Greenhouse & Energy

Government vows to reintroduce ETS legislation

The Federal Government has put the Opposition on notice that it will reintroduce the revised Emission Trading Scheme legislation to Parliament in February 2010.

The vow from Acting Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, followed the Senate’s decision to vote down the ETS for a second time, giving the government a trigger for a double dissolution election.

The local government sector was waiting for the outcome of the vote because of the implications of the legislation on the operation of landfill facilities by councils. The revised legislation also took into account voluntary actions by households and organisations.

Under its provisions, voluntary actions by households would have allowed Australia to go beyond its 2020 emissions reduction target. In addition, the scheme would be amended to ensure that all existing and future purchases of GreenPower would be counted, and allow Australia to go beyond its 2020 national targets.

President of the Australian Local Government Association, Geoff Lake, would not comment directly on the outcome of the Senate vote. Cr Lake says the ALGA will reserve judgement on the Opposition’s tactics, but he says the association fully supports the concept of an Emissions Trading Scheme.

Cr Lake says the ALGA wants to see legislation adopted sooner than later to deal with climate change and adaptation measures to deal with its impact.

Carbon storage project moves to second stage after initial success

The Victorian Government has committed $2 million to the second stage of a carbon storage project in the Otway Basin. The funding is in addition to the $4 million provided for the first stage of the initiative.

During the first stage of the CO2 Cooperative Research Centre project, more than 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide was safely injected and stored in a depleted gas field two kilometres underground.

The behaviour of the CO2 continues to be monitored and State Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor, says the project is delivering world-class information.

Mr Batchelor says the initial success of the project has prompted plans for the expansion, which involves the injection of CO2 into saline geological formations via a second well.

The saline formations are considered among the most technically promising locations for CO2 storage, with the potential to store hundreds of years worth of emissions.

Mr Batchelor says the second stage of the Otway project has the potential to make a significant contribution to the development of CCS technologies that can be deployed globally on a commercial scale.

Gold coast light rail project to cut emissions

The $1.7 billion Gold Coast Rapid Transit will have a major impact on the environment when it becomes operational.

It is estimated the light rail project will replace up to 75 million car trips in the first 10 years of operation, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 114,000 tonnes.

The Queensland Government has called for Expressions of Interest for the first stage of the project – a 13 kilometre section of light rail linking the commercial and retail centres of Southport, Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach in Australia’s sixth largest city.

Consortia will have until February 24, 2010, to register their interest in the project, which will be delivered as a public private partnership.

New gas-fired power station helps to reduce emissions

The opening of a gas-fired power station at Neerabup – about 30 kilometres north of Perth – will help meet Western Australia’s carbon emissions targets.

The $435 million facility will provide an additional 330 megawatts of electricity to meet growing peak demand in WA’s southwest power grid.

Energy Minister, Peter Collier, says while there is scope for renewable energy to play a greater role in the state’s future electricity needs, the generation sector will continue to rely heavily on gas in the short to medium term to meet carbon emission targets.

Mr Collier says one of the greatest challenges for the government and industry is to ensure WA has enough energy for the future and a key to meeting the challenge is to ensure a diversity of supply. The WA Government is currently developing a Strategic Energy Initiative to set a clear direction for the state’s energy sector.

Draft CPRS and RET regulations released

The Federal Government has released updated draft regulations for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

The updated regulations include the second group of activities to be eligible for assistance under the emissions intensive, trade exposed (EITE) assistance program.  The updated draft EITE regulations include the following new activities that have been assessed as eligible for EITE assistance: aluminium smelting, alumina refining, cartonboard manufacturing, dry pulp manufacturing, high purity ethanol production, integrated lead and zinc production, magnesia production, packaging and industrial paper manufacturing, tissue paper manufacturing and printing and writing paper manufacturing.

The three key changes that have been made in the revised draft regulations are: the inclusion of a universal ‘true-up’ mechanism to more closely align permit allocations with production levels in each year; amendments to provisions relating to large electricity user certificates; and the inclusion of a provision to ensure that permits are not provided in excess of an entity’s direct and indirect emissions costs under the CPRS.

The draft regulations and commentary as well as the accompanying explanatory paper are available on the Department of Climate Change website at www.climatechange.gov.au

The Government has also today released draft regulations to deliver partial exemptions from Renewable Energy Target (RET) liability to all activities that would qualify for the EITE assistance under the CPRS.   The draft Renewable Energy Target (RET) regulations reflect the Government’s policy to provide assistance to eligible EITE activities for the additional cost impacts of the expansion of the RET.   The approach to determining partial exemptions under the RET is consistent with that applying under CPRS EITE assistance program where practicable, using information provided through that program’s reporting processes.

The draft regulations and accompanying commentary, along with details of the consultation process, are also available on the Department of Climate Change website at www.climatechange.gov.au

The Government is seeking feedback from stakeholders on the draft CPRS and RET regulations by Monday 11 January 2010.

Queensland and German state work together on energy solutions

Queensland has signed an agreement with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia to work together on projects to drive change in the energy sector.

The deal has been signed in Dusseldorf by Queensland’s Climate Change and Sustainability Minister, Kate Jones, and North Rhine Westphalia’s State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Energy, Dr Jens Baganz.

Ms Jones says the aim of the agreement is to speed up the delivery of outcomes by committing both governments to a number of specific projects. She says research institutes in each state have been investigating areas of cooperation such as coal gasification and carbon capture and storage.

The two governments will jointly fund and exchange program aimed at sharing the technical and engineering skills needed to commercially demonstrate clean coal technologies and equip energy networks into the future.

Ms Jones says North Rhine Westphalia faces many of the same challenges as Queensland in reducing emissions – it is Germany’s most energy intensive state and its largest producer of black coal.

Poll shows government should back renewable energy development

There is overwhelming support for the Federal Government to back the development of renewable energy rather than nuclear power, according to a survey commissioned by the Clean Energy Council.

The survey found that four out of five people (80%) polled were in favour of the government giving increased priority to the development of renewables such as solar and wind. Fifteen per cent favoured priority being given to developing nuclear energy sources.

Eighty-six per cent of people under 50 were significantly more likely to favour renewables over nuclear power, while 71% of people over 50 opted for renewables.

The Chief Executive of the Clean Energy Council, Matthew Warren, says the results show what the council has thought for some time – all other alternatives need to be exhausted before nuclear energy is considered as a climate change solution for Australia.

Mr Warren says renewables have enormous potential, but Australia still has a lot of work to do to find out how much energy they can deliver and at what cost.

Working with Asia Pacific partners to achieve energy security

The role of fossil fuels in a lower-carbon energy mix will be consolidated by a technology based partnership across the Asia Pacific, according to Federal Resources and Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson.

Mr Ferguson says the challenge of energy security means global demand for gas and coal will continue to rise and there is an urgent need to find the right technology to reduce the CO2 emissions generated.

The minister has told a joint conference of the Australia-Taiwan Business Council and the Republic of China-Australia Business Council that energy security in a carbon constrained global economy is the defining issue of the day.

He says Australia is working with its partners in the region to bring about a “broad suite of viable energy technologies” including carbon capture and storage technology on an industrial scale.

Mr Ferguson says even with the growth of renewable energy, fossils fuels will continue to play an important role in Australia’s energy security and economic prosperity. He says that is why the Federal Government’s $2 billion Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program is so vital.