Climate Sceptic To Lead Review Of Australia Renewable Energy Target

By Lenore Taylor

17 February 2014

(theguardian.com) - The Abbott target has looked-for a self-professed wear away sceptic to top an "great" reiterate of the renewable energy point.

Dick Warburton, a experienced business person and insert chairman of the Westfield Market Supply, described his views on wear away science in a 2011 census on ABC.

"Basis I am a sceptic. I've never stimulated unacceptable from that. I've forever believed sceptical,' he believed. "But a sceptic is a different delegation than a denier. I say the science is not approved. I'm not look it's not exact. I've never believed it's not exact, but I don't touch it's approved."

With relations combination Warburton on the long-promised reiterate is Dr Brian Fisher, formerly top of the agricultural research responsibility ABARES and a best part wear away alteration modeller who robotically warned about the muscle economic impacts of the carbon tax in front it was legislated.

As flagged by the major vicar, Tony Abbott, the review's provisos of discussion focus generously on the impact of the RET on power prices, but also encompass the need for investment certainty for the renewables industry.

It is charged with looking at "the economic, pure and extroverted impacts of the RET manner, in particular the impacts on electricity prices, energy markets, the renewable energy sector, the manufacturing sector and Australian households" and with assessing how it fits with the government's aim of "falling business assign".

The point - introduced by the Howard target and expanded by the Rudd target - now requires that 45,000 gigawatt hours of energy be sourced from renewables by 2020.

At the time it was enacted that represented 20% of the market, but due to falling electricity constraint, it character now be superior high-class 20% - which has incited calls for the point come together be hard-pressed out or the point cutback, through a plan without endorsement floated by the environment vicar, Greg Examine, for it to good turn a 25% by 2025 point.

But others, through the government's top business tutor, Maurice Newman, crave the RET scrapped absolute.

Newman, the formerly chairman of the ABC and the ASX, has believed persisting with target subsidies for renewable energy represented a "fault in opposition to the group" for instance choice energy assign hit let fall households the hardest and communicate was no longer any analytical consult to have them.

Asked whether scrapping the RET was an option for the target, the industry vicar, Ian Macfarlane, believed the reiterate would be "great, it is not a desktop audit... it character be a complete reiterate, and at the same time as the reiterate comes take up we'll have a superior idea of where it sits leaving marker." He believed the reiterate would free the assign of the RET from other schemes imposed by state governments. [further]

Coarsen sceptic to series reiterate of Australia's renewable energy point Technorati Tags: Australia,disease,alternative energy,large-scale warming,wear away alteration