Solution: Renewable energy targets

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With its vast open spaces, Australia could be a leader in wind energy industries.

Governments need to take the lead and switch our energy from coal, gas and oil to renewable energy, so that we can tackle climate change. Global experience shows that setting renewable energy targets is an effective way to make the shift.

What is a renewable energy target?

What is MRET?

Why we need it

Who else is doing it

What is a renewable energy target?

A renewable energy target is a goal for making the shift from polluting energy to clean solutions. It includes a set amount (say, 20 per cent) of energy that will come from clean renewable sources by a set date. For example, Sweden has set a renewable energy target of 60 per cent of its energy to come from renewable sources by the year 2010. Renewable energy targets give governments an achievable timeframe to switch to clean renewable energy and give important market signals that drive the renewable energy industry.

What is MRET?

The Australian renewable energy target is called the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET). The target initially announced by the Howard Government in the lead-up to the 1997 Kyoto Climate Summit was a 2% increase in renewable energy by 2010. The “mandatory” part of the target made it compulsory for energy providers to deliver a set percentage of their energy as renewable energy. Despite this unambitious target being reached in 2007, the Howard Government refused to increase it. This lack of leadership crippled the renewable energy industry in Australia, driving industry expertise offshore. It eventually caused State and Territory governments to legislate their own renewable energy targets, but these varied widely in effectiveness. In the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, Kevin Rudd announced that his government would increase the MRET to 20% by 2020, and bring the national MRET and existing state-based targets into a single national scheme. This will provide approximately 60 000 gigawatt hours from renewable sources by 2020. The Government needs to legislate the new MRET this year, setting annual targets to ensure that renewable energy rises steadily from now to 2020. It could still go even further by legislating a 25% target, supported by Greenpeace and many other environment groups. This target would create over 16,000 new jobs and generate $33 billion in investment.

Read the joint report by ACF, Greenpeace and CANA: A Bright Future: 25 Renewable Energy for Australia by 2020

Why we need a renewable energy target

Australia is the biggest greenhouse polluter in the developed world (per person). This is because we get most of our electricity from burning coal and we do not use energy efficiently. An MRET of 25% by 2020 will prevent 30 million tonnes of greenhouse gas per year from polluting the atmosphere. That is the same as taking seven million cars off the road.

The MRET sends an essential investment signal that will drive a thriving renewable energy industry in Australia. The benefits of renewable energy include:

It is good for the economy because it creates more jobs than fossil fuel developments.
A solid Australian solar photovoltaic industry could employ 80,000 people by 2020, with the right incentives.
If we move early, we can attract manufacturing facilities to Australia and create even more new jobs and investment, primarily in rural and regional Australia
It is ready to roll-out now, unlike so-called ‘clean coal’, which will be too late and too expensive if it happens at all.
A combination of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures can meet all of our power demands, including base-load power.
It is much cleaner and safer than other options like ‘clean coal’.
It provides an endless energy supply, unlike fossil fuels which will eventually run out.

Renewable energy targets will be essential for driving the immediate uptake of renewable energy that we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade. An emissions trading scheme alone won’t achieve reductions fast enough to avert dangerous climate change. Our Government must show leadership through continuing to support and expand MRET.

Who else is doing it

Worldwide, many state and national governments are effectively tackling climate change by introducing binding renewable energy targets. In California and India for example, strong renewable energy targets are driving the transition from coal to renewable energy.

This list shows just some of the countries and states with clean energy targets.

COUNTRY/STATE TARGET

UK 20% by 2020
Austria 78% by 2010
European Union (25 member nations) 20% by 2010
California 33% by 2020
Texas 2880 mW by 2009
Nevada 15% by 2013
China 20% by 2020
Denmark 20% by 2011
Portugal 45.6% by 2010
Spain 29.4% by 2010
Sweden 60% by 2010