote winner. Someone may want to tell our government.

Banish any questions you may have had about whether or not Australians support renewables. If you listen to certain, unnamed cash-for-comment shock jocks, certainly in NSW anyway, you’d be of the opinion that Aussies generally find solar power and wind farms completely objectionable.

Of course nothing is further from the truth as a poll released by The Climate Institute last week to coincide with the unveiling (dare we say unravelling?) of the government’s emissions reduction target. The poll shows the extent to which Aussies prefer solar and wind energy over that of fossil fuel. [Read more…]

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NZ switches off coal in favour of renewable energy

August 11, 2015 2017-10-25T09:33:33 by 6 Comments
coal lumps

No more coal fired power stations in NZ

News that our neighbour across the ditch is switching off fossil fuels in favour of renewables will have sent a shudder through the corridors of power this week. For New Zealand has announced that it will close its last two coal mines by 2018 and aim towards a 90 percent renewable energy target by 2025.

The New Zealand decision to support renewables has been forced on the Shaky Isles due to the increasing cost competitiveness of renewables such as solar, wind, hydro and geo-thermal and an growing lack of demand for fossil fuel-based energy. [Read more…]

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WA government gives ground on solar energy purchase agreements

July 13, 2015 2017-10-25T09:34:29 by Leave a Comment
Perth skyline

It is now a lot easier for for WA and Perth Solar Installers to sell Power Purchase Agreements (or PPAs)

It’s not often that the Clean Energy Council and a conservative government agree on funding for solar energy purchase agreements but this week appears to have achieved that very scenario. For the West Australian government — that bastion of conservatism west of Adelaide — has introduced a scheme which will make it easier for customers to access solar energy.

The key is the removal of certain restrictions on solar power purchase agreements (PPAs), said Clean Energy Council WA Manager Dermot Costello. He added that the proposed change could help households and businesses make an informed choice about benefit from solar power, according to a CEC press release. [Read more…]

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Will Abbott take Spain’s lead and start taxing solar battery storage?

June 15, 2015 2017-10-25T09:35:25 by 19 Comments
tony abbott with wind turbines

Tony Abbott finally admits what we all knew. He despises renewables. What will be his next move? A Spanish style “battery Storage Tax”?

The government’s war on renewables went into overdrive this week. The nation shook its collective head in disbelief as we heard the prime minister say to Alan Jones, notorious shock jock and confirmed anti-renewable energy advocate, that wind energy farms were “visually awful”. [Read more…]

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Time to ignite an African solar power revolution

June 10, 2015 2019-04-15T14:52:27 by 8 Comments

A recent World Energy Outlook report found that over two-thirds of people in Africa live without electricity, a shocking statistic that costs the continent in health; investment, pollution and education opportunities. This lack of energy infrastructure has stalled GDP growth across the continent and underlined the need for an African solar power revolution to fill the energy. [Read more…]

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Abbott accepts gift of Coal Seam Gas well at Kirribilli House

April 1, 2015 2017-04-19T14:38:47 by 6 Comments
csg well at kirribilli house

Artists impression of the proposed well

1 April 2015: Tony Abbott announced today that he has accepted the ‘very kind’ gift of a free Coal Seam Gas Well to be installed on the front lawn of Kirribilli House.

The offer from the ‘Concerned Oil, Diesel & Gas Executives Rejecting Solar” (CODGERS) to come and frack every last molecule of gas from beneath his official Sydney residence was confirmed by the PM at a press conference this morning:

“Yes – I can confirm that I have accepted this very kind offer from the CODGERS.  I look forward to watching the fracking commence and coming home every night to that sweet, sweet smell of fugitive methane”

This comes just 2 weeks after Abbott rejected the offer of free solar panels + installation from a group of concerned Christians citing security concerns and cleaning costs (of $4 per panel per year).

When asked what he will do with all the fracked gas that the well will generate the PM responded:

“Great Question! It will be used to incinerate all the reams of paperwork lying around the place that aren’t needed any more. Like the RET & Carbon Tax legislation, the Kyoto Protocol and 80% of last year’s budget papers. I also want to get rid of the few remaining copies of the UN Convention on Human Rights that Scott Morrison couldn’t fit in the skip”.

 

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Deal or no deal? Renewable energy target negotiations hit tipping point

March 30, 2015 2017-10-25T09:38:27 by Leave a Comment
deal or no deal logo

The future of the renewable energy industry has come to this.

So is it deal or no deal? What is the current state of the renewable energy target negotiations between the government and the Senate?

Last week a split appeared to form in the previously rock-solid front put forward by the organisations lobbying on behalf of the renewable energy sector. The break was instigated by the Clean Energy Council which called for the target to be reduced to 33,500 gigawatt hours from the promised figure of 41,000 as an acceptable compromise.

The CEC’s figure, contained in a letter to the Prime Minister, is in itself a reduction from its own bargaining position of the “mid to high 30,000s” according to the Sydney Morning Herald. [Read more…]

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Huge Jump in Queensland Commercial Solar Installations

January 19, 2015 2018-03-23T15:28:56 by 3 Comments
office in QLD with solar

Offices and Factories in QLD are installing solar at an increasing rate.

We’ve documented before the lack of love of the Newman government towards solar energy in Queensland. In the midst of a state election where the shrill rhetoric is matched only by the embarrassing speed of the election call, the level of antipathy has risen as the LNP seek to demolish the arguments of the pro-renewables lobby.

However, despite the LNP’s efforts, it seems an important chunk of their traditional electorate aren’t listening. [Read more…]

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The Queensland election and solar energy

January 13, 2015 2017-10-25T09:44:19 by 9 Comments
qld map

Will queenslanders vote in a more solar friendly premier?

January traditionally sees Australians go on holidays, enjoy food and drink (and a bit of sport) and generally relax and get away from it all for a few weeks. The last thing on their minds is politics and worse, being dragged to the polling place when they should be having their well-deserved break.

However there’s grumblings up north. This is because one of the most unpopular (and coincidentally anti-solar) state governments has called a snap election to limit expected electoral damage further down the track. We’re talking of the Queensland Newman government who are committing the crime of dragging Queenslanders away from the beach and caravan. [Read more…]

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SA leads the way with 25 percent of households using solar: ABS

December 8, 2014 2017-10-25T09:45:40 by 2 Comments
solar panels and south australia map

SA takes the medal for most solar systems per household.

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show one in five households use some form of solar energy. The figures back anecdotal and other statistical evidence of a massive growth surge for solar that has occurred since the ABS first began publishing statistics on solar energy, back in 2011.

Then the figures were comparatively low with only around five percent of households using solar energy, said the ABS’ Karen Connaughton in a 3/12/2014 press release. However the change in just three years has been dramatic.

“Jump just three years, to 2014, and there are solar panels being used by fourteen per cent of all households.”, she said.

Add to this solar hot water and the numbers of households using solar energy in one form or another has jumped to 20 percent. [Read more…]

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