Sunday, June 5, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Gillard Unveils Carbon Price Details
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the Government's carbon price scheme will be rolled out from July 2012.
Announcing details of the scheme today, Ms Gillard said the price on carbon would be fixed for a period of three to five years before moving to a cap-and-trade system.
"I'm determined to price carbon," Ms Gillard told a joint press conference with Greens leader Bob Brown and Senator Christine Milne well as independent MPs Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor.
"History teaches us that the countries and the economies who prosper at times of historic change are those who get in and shape and manage the changes. The time is right and the time is now.
"There are some people that will say we can't afford to move to a clean energy future, I disagree with that, we can't afford not to move to a clean energy future," she added.
Agricultural emissions will initially be excluded from the scheme but farmers will be compensated for any efforts they make to cut emissions.
The Government is expected to announce more details of the plan, including the initial price, at a later date.
Senator Brown said the announcement was an important step forward in a "nation-building process".
"This agreement is the Greens in action, delivering certainty to the Australian economy, community, investors and the environment after productive negotiations with the Government," he said.
Senator Milne called the framework agreement "a victory for minority government".
"It's happening because we have shared power in Australia. Majority government would not have delivered this outcome," she said.
But Mr Windsor warned his presence at the announcement did not mean he would support any legislation.
"This is very much the start of the process in my view, there's a lot of discussion to take place on this issue, what we've established today is a framework," he said.
"That doesn't mean the game is over ... don't construe, through my presence here, that I'll be supporting any scheme."
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet warned the major stumbling blocks of compensation and pricing remain before the committee.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves, there's a lot of detailed work to do," he said.
"The starting price has not yet even been discussed, the household compensation package has not yet been discussed, support for emissions-intensive trade-exposed industry has not yet been discussed, the treatment of the energy sector has not yet been discussed."
'Broken promise'
Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says the announcement is a betrayal of trust for the Australian people.
"This represents a fundamental breach of an election promise that the Prime Minister gave solemnly to the Australian people on the eve of the last election," she said.
"She said there would be no carbon price, no carbon tax under any government that she led.
"She has broken the trust the Australian people put in her at the last election.
"It's another example of the Labor Party being in government, but the Greens being in power."
AgForce spokesman Drew Wagner says farmers want more detail on the carbon plan and its likely effect on producers.
"The reality is that whatever scheme comes in, production systems will wear the cost of anything that's fuel-related, energy-related or otherwise, everything to even our fertiliser usage will be felt with the tax," he said.
"So whilst our emissions won't be directly covered, the impost of a trading scheme or operating in a carbon constrained economy still will be felt."
Mr Wagner says more work needs to be done before a price on carbon comes into effect.
"Our thoughts on the announcement today so far is there's still a lot of work to be undertaken to find out exactly what role agriculture will play within these schemes," he said.
"Not only what role we'll have, but also what impact this may have on not only our production systems but our bottom line as well."
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Bolting into an electric-car future
FROM an unassuming office in South Melbourne, Singaporean-Australian businessman William Tien plans to help write the next chapter of automotive history.
After a century of hopes and promises, electric cars are set finally to establish themselves as realistic alternatives to petrol-burning vehicles, and Mr Tien's Alpha company has licensed a unique silicon-based battery technology for a Chinese-built car, the Lujo.
Australians bought 1,035,574 motor vehicles last year, - up 10.5 per cent, or 98,246 vehicles, compared with 2009.
Advertisement: Story continues below Mr Tien, whose background is in financial services and information technology, wants a modest slice of that action. He has three Lujos scheduled to undergo Australian compliance testing at the end of February. After that, he says, the car will go on sale for less than $25,000.
It will certainly be a cheap alternative compared with other electric vehicles, including the I-MiEV by industry leader Mitsubishi, which became available last year on lease plans that cost more than $60,000. Mitsubishi has 110 cars on the road in Australia at the moment and expects to double that number this year.
Prefer a supercar? The American 212km/h Tesla Roadster went on sale here last week for $206,000. Nissan also has an electric car, the Leaf, due for release this year. EDay, a new Australian company, plans to have a $10,000 Chinese-built car with a top speed of 80km/h on the road by the middle of the year.
Blade Electronic Vehicles, based in Castlemaine, has been pulling the insides out of small Hyundais and inserting its own electric motors and batteries for four years. Founder Ross Blade and his team have sold 35 Blade Electrons to a mixture of government and private customers, and have a new model scheduled for this year, the Blade Runner, a two-seater that doubles the range from about 100 kilometres to about 200 kilometres.
An Electron costs about $45,000, or $32,000 if you lease the batteries. The new Blade Runner will cost $55,000 or $32,000 with leased batteries.
While Mr Tien promises his Chinese-built cars will be price-competitive with similarly sized conventional vehicles, Mr Blade joins established manufacturers in lamenting a lack of government support for the technology: ''Every other developed country on the planet is encouraging development of electric vehicles by offering substantial subsidies.''
Andrew McKellar, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief, says there is ''a legitimate role for some sort of time-limited consumer incentive'' for low-emission vehicles, including electric cars.
He supports a ''cleaner-car rebate'' the federal government has proposed, arguing that it should particularly target low-emission cars. ''The proposed rebate would be for $2000, which is probably on the skinny side,'' he says.
Skinny indeed. Low-emission cars in France get a $6680 subsidy. US electric cars qualify for a sales tax deduction of up to $7600. Japanese cars receive a large subsidy, based on the price difference between the electric car and its nearest petrol equivalent.
After price, ''range anxiety'' is the greatest issue for potential electric car owners, as recharging a battery can take eight hours.
ABC science pundit and New Inventors judge Bernie Hobbs, who bought her Blade Electron IV six months ago, is a satisfied customer. ''As a science broadcaster I've been banging on about the environment for the best part of 10 years. I couldn't bear the thought of buying another petrol car.''
Her electric car drives, she says, like a small automatic. ''If you usually drive more than 100 kilometres a day, forget it. My car is not for you. But I'm usually driving, at most, 50 kilometres. You plug it in overnight, charge it up at the off-peak rate on 100 per cent green power. It's no inconvenience until your girlfriend forgets to plug it in overnight!''
Mitsubishi corporate communications head Lenore Fletcher says ''fast chargers'' that restore half a battery's power in 15 minutes will be rolled out in South Australia this year.
''That's going to be a whole different ball game,'' she says. ''We'll see them popping up in shopping centres and workplaces.'' As for price, Ms Fletcher says the technology may well develop like other consumer electronics. ''Look at plasma TVs. Ten years ago they cost $20,000. Now you can get one for under $800.''
Mr Tien is also inspired by the consumer electronics revolution. His buying of car bodies used for a Chinese petrol-engine car and inserting of his company's battery technology mirrors the way companies assemble computers in China for sale globally.
The inventor-businessman is excited about expanding into the vehicle industry. ''I love cars and I'm interested in anything that's green.''
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