Slashing of RET would devastate jobs and investors

Slashing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) would devastate Australia’s renewable energy sector and send hundreds of companies to the wall and tens of thousands of Australians onto the employment scrap heap, said the Clean Energy Council (CEC).

CEC Acting Chief Executive Kane Thornton said a media report today that the Prime Minister was considering abolishing the policy had sent shockwaves through the renewable energy industry.

“It would also be out of touch with the vast majority of Australians who want more renewable energy, as demonstrated by the fact that 99% of the 24,000 submissions to the review of the policy called for it to be maintained or increased - and the fact that over 4 million Australians already live or work under a solar power system. Australians clearly want to follow the rest of the world in increasing the use of renewable energy.

“Hundreds of Australian and international investors have built their businesses based on the strong bipartisanship of this policy, which has existed in legislation since 2001. Tearing up this bipartisanship, and the policy itself, would show that the Australian energy sector is clearly not open for business - it would stop industry dead and smash investments that have already been made.

“The Australian renewable energy industry has invested over $20 billion and currently employs over 20,000 people based on the legislated RET,” he said.

For industry to evolve, it requires standards, benchmarks and targets. The building code sets the standards, Green Star sets the best practice benchmarks and policies such as the RET set the targets, said the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA’s) chief operating officer, Robin Mellon. “Without such targets, industry will lack the incentives to do better.”

“Australia now has more than 700 energy-efficient, Green Star-rated buildings that combine a range of energy solutions and technologies. These buildings, on average, consume just a third of the energy used by traditional, non-green buildings.

“We have green schools that complement geothermal energy with hydro power from the grid, offices and bank buildings replete with wind turbines and cogeneration plants, and apartments and communities that feature solar panels and tap into precinct-wide trigeneration systems. The RET has helped to encourage investment in technologies that are increasingly integrated into buildings.

“True sustainability sits at the ‘sweet spot’ of good behaviour, good design and good technology. It’s not enough to incentivise good behaviour and good design. We need good technology - and the RET has been a driver of innovation by setting our direction. We can’t afford to get off track.”