THE Rudd government’s $480 million “national solar schools” program was quietly suspended yesterday afternoon via a notice posted on the popular scheme’s website.

“The National Solar Schools Program has been suspended to any new claims in 2009-10. This suspension takes effect as of 3:00pm 15 October 2009,” the notice said.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who did not formally announce the program’s closure, said 1300 schools had been approved under the program last year and 500 had already been approved this financial year, with another 700 “still in the pipeline for assessment”.

Those 700 would be funded if eligible, and additional money made available if required.

But no more applications will now be considered until next financial year.

Announcing the program in July 2008, Mr Garrett said “the Rudd Labor government wants every Australian school — primary, secondary, public and private — to have the opportunity to become a ‘solar school’ and the commencement of this half-a-billion dollar program delivers on our election commitment.”

“… Industry too will benefit from the program from the $480 million federal funding injection, creating increased demand for large solar power systems for school roofs,” Mr Garrett said at the time.

The suspension is the latest in a series of changes and cuts to government solar programs, including the introduction of a means test on the household solar panel rebate and the ending of the remote solar program.

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

The program has already hit implementation hurdles with NSW’s centralised tendering process meaning no school had installed panels more than a year after the program started, and many schools running into problems hooking their panels into the power grid.

Mr Garrett’s spokesman said the Department of the Environment would contact every school registered under the program as well as those with applications on hand to advise of the suspension until next year.

Under the program schools were eligible for up to $50,000 to install solar power systems, or energy efficiency spending on items such as lighting, fans or awnings. Rainwater tanks, small wind turbines, small hydro power generators and skylights were also eligible.

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26216449-11949,00.html

Fri, September 25, 2009

Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has said the Federal Government will focus on the development of large scale solar power projects, but does not intend to support a national feed-in tariff system.

Opening the Clean Energy Council’s Solar Flagships Forum in Brisbane, Minister Ferguson addressed clean energy industry experts about the Federal Government’s $1.5 billion Solar Flagships program.

“It is the Government’s view that we must move beyond the debate about photovolataic on individual household roofs and look at solar being deployed, at a large scale, and integrated into the electricity grid.”

Mr Ferguson said that the Solar Flagships program would fund a number of large-scale solar power stations. He added that the provision of dependable power to the grid would be important for the delivery of these projects, because intermittent supplies could not guarantee energy security.

He also said that the Government had decided to use the expanded Renewable Energy Target (RET) as the key policy for encouraging new investment in renewable energy generation, rather than a national feed-in tariff.

“I know there are some who talk about feed-in tariffs as providing the solution to ensure greater deployment of solar. Feed-in tariffs are not the solution some make them out to be. In contrast to a technologically-prescriptive and ideologically-based feed-in tariff, the RET is a market based mechanism that does not favour specific technologies.”

Mr Ferguson said that while the Government wants solar energy to succeed, it would not solely back solar at the expense of other renewable technologies.

Boston Consulting Group has been engaged by the Government to undertake a market study and develop a business model. Guidelines for program applicants are expected to be issued by the end of 2009.

The Government intends to work with the Australian Solar Institute, which was established in early 2009 through the allocation of $100 million from the Federal Government’s Energy Innovation Fund.

Mr Ferguson also mentioned the changes announced in May to the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Demonstration Program, which resulted in solar applicants no longer being eligible for the program. He said that solar applicants can instead participate in the Solar Flagships program or apply for funding from the newly established the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy.

Source: http://ecogeneration.com.au/news/federal_government_targets_large_scale_solar/008111/

By ROD McGUIRK (AP) – 20 minutes ago

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s Senate passed legislation Thursday to require that 20 percent of the country’s electricity come from renewable sources such as the sun and wind by 2020, matching European standards and up from about 8 percent now.

The bill is certain to be endorsed by the government-dominated House of Representatives later Thursday and become law.

The law would quadruple the renewable energy target set by the previous government in 2001 and provide enough clean electricity to power the households of all 21 million Australians.

The target matches one set in 2007 by the European Union, which leads the world in green power technology.

But some officials warn that more aggressive cuts in carbon gas emissions are needed as well.

The bill was passed after the government reached a deal with the main opposition party to increase government assistance to industries that are heavy users of electricity and create safeguards for existing investment in the coal mining industry.

Sen. Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens minor opposition party, said the target should be 30 percent and that big polluters were offered too much government assistance.

Sen. Bob Fielding, an independent, said the bill will make power too expensive.

“It’s mums and dads that will be subsidizing wind-powered electricity, solar — these are very expensive,” he said.

Currently, 8 percent of Australia’s electricity comes from renewable sources, including hydroelectric generators built late last century, according to the private Clean Energy Council.

Critics argue the target will make electricity more expensive in coal-rich Australia without curbing the amount of climate-warming carbon gases that the nation emits, as overall electricity consumption rises.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told the Senate on Wednesday that even with one-fifth of Australia’s electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020, the nation’s carbon gas emissions are projected to be 20 percent higher than 2000 levels.

“The only way we’re going to be able to turn around the growth in our carbon pollution … is to put a firm legislated limit on the amount of carbon that we produce and make those who create the pollution pay for it,” Wong said.

Last week the Senate rejected a government-proposed bill that would have taxed industries’ carbon emissions starting in 2011 and slashed the country’s emissions by up to 25 percent below 2000 levels by 2020.

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hJ0rDI2fay9CB4ngpuR84UrEmyfwD9A6C5U00