14
December 2008 - Minister for Climate Change
and Water, Senator Penny Wong, today returned
to Australia following United Nations Climate
Change negotiations in Poznan, Poland.
The negotiations represented
the mid-point in efforts to forge a post-2012
global agreement that were launched under
the Bali Roadmap last year.
"Climate change
is a global problem and it's important we
all do our bit to reduce carbon pollution.We
are working towards securing a comprehensive,
fair and effective global agreement,"
Senator Wong said.
"These negotiations
were a constructive step along the way to
a global agreement, but there is much more
to do both in Australia and abroad if we
are going to tackle climate change effectively."
Senator Wong welcomed
progress on the critical issue of deforestation,
which accounts for almost 20 per cent of
global greenhouse gas emissions.
"Australia and
Indonesia broke new ground by presenting
a joint submission on reducing emissions
from deforestation and forest degradation
in developing countries. This kind of partnership
is crucial in moving beyond entrenched positions,
finding common ground between developed
and developing countries.
"In addition, Australia
was part of a joint statement by a number
of developed and developing countries on
the inclusion of deforestation and forest
degradation in a future international agreement.
"Reducing deforestation
must be part of any future international
climate change agreement. Australia will
continue to advocate for this and to work
with developing countries on the ground."
While in Poland, Senator
Wong held a number of one-on-one meetings
with key players in climate change, including
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, former
US Vice President Al Gore, and Chair of
the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations,
Senator John Kerry.
Senator Wong also met
with her counterparts from countries including
China, the United States, Indonesia, Canada,
New Zealand and members of the European
Union, as well as participating in multilateral
negotiations.
"These bilateral
and multilateral meetings are critical in
gaining momentum towards a post-2012 agreement.
It is clear that there is a broad international
consensus that the global financial crisis
is not a reason to delay our efforts on
climate change."
The Australian Government
will tomorrow announce medium-term emissions
reductions targets and release the CPRS
White Paper.
+ More
Sunshine State Switches
to Solar
14 December 2008 - Australia’s
newest solar farm is now delivering clean
emissions-free energy to an outback Queensland
town.
Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh inspected
progress at the $4.5 million solar power
farm at Windorah, in the state’s remote
south-west, today.
Windorah is the first
of many Queensland towns to go solar with
clean energy powered by the sun.
The solar farm uses
five 14-metre diameter solar dishes to capture
sunlight to help power local homes and businesses.
The giant dishes follow
the sun as it tracks across the sky from
sunrise to sunset.
Innovative cloud monitoring
and prediction software to be trialled at
this site detects when a cloud moves in
front of the sun and employs a battery system
to maintain the same generation capacity
until the cloud moves away.
Diesel generators kick
in if the cloud cover persists and to maintain
the continuous flow of electricity at night.
Last week, for the first
time, all five dishes worked together to
create solar power that was exported into
the local grid, supplying about 60 homes
and businesses.
In ideal conditions,
such as long sunlight hours and low dust,
the solar farm could generate enough electricity
to supply the entire day time needs of the
town and its 100 residents – a Queensland
first.
Solar energy could revolutionise
the way power is produced for remote communities
that are not on the national electricity
grid and rely on diesel power stations feeding
into small local grids.
The Queensland Government,
through Ergon Energy, has invested more
than $3.5 million to build the solar farm
at Windorah.
The Australian Government,
through the Renewable Remote Power Generation
Program administered by Federal Environment
Minister Peter Garrett’s Department has
contributed another $1 million to build
the solar farm at Windorah.
The Windorah solar plant
will produce around 300,000 kilowatt hours
of electricity annually and reduce diesel
consumption in the town by more than 100,000
litres per year.
More significantly this
will reduce the town’s carbon footprint
by an estimated 300 tonnes of greenhouse
gas per year.
Engineers will continue
testing the system until February next year,
when the solar power station is officially
commissioned.
Federal funding support
for major projects under the Renewable Remote
Power Generation Program totals more than
$50 million and has stimulated a total investment
of more than $107 million in renewable generation
projects around Australia.
