Richie Merzian, climate and energy program director at progressive think tank the Australia Institute said the government should not use the “failed technology” to continue to support high-polluting fuels like coal and gas. To comment on this story and join the conversation, subscribe to The West Australian’s Everyday Digital package.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has pushed for technology to play a central role in reducing Australia's emissions.
Australia is rushing into renewables but there is still the need for government intervention to fill market gaps, so ARENA and its supporters say.
That pace is one reason the Australian Energy Market Operator, which oversees eastern Australia's power grid, this week said it expects renewables will supply as much as 90 per cent of electricity at times by 2035. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen, Also taking a dim view of the changes is Greens leader, Adam Bandt: "Having been stopped by Parliament from abolishing ARENA, Angus Taylor's strategy now is to let the organisation run out of money in 2020 while silencing the board in the meantime.". Energy Minister Angus Taylor will have to convince his cabinet colleagues that ARENA needs more money.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen. “The government is ‘technology neutral’ when it comes to renewables, and picking favourites when it comes to gas and coal,” he said. Energy Minister Angus Taylor will have to convince his cabinet colleagues that ARENA needs more money.
Those supporting ARENA's continued existence even as renewable energy costs tumble, point to firms such as Canberra-based Solcast that is trying to figure out how the grid can accommodate more renewable energy while maintaining grid stability. Australia is rushing into renewables but there is still the need for government intervention to fill market gaps, so ARENA and its supporters say.Credit:Jessica Shapiro. "Angus Taylor has refused to secure ARENA's future and continues to undermine their mission to support renewable energy industries and jobs," Mark Butler, Labor's climate spokesman, says.
"In each case we take a technology that industry needs or wants but lacks the proof of concept for a company to take it on," Engerer says.
With applications often taking many months to prepare and hundreds of thousands of dollars each, "people need to know it's going to be worth their while" to apply, he says. An overhaul of Australia’s renewable energy agency has attracted a mixed response from energy analysts and environmentalists. Taylor's office and ARENA also declined to say whether any of the three new appointees had advised him of the keystone energy policy, the energy technology roadmap. Find Out More. So-called blue hydrogen developed from fossil fuels rather than "green hydrogen" from renewables may also become an ARENA priority, he says. Matysek is the co-founder and associate of BAEconomics, a consultancy that last year published a report that was critical of Labor's climate policies.
Federal Government to announce funding to Australian Renewable Energy Agency in $1.9 billion boost Lanai Scarr The West Australian Wed, 16 September 2020 8:30PM But I don't think Angus Taylor went looking for people who would push hard to replace coal with renewables". “We need stronger mid-term targets and clear guidance for net zero-emissions by 2050,” he told SBS News. “The key line is ARENA is dead as the institution it was meant to be.
New power source for nation's renewable energy agency. READ MORECoalition pushes gas over coal in energy roadmap but critics say it will drive climate change. Peter Hannam writes on environment issues for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Solcast's Engerer too notes that more than $1 billion of funds had been available over the years for carbon capture and storage but its commercial viability had never stacked up. He noted too that BAEconomics consults on various government projects including Taylor's Liquid Fuel Security Review. Critics have argued the federal government's overhaul of Australia's renewable energy agency risks propping up technologies linked to fossil fuels. Taylor also replaced two experienced board members with his former political advisor John Hirjee – now covering energy at ANZ – and economist Anna Matysek. He also declined to detail the progress of efforts to get new funding for ARENA. Please select the editions you would like to sign up to. Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre) meets steel workers during a visit to BlueScope Steel in Port Kembla, Wollongong, NSW.
Wealthy nations representing – including Australia - have already cornered more than half the promised doses of leading vaccine candidates.
Given the government's recent promotion of the development of new gasfields as a keystone component of its post-coronavirus recovery effort, one concern is ARENA will end up being much less about renewable energy but extend its remit into other areas such as carbon capture and storage of emissions.
e Our team have extensive industry knowledge and experience. The Morrison government has also recently overhauled ARENA's board prompting questions about whether it will continue to prioritise renewables. Richie Merzian, an energy researcher at The Australia Institute and former government climate negotiator, says the new appointments smacked of "cronyism". Recently, the organisation installed over 5 MW of solar systems across 10 of its Australian sites. Green Energy Markets director Tristan Edis said the government’s intervention risked undermining the independence of the Australian Renewable Agency to make investment decisions.
“I look at this and say this is a window dressing exercise that is going to undermine our efforts at reducing emissions,” he told SBS News. © West Australian Newspapers Limited 2020. Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.
Credit:Saah Moles, Wilderness Society. "There'd be a real risk the pipeline of projects will grind to a halt [without fresh money], and you'll lose some critical staff.". The most important news, analysis and insights delivered to your inbox at the start and end of each day. In addition to the PPA, CSIRO and ZEN are exploring options for conducting joint collaborative renewable energy science projects. The government’s additional funding would see taxpayer funds of $50 million directed towards investment in carbon capture projects and another $70 million allocated for an export hydrogen hub. The main government body supporting national research into such issues is the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which happens be to facing its own challenges. But he said the move needed to be guided by stronger targets to ensure emission reductions are achieved. "Even though what we know is that the cleanest and cheapest form of new energy in Australia is renewables. That support is due to end by 2022, UNSW says. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese also questioned the government's commitment to investing in renewable technologies.
"The critical issue now is around funding," Thornton says.
The odd couple that helped save ARENA from the Abbott government's axe in 2014: former US vice-president Al Gore, left, and then-elected MP, coal miner Clive Palmer. Engerer, the recipient of three ARENA grants of a similar magnitude, says the early-stage technology risks are deemed too high for private-venture capital and its scale too small to be worth the while of other government agencies such as the Clean Energy Finance Corp (CEFC).
Renewable Energy. Others such as Kane Thornton, the head of the Clean Energy Council, see the ARENA board makeover as proof that the Morrison government is serious about the agency "sticking around for the future". In his place is well-regarded carbon investor Justin Punch who happens to be one of Taylor's long-time friends. Download our free app on the App Store or Google Play for the latest headlines and breaking news alerts. Critics and green energy advocates argue the push is propping up investment in technologies linked to fossil fuels and risks diverting funding away from clean energy options like solar and wind.
We ensure that our clients achieve their full potential and develop clean energy projects that are sustainable, successful and enduring. The government said the package would contribute to meeting its target for the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions by at least 26 per cent by 2030 on 2005 levels. By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.
Opposition to a change in direction is less likely to come from within ARENA, however, given the board changes.
Sunny side up: Solcast co-founder, Nick Engerer, is working on technology to improve forecasting of weather changes to assist the integration of more renewable energy. ARENA itself was consulted on the plan. ", Donald Trump denies knowledge of the far-right Proud Boys, despite calling on them to ‘stand by’, Victoria's coronavirus death toll hits 800 amid two new fatalities and 15 new cases, DFAT apologises for sharing 1,000 email addresses of Australians stranded abroad, George Pell is back in Rome for the first time since being acquitted on child sex abuse charges, Expanded Queensland border bubble comes into effect as pressure to open up regional NSW grows, Consular officials meet with detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei for a second time in six weeks, Government uni fee reforms will 'make it harder for poor kids', Jacqui Lambie says in scathing statement, Indian police accused of cremating alleged rape victim against family wishes and religious custom, Timothy Ray Brown, the first man cured of HIV, dies of cancer at age 54.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said solar panels and wind farms were now clearly commercially viable and had evolved from the need for government subsidies.