NSW Gets It Wrong On Solar - New Matilda
The cutbacks to the NSW Solar Bonus Scheme announced yesterday by Kristina Keneally are a step in the wrong direction for renewable energy, writes Daniel Kogoy
... the NSW Government "should have given a lower tariff for a longer period to ensure more stable growth of the industry".
Dr Diesendorf believes a payment of 40c a kilowatt hour over 15 years would have longer lasting benefits than the scheme just announced for the Australian renewable energy industry.
...
A 2007 study[23] (pdf) undertaken by Dr Chris Riedy of the Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS examined subsidies to the Australian stationary energy and transport sectors, and found that total subsidies to these sectors were between $9.3 billion and $10.1 billion in 2005/06. A whopping 96 per cent of the subsidies provided support for fossil fuel production and consumption and only 4 per cent went to renewable energy and energy efficiency.
via newmatilda.com
On the one hand my immediate reaction this announcement was the scheme was a victim of its own Success.
On the other having read this article and read feedback on twitter by people who know better about this, I see there is a bit more to it than meets the eye.
Yes they set the rate too high initially, but there has to be a better price, or people like me who were considering this investment are now no longer going to bother.
Or perhaps this is what NSW Labor and their Masters in the Australian Coal Association want?
