The Government will probably reintroduce the Renewable Energy Targets Bill (The RENT Scheme) very soon. The Liberals are unlikely to stop it – they are too engrossed in considerations of survival, and too many are hostage to Green dreamers, Green Industry speculators and vested interests lined up to profit from suffering electricity consumers.
This bill has nothing to commend it.
Firstly, the whole idea of the Emissions Trading Systems beloved by the Lib-Lab party and the merchant banking speculators is that it allows the market to determine the cheapest way to reduce emissions. It is totally negated when politicians mandate or subsidise certain energy systems. Thus the Rent Scheme should be shelved until the fate of the Ration-N-Tax Scheme is finally decided.
Secondly, it would be foolish in the extreme to force Australian industry to pay elevated electricity costs before it is clear what is coming out of the IPCC talkfest in Copenhagen in December, and what our international competitors are doing.
Thirdly, there is no chance that a force fed program to force solar/wind to supply 20% of Australia’s power will succeed without the risk of disruptions to power supplies and rapidly escalating costs for electricity and gas (which will be needed to back up unreliable green power).
And finally, the environmental “benefits” are very doubtful. When the massive land dislocation, and the minerals, energy and emissions resulting from the manufacture and installation of thousands of wind towers and solar panels are fully accounted for, we may find that Green Power is not so green after all.
This bill should be postponed until a full sensible assessment is made.
We hope you can help spread this important message around.
Viv Forbes
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The reports below highlight some inconvenient truths about Green Power:
https://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/solar-realities.pdf
https://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/wind-power.pdf
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16 August 2009
The RAT Scheme and the RENT Scheme -
should both be rejected.
The Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition, Mr Viv Forbes, today called on the Australian Senate to reject the Renewable Energy Targets Bill if it is re-introduced next week.
Forbes comments:
“Two destructive bills were rejected by the Australian Senate last week – the carbon energy Ration-n-Tax Scheme (The Rat Scheme) and the Renewable Energy Targets Bill (The Rent Scheme).
“The Rent Scheme will force power companies to source 20% of their power needs from “renewable” sources such as wind and solar. Consumers will be forced to pay the extra costs. It is well named because it extracts unearned rent from the community to allow politicians to harvest green votes.
“It may not have escaped the notice of our well-sheltered MPs that sometimes the sun does not shine, nor does the wind blow constantly.
“Green Energy droughts often cover very large areas of Australia. For example, whenever a winter high drifts across Australia, huge areas are becalmed in serene weather – no wind power.
“Then when an atmospheric low arrives, the same area can be shaded by continuous cloud cover - no solar power.
“And at many times during the year (like calm winter nights), not one watt of power would be generated by any wind or solar plant over large areas of the continent.
“Moreover, both are very dilute forms of energy, requiring large areas of land to collect significant power. Neither produces reliable, stable, predictable power. And when all factors are taken into account, they may not reduce carbon emissions.
“Solar power is good for hot water systems, remote properties, navigation beacons, recharging portable batteries, growing grass and drying the washing. Wind power is good for pumping water, flying kites and racing yachts. Neither can be relied on to run the trains, the factories, the smelters or the hospitals. Any society foolish enough to rely on these medieval energy sources deserves to freeze in the dark.
“Naturally, if enough money is extracted from consumers or taxpayers, we could build enough storage capacity or backup generating capacity to provide continuous power from these intermittent power sources. But the cost is prohibitive because the backup facility needs to cope with 100% of the Green Power capacity. This duplication doubles the capital cost of green power, but neither the green plant or the backup plant is used efficiently – one or the other is always idle.
“If Australia is stupid enough to mandate 20% of the electricity market for Green Power, electricity costs will escalate, backup gas prices will soar, industry will emigrate and jobs will disappear. If the market is unwilling to build Green Power facilities without mandates or subsidies, there is a good reason for it.
“Already those places who have been most enthusiastic in mandating or subsidising Green Energy, such as California, Denmark and Spain, are bleeding financially from the high cost and poor revenue generated by their political playthings. (The Government of California is paying its bills with IOU’s). UK is heading down this same dead-end road.
“Green power may swing elections but it will not cook the dinner on a cold quiet winter night.
“The Senate should reject the Rent Scheme if it reappears. Producers and consumers, not Parliament, should decide how much green power is sensible.”
END
Viv Forbes
info@carbon-sense.com
Chairman, The Carbon Sense Coalition
www.carbon-sense.com
MS 23 Rosewood Qld 4340 Australia
0754 640 533
Mr Forbes is Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition, based in Australia, and a qualified and experienced minerals and energy economist.