Senate debates
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Bill 2010; Renewable Energy (Electricity) (Charge) Amendment Bill 2010; Renewable Energy (Electricity) (Small-Scale Technology Shortfall Charge) Bill 2010
In Committee
12:29 pm
Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source
I would like to briefly respond to Senator Milne. If this amendment drives part of the market towards gas, which is not a renewable fuel but which is a fuel with a lower greenhouse gas profile than electricity generated by coal fired power stations, then that would be a good thing. I see gas as an important transitional fuel in order to achieve the ambitious targets we need to achieve in terms of reducing greenhouse gases. This is a halfway measure that would drive greener technologies, in relative terms, than would be the case if this amendment did not pass. I cannot put it any higher than that. Again I urge my colleague Senator Milne to at least reconsider that, but it seems that we will need to revisit this sooner rather than later once we have had the two-year review, if this amendment does not pass.
Comments
Chris Edwards
Posted on 18 Nov 2011 4:30 pm
Perhaps a different approach needs to be used in reference to any party that would see the sale/use of our limited resources, as opposed to building renewable resource technologies. This may sound frivilous, however I would ask, why, it is necessary to point out?
Limited resources, are, by their very definition, limited.
The more a resource is used throughout the world, the more the value of that resource will naturally increase. The more gas and oil humanity utilizes the more it seems to be worth. so we can utilise all those man hours spent digging that stuff out of the ground on building renewable resource technologies, and this will result in that gas... going up $$$$$$$!...... just think about all that value, and all we have to do is leave it in the ground!!!
Josh Cooper
Posted on 25 Jun 2010 11:31 am
How would it be a good thing to turn people to a gas solution instead of heat pump when the electricity used by a heat pump results in less CO2 than from Gas. Producing electricity can produce more CO2 than Gas for the same power requirement but heat pumps don't require the same power! You need to look at the total CO2 produced for a system and in many cases heatpumps create less CO2 than Gas boosted solar systems, It depends entirely on the installation which is the one thing that poorly policed. Just one last point, you can make electricity by renewable means, the process of burning gas is not renewable.