Antinuclear

The greatest barrier to investment in Australia’s clean energy future is political and regulatory uncertainty and that is something the industry is copping in spades.

The International Energy Agency has estimated that a staggering $16 trillion will need to be invested in low carbon technologies globally by 2035 if we are to contain temperature increases to 2 degrees. That’s a massive investment binge, but in Australia right now there is a clean energy investment strike.

The Labor leadership issue has been just one of the giant hurdles facing investors.

The Labor government has much to be proud of with its clean energy record. It has put a price on carbon, established a renewable energy target of at least 20 per cent by 2020, placed a million solar panels on our roofs, put $10 billon into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and $3 billion into the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and established the successful Carbon Farming Initiative.

This is a strong track record, but the story has been swamped by the ongoing struggle for leadership.

The cloud over the leadership of our country has added to the gloom and uncertainty in the clean energy industry, not knowing if a new prime minister would move straight away to a floating carbon price or make changes to the government’s clean energy agencies.

Kevin Rudd has a strong foundation for campaigning on clean energy.  His decision to increase the Renewable Energy Target four-fold has already unleashed more than $10 billion in investment and sparked Australia’s solar revolution.  He should campaign on maintaining and strengthening the Renewable Energy Target.

Elections create uncertainty for any industry, but the never-ending 2013 federal election campaign has been particularly harmful, not just because of the Labor leadership imbroglio, but also because of uncertainty about the Coalition’s position……..

At the national leadership level, the Coalition has continued to express support for renewable energy, but the record of Coalition state governments in winding up renewable energy programs and establishing unnecessary planning restrictions on wind projects has made the renewable energy industry nervous. The Queensland, NSW and West Australian governments have all called for the Renewable Energy Target to be reigned in, backed by a number of federal Coalition backbenchers.

Much can be done to calm the nerves of the clean energy industry. Prime Minister Rudd must reaffirm his support for the Clean Energy Future package. The Coalition must affirm its support for the current fixed Renewable Energy Target.

Then – and only then – will Australia see its fair share of the trillions of dollars of clean energy investment that is rushing out the door around the world.

Fiona O’Hehir is CEO of Greenbank Environmental, Australia’s largest independent trader of renewable energy certificates and other environmental certificates. She has a technical background in electronics and power conversion for the solar industry and has been involved in the renewable energy space for over 15 years.

Fiona has spent six years as an elected industry representative on the board of the Clean Energy Council. She has just completed a two-year board position on Renewables SA and is also the Vice President of the REC Agents Association (RAA). : http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/6/28/policy-politics/clean-energy-billions-going-begging#ixzz2Xa6q1vAV