Antinuclear

The clean energy target recommended by Australia’s chief scientist, Alan Finkel, won’t deliver Australia’s obligations under the Paris agreement and will only transfer pressure to other sectors of the economy to reduce their emissions, according to new analysis.

The new research comes as the Coalition’s difficult internal deliberations over the Finkel review are set to resume, with a report due from the Australian Energy Market Operator about the dispatchable power requirements of the electricity grid after the closure of two ageing coal-fired power stations.

And it comes as the prime minister will on Wednesday hold a second meeting with Australia’s major energy retailers in an attempt to make it easier for consumers to switch their power provider – a response to acute political pressure over rising electricity bills.

Discussions between the government and the companies in the lead up to Wednesday’s talks have centred on whether energy companies can offer monthly billing to try and prevent bill shock, and whether more can be done to communicate with hardship customers to ensure they aren’t locked in to inflated power contracts.

The new research on the clean energy target has been commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation.

The modelling says the Finkel trajectory would see Australia’s electricity emissions being phased out between 2095-2101 – a timeframe that is inconsistent with the Paris goal of limiting warming to two degrees, and of reaching carbon neutrality by mid-century.

It also points out that if the electricity sector does comparatively less of the heavy lifting on emissions reductions, the burden will fall more heavily on other sectors, with the largest reductions then falling on high emissions growth sectors, rather than the sectors with the largest share of total national emissions……..https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/30/finkel-clean-energy-target-too-weak-for-paris-climate-goal-analysis-shows