Re-powering Australia with 100% renewable energy will take commitment and resources, but with the right leadership we can make the shift to a clean energy economy quickly.
Not only will moving to a renewable energy powered economy make Australia a cleaner and better place to live, it will create hundreds of thousands of new clean jobs, ensure our energy security and contribute to the country's continued prosperity.
We want to see the Clean Energy Finance Corporation up and running and building 2000MW of big solar projects, which is why this is the focus of our campaign this year. However this is just a start, to get to 100% renewable energy will need much more.
So this roadmap outlines ten other key steps the government will need to take to drive us along the path to a clean energy future:
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Double the mandatory renewable energy target to 90,000 Gwh by 2020 and ensure recently announced improvements are legislated before the election;
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Implement a carbon price through a carbon levy or tax making polluters accountable and sending a signal to investors;
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Increase public-led investment in renewable energy commercialisation by growing the commitment to the solar flagships program to $3 billion a year and facilitate finance for construction and operation through tax concessions on interest payments;
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No more coal. A national moratorium on new coal power stations and redirection of fossil fuel subsidies to investments in renewable energy infrastructure. Existing coal fired power stations will need to be phased out and replaced starting with Australia's dirtiest, Hazelwood power station and investment will need to be made to ensure a just transition for coal dependent communities.
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A green overhaul of Australia's buildings over the next decade including residential and commercial buildings. If we can reduce our energy use and increase energy efficiency we need less investment in new renewable energy generation. Reliable estimates have found a 30% reduction in energy use can easily be achieved and is one of the cheapest ways to cut carbon pollution. This can be done through a combination of home and rental owner incentives and fully funded retrofits for low income households and tax incentives and concessions for commercial buildings. Improved standards for new buildings and point-of-sale upgrades can also drive change, as can improved mandatory ratings for appliances and equipment.
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Jump-start the drive to electric cars. Plug in electric cars not only allow us to clean up our transport they will be a crucial part of a new smart grid allowing excess energy to be stored when they are not being used. The government should redirect their car industry subsidies to building electric cars in Australia and rolling out new electric car infrastructure.
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Increase commitment to research, development and innovation in clean energy through greater funding of renewable energy research and doubling the R&D tax concessions to 250%.
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Increase Australia's manufacturing capacity to construct the new clean energy economy with tax concessions and funding for start-ups and change overs in renewable energy technology production;
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Training the clean energy workforce. The clean energy economy will be jobs rich and require training and re-skilling of hundreds of thousands of workers in new skills and professions. This will require new public-led investment and refocusing of the curriculum of our schools, colleges and universities.
- Renovate electricity infrastructure and grow a new smart electricity grid. In the short term, the government needs to double their announced $100 million investment in grid upgrades and redirect the funding to enabling renewable energy connections to the grid. In the medium term we need investment in a new smart grid that can enable intelligent demand management.
To download a copy of the Roadmap see:
