Changes to renewable energy target legislation designed to provide greater investment certainty for large projects has been put before the Senate.

The legislation has two parts. The first supports households using solar panels and solar hot water systems. Separate targets, designed to encourage the development of wind farms, commercial solar and geothermal projects will deliver the majority of the target of 20% renewable energy by 2020. The amendments include temporarily increasing the target in 2012 and 2013 and adjusting it in later years, regulatory powers to adjust credits for solar panels and reviewing the price of renewable energy certificates.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said that “The amendments will ensure the long-term, sustainable growth of both the small-scale and large-scale renewable energy sector and will support new jobs and investment.

UPDATE:

The new legislation has been passed by the Senate and will take effect on 1 January 2011.

The Australian Government has abruptly suspended its "solar schools" program without giving any notice.

The program provided up to $50,000 to schools for solar panels, solar hot water heaters, water tanks or other energy efficiency measures.

So far, 1,800 schools have received funding and formal applications have been received from a further 700. These will be processed but no more applications will be accepted this financial year. Another 2,500 schools have registered for the scheme but have not yet made formal applications.

Schools in New South Wales received no funding for more than a year after the scheme began because of delays in the State’s centralised tendering system.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said it was "amazing that this government can waste $16 billion on unwanted school halls but suspend a key solar program that every school appears to want".

Australia has joined the International Renewable Energy Agency – an organisation that aims to speed up the global renewable industry.

More than 80 other countries are already members of the organisation which was established in January this year.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that participating in the agency "underlines Australia’s commitment to tackling climate change by taking a global leadership role in reducing carbon pollution and supporting innovation".
 

A report for the Federal government by the former head of the NSW Cabinet Office, Roger Wilkins, has found that government rebates, such as the $8,000 for households installing solar panels, are among the most inefficient ways of tackling climate change.

The report found the solar panel rebates cost more than $400 for each tonne of carbon dioxide emissions abated, much higher than any feasible market price on carbon emissions.

The report argues that emissions trading will remove the rationale for programs such as this – including rebates for solar photovoltaic and hot water systems to grants for the use of renewable energy in remote areas and subsidies for research on clean coal technologies – by putting a market price on emissions of greenhouse gases.

Instead of rebates, it argues that climate change programs should focus on areas of market failure, such as helping commercialise low-emissions technologies in the first place, rather than on boosting their take-up by consumers once they are commercially available. It canvasses a venture capital approach to investing government funds on developing clean energy technologies modelled on Britain’s Carbon Trust.

New Zealand’s Environment Minister, Trevor Mallard, and Energy Minister, David Parker, have announced their "proposed statement for renewable electricity generation". 

The Ministers have appointed an independent board of inquiry to consider the proposed policy to help achieve the Government’s goal of generating 90 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

The policy encourages the development of small-scale renewable electricity generation projects to cut back on the reliance on the national grid. Local authorities would be required to give effect to the national policy statement in day-to-day resource management activities relating to renewable electricity generation.

Update (15 August):
New Zealand’s opposition National Party has declared its support for the Government’s energy strategy – in particular, the target of 90 percent of electricity from renewables by 2025 and for an emissions trading scheme. The National Party has identified the lack of clear and consistent rules as the major obstacle to investment in renewable energy and, so, has decided that the essentials of the policy needs to be bipartisan.

Solar panel installers in urban areas are reporting that between 50 and 70% of orders were being canceled. In rural areas, about 30% of orders are being canceled. According to the Clean Energy Council, one installed has had 98% of orders canceled.

The cancellations result from the means test placed on the rebate for domestic solar panel installation in last weeks budget. From midnight on Tuesday, a family that earns more than $100,000 a year can no longer claim the rebate of up to $8000 on a solar photovoltaic system for their home.

The lost business will cost installers millions of dollars. Some staff have already been laid off and other installers have abandoned plans to recruit more staff.

Because the change does not require legislation, it cannot be overturned by the Senate. Opposition Climate Change Spokesman, Greg Hunt, commented that "This is a decision which is not only destructive to small business people and the environment, but it was taken in stealth and the Parliament has been entirely excluded from having any say,"

At the Australia 2020 Summit in Canberra yesterday, the Population, Sustainability and Climate Stream proposed that, by 2020, Australia should "be making a major contribution to a comprehensive global response to climate change, including working with our partners on clean energy".

The Stream agreed that there should be a national sustainable cities program supported by taxes and other policies which encourage the use of public transport. By 2020, carbon neutrality should be required for all new buildings and all Australians should have access to smart meters measuring their energy and water consumption.

A proposal that no new coal-fired stations be built unless they have commercially proven carbon capture and sequestration received wide support and applause. However, the idea was opposed by a a group described by climate scientist David Karoly as industry figures within the stream and some others with concerns about the effects on coal mining communities. "There is and was within the group very strong support and a small minority of opposition that in the end prevented that because the minister and co-chairs wanted consensus," Professor Karoly said.

As a result of the minority opposition to the idea and despite calls for a vote, Stream Co-Chair, Senator Penny Wong, refused to take the proposal forward. "We’ve not voted on anything else, we’ve tried to come to agreement, a consensus agreement," she said.

Anna Rose, co-director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition commented "I found myself in the climate stream with representatives of … Xstrata and Shell, yet not a single person from an environment non-government organisation. No one from Friends of the Earth, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, Climate Action Network Australia or any of the state conservation councils."

Large Goverment fund investments are favouring fossil fuels over renewables by a factor of 47 to one, according to a report by the Australian Conservation Foundation. The report found that Government-owned investment funds, including the Federal Future Fund and funds owned by state government bodies such the Workcover Authority, are investing in ways which are in direct conflict with stated government policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A spokesman for the New South Wales Treasurer, Michael Costa, said that the NSW Government would continue to invest in fossil fuels and uranium  "so long as the goods and services produced are legally available to the community. The primary objective for major Government-run funds is to maximise returns from their investment portfolios."

A South Australian Government spokesman said that the report is misleading because it does not include private sector investment. Simon O’Connor of the ACF responded that, if the Government is somehow providing strong financial support for the renewables industry through the private sector, it should make that public.

He went on to point out that "Environmental risk, if it’s not being addressed appropriately, can have a materially-negative impact on investment performance, So we’re not saying to do anything altruistic or morally supported here, we’re just saying this is a risk issue for your investment holdings and it’s very important that you look at climate risk across your investment portfolio."

Announcing what she described as "the most significant economic and structural reform undertaken in Australia since the trade liberalisation of the 1980s", Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, has outlined the timetable for the introduction of carbon emissions trading in Australia.

The timetable includes immediate consultation with business leading to a "green paper" on the scheme to be published in July. There will then be opportunities to suggest changes to the scheme prior to the release of a draft Bill in December. Senator Wong said that she expected the Bill would be passed by Parliament in mid-2009 and come into effect in 2010.