Failure to fully implement Finkel Review causing energy uncertainty: AEMC

The lack of a credible, long-term mechanism to achieve Australia's emissions reduction commitments has created uncertainty and deterred investment in the sector, a key energy market regulator says.

Ongoing security and reliability of energy supply is
 likely to be affected as the shift is made from
synchronous supplies – traditional power sources
such as coal or hydro – to non-synchronous – such
as wind or solar. 

Speaking at an energy regulators' forum on Tuesday, Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) chairman John Pierce said Australia's energy markets were undergoing a massive transformation, but it would not be a neat one.

In a discussion paper launched in conjunction with the event, AEMC said energy policy uncertainty in recent years had led to investment delays and consequent electricity price rises and risks to the security and reliability of the system.

"This uncertainty, around incentives for renewable energy or penalties for emissions, has counter-acted the signals for new investment coming from recent high wholesale prices," the paper said.

Read Cole Latimer’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Failure to fully implement Finkel Review causing energy uncertainty: AEMC.”

Labor to drop renewable energy target in favour of emissions scheme

Labor will abandon the renewable energy target after 2020 because an emissions intensity scheme will be sufficient to reach the goal of 50% renewable energy by 2030, Andrew Leigh has said.

Australia’s shadow assistant treasurer said
renewables accounted for the majority of
new investment in electricity generation
 in the last decade.

On Sky News on Sunday the shadow assistant treasurer firmed the opposition’s plan to reach the 50% goal without a hard target in comments that appeared to rule out extending the existing renewable energy target (RET).

“We’ve committed to getting 50% renewables but the mechanism that we’ve used in the past has been a renewable energy target. That comes to an end and we believe an [emissions intensity scheme] EIS can take us to the point of having 50% renewables ... without the RET,” Leigh said.

Read Paul Karp’s story on The Guardian - “Labor to drop renewable energy target in favour of emissions scheme.”

(Climate change cannot be confronted with an “either or” approach for we, humans, have caused it with an “all guns blazing” approach and only adherence to a similar ideology has any change of mitigating the damage we have caused - Robert McLean)

Success in Paris will leave $1000 trillion fossil fuel assets stranded

By Giles Parkinson on 25 August 2015

I

f you hear a lot of noise about climate policies and climate action over the next few months in the lead up to the Paris climate conference, it is because there is a lot at stake. According to Citigroup analysts: $US100 trillion of potential stranded assets in the fossil fuel industry.

Giles Parkinson.

A new Citigroup report values the fossil fuel reserves that need to be left in the ground if the world is to meet its targets of trying to limit global warming to 2°C – a target that, according to a new Climate Council report, is actually a lot less “safe” for humankind than the science thought it was just 10 years ago.

Nevertheless, that is the stated target of all governments – including Australia’s – and Paris will endeavour to put in place a mechanism that will allow the world to meet that goal.

Read Giles Parkinson’s story - “Citigroup sees $100 trillion of stranded assets if Paris succeeds”.