Oversubscribed solar panel scheme to cost taxpayers $440m
Oversubscribed solar panel scheme to cost taxpayers $440m
Paul Maley | October 08, 2009
TAXPAYERS will be stumped with a $440 million bill for the Rudd government’s wildly popular solar panel rebate scheme which was abruptly terminated earlier this year following higher-than-expected demand.
About 64,000 applications for the $8000 rebate were in the pipeline when Environment Minister Peter Garrett terminated the scheme, which the government had agreed to honour.
Families face nuclear tax in power bills
Families face nuclear tax on power bills
Industry promised subsidy if market price fails to encourage new plants
- The Guardian, Monday 19 October 2009
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Consumers will have to pay nuclear tax on energy bills to subsidise the construction of new nuclear reactors. Photograph: Karen Beard
Government officials have drawn up secret plans to tax electricity consumers to subsidise the construction of the UK’s first new nuclear reactors for more than 20 years, the Guardian has learned.
Peak oil could hit soon, report says
Peak oil could hit soon, report says
A new report says worldwide production of conventionally extracted oil could peak in the next decade
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 October 2009 11.16 BST
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Peak oil could lead to more investment in the most polluting forms of oil extraction, such as tar sands like these at the Albian Sands mine near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada. Photograph: Jeff McIntosh/AP
There is a “significant risk” that global oil production could begin to decline in the next decade, researchers said today.
Olympic Dam mine ‘shut down
Olympic Dam mine ‘shut down October 07, 2009 Article from: The Advertiser THE Olympic Dam mine is understood to have been shut down by an accident. It is believed a major breakdown has blocked the mine, potentially creating signifant costs for operator BHP Billiton, AdelaideNow has reported. A mine source has said no-one has Continue Reading →
India plans to cut carbon and fuel poverty wtth untested nuclear power
India plans to cut carbon and fuel poverty with untested nuclear power
Prime minister Manmohan Singh announces 100-fold increase in nuclear energy output by 2050 with thorium technology
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 September 2009 13.29 BST
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Thorium pellets at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, India. Photograph: Pallava Bagla/Corbis
India‘s prime minister today signalled a huge push in nuclear power over the coming decades, using an untested technology based on nuclear waste and the radioactive element thorium.
Manmohan Singh, speaking at a conference of atomic scientists in Delhi, announced that 470,000MW of energy could come from Indian nuclear power stations by 2050 — more than 100 times the current output from India’s current 17 reactors.
UK launches 22m(UK) wave energy fund
UK launches £22m wave energy fund
Government invites wave and tidal energy developers to bid for £22m in new grants designed to accelerate the commercial development of marine energy technologies. From BusinessGreen.com, part of the Guardian Environment Network
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 September 2009 11.43 BST
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An artist’s impression of the wavefarm in full production
The government has today formally launched its Marine Renewables Proving Fund, inviting wave and tidal energy developers to bid for £22 million in new grants designed to accelerate the commercial development of marine energy technologies.
The fund, which was announced in July as part of the government’s renewable energy strategy and will be managed by the Carbon Trust, aims to help marine energy developers get their technologies to a stage where they can be installed, at which point they can apply for further financial assistance from the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund.