Carbon tax for Australia might help renewable energy
A carbon price of $25 a tonne would be the minimum needed to start causing a shift away from coal as a baseload energy source, analysts said.
Plan for carbon price to fan the winds of change, Sydney Morning Herald, Ben Cubby,February 25, THE government’s pledge to bring in a fixed carbon price is expected to help unleash a wave of investment in wind and solar energy, but most investors said they were waiting for detail and the outcome of the brewing political battle over climate change before opening purse strings.
A carbon price of $25 a tonne would be the minimum needed to start causing a shift away from coal as a baseload energy source, analysts said.
The stakes are high in NSW, which is on the cusp of a massive wind power boom.
A total of 3057 megawatts of wind power development is being assessed by the state government. At present, only 187 megawatts of wind power are operating, with another 138 megawatts under construction.
‘Today’s announcement is an important development but we’re not going to wake up tomorrow morning and have renewable projects starting up all over the country,” the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, Matthew Warren, said.
A carbon price was ”the cornerstone of any effective climate change strategy” but complementary funding was also essential, he said.
The fluctuating value of renewable energy certificates, about $30 a megawatt hour, was also giving investors pause, he said.
The plan outlined yesterday by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, means that industry will have to pay for every tonne of greenhouse gas it releases into the atmosphere after July 2012, and implies it will pass part or all of those costs on to the public.
A fixed price per tonne of emissions would give way in three to five years to a flexible price that rises or falls depending on the scarcity of permits……..
The Australian Conservation Foundation said a cap on emissions was needed even more urgently than a price on carbon.
“A fixed price on pollution … does not on its own ensure greenhouse pollution levels will fall,” said the ACF’s executive director, Don Henry. “We need … a cap on pollution sooner rather than later.”…
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