Australia missing out on renewable energy boom
A clean energy finance corporation is needed as part of the carbon pricing package to unlock the clean energy boom in Australia.Support for a clean energy finance corporation has come from the largest investors in Australia, such as the peak bodies in the super funds industry. Investors are ready to play their part.
Renewable boom is leaving us stumbling, The Canberra Times, BY SIMON O’CONNOR, 29 Jun, 2011 “……. Today, there is a global race to take advantage of the boom in renewable energy and countries like China, South Korea, Germany and the US are leaving us for dead. Often using technologies that were developed here.
We’re pretending not to notice as another clean energy technology manufacturer shuts up shop and heads offshore because Australia doesn’t have the right support to attract the investment needed.
Early this month, an Adelaide solar cell manufacturer closed its doors and relocated to the US after deciding an Australian-based operation wasn’t viable. After receiving $8million in state and federal research and development grants to develop super-slim solar panels pioneered at the Australian National University in Canberra, Origin Solar is heading to Idaho, taking with it the knowledge, the investment and the potential for a stack of new jobs.
Origin Solar joins the likes of Suntech Power, now in China and one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers, built on the back of technology developed at the University of NSW. Or the solar thermal technology developed by Dr David Mills at Sydney University and now driving the fortunes of Ausra. In America.
How can we put a stop to the brain drain, the demise of our manufacturing industries and the failure to capitalise on job creation?
The answer sits on the desk of our most senior government ministers. As they deliberate on the detail of a carbon price, the answer is staring them in the face.
Revenue generated from the price on carbon can be used to finance the transition to a clean energy future and there is a smart way to do it.
The Australian Conservation Foundation recently issued a report, Funding the Transition to a Clean Energy Economy, which highlights the myriad ways government can catalyse private investment in clean energy.
Globally, countries are using a suite of financial policy measures and instruments to support the commercialisation of clean technologies, build low carbon industries and create tens of thousands of new jobs. The Federal Government already supports Australian export industries through the Export Finance Insurance Corporation, our film industry through tax credits and other ”nationally significant” infrastructure with a variety of co-investment, off take agreements, subordinated debt and other methods.
The Federal Government has before it right now a proposal to establish an equivalent independent authority to facilitate the rapid roll-out and expansion of private investment in renewable energy technologies.
A clean energy finance corporation is needed as part of the carbon pricing package to unlock the clean energy boom in Australia.Support for a clean energy finance corporation has come from the largest investors in Australia, such as the peak bodies in the super funds industry. Investors are ready to play their part.
The Government needs to get the settings right. What better way to invest our super funds than in securing a long-term clean energy future for our children?…….
We should be winning this race. We have what it takes to lead the world into a 100per cent renewable clean energy future. Instead we’ve allowed other nations, who have less technological innovation and fewer natural resources, to get ahead.
At this crucial moment in deciding our economic, environmental and energy future, it’s time we caught up.
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