Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

achieving deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in the medium term requires the rapid expansion of renewable energy,

(ii)

the price of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) has collapsed because the supply of RECs exceeds demand,

(iii)

the price of RECs is forecast to remain too low to support large-scale renewable energy projects for some years, stalling wind industry investment and threatening the Solar Flagships program for large-scale solar,

(iv)

the large number of RECs being created by a surge in solar and heat pump hot water and photovoltaic system installations is a major contributor to the problem, and

(v)

these industries have been stimulated by:

(a)

the rebate for solar hot water systems ($1 600) and heat pumps ($1 000),

(b)

the introduction of the Solar Credits Scheme multiplier which provides four ‘phantom’ deemed RECs for systems up to 1.5 kilowatt in size, and

(c)

dubious methodologies for calculating the number of deemed RECs, particularly for some heat pump systems; and

(b)

calls on the Government to immediately address the flaws in the design of its Renewable Energy Target so that a genuine 20 per cent of renewable energy by 2020 can be achieved.