The Federal Government said today it will oversee more than a billion dollars of investment in renewable energy in Australia, as part of a long-term strategy to ensure Australia’s energy security and broad energy mix.
Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane has introduced legislation to bring the functions of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) into the Department of Industry.
"The Government is focused on achieving outcomes from the more than 180 projects which are being supported by
more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ funds, to see tangible results in renewable energy technologies," Macfarlane said.
“This Government supports the energy and resources sector. It is one our economy’s most significant drivers of
jobs, private sector investment and national revenue.
“We recognise and value the sector’s depth and its diversity. Renewable energy plays an important role in this energy mix, along with traditional energy sources such as coal, which has powered our economy and our society for decades, and our rich gas reserves which supply domestic power and make Australia an energy exporting superpower.
“Through ARENA, Australian taxpayers have invested $1 billion dollars in a suite of renewable energy projects, which has also attracted another $1.8 billion in private investment. The investments have been made in almost 200 projects across all stages of the innovation chain – from research in the laboratory to large scale technology demonstration projects.
“The Government is keen to see outcomes from these investments."
Meanwhile, a meeting of energy experts and climate scientists will meet in Melbourne tomorrow to discuss China's radical new energy policy which has implications for countries around the world including Australia.
Participants include climate scientist Professor Ross Garnaut and representatives from China’s Energy Research Institut.
They will also discuss China’s air pollution crisis over the past year - and its potential to destabilise the country – which provided the impetus for the government to aggressively reshape its energy system.
The Chinese government’s Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control (2013?17) aims to improve air quality by 2017 with a focus on the three key regions in the heart of China: the Beijing?Tianjin?Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.
The Plan includes mandatory targeted reductions in fine particulate emissions, a ban on new coal power plants and sharp cutbacks in coal consumption and steel production in these regions. For example, steelmaking capacity in Hebei province, which produces about one quarter of China’s steel, will be reduced by 80 million tonnes by 2017. This is equivalent to about 10% of China’s steel production.
Hundreds of air quality observation stations have been installed across China providing real time publicly available data on air quality with a monthly ‘naming and shaming’ of the worst polluting cities.
The discussion is open to the public.