[ZeroES.announce] Tuesday 13th: Zero Emissions Society Seminar - Flicking the Switch in Australia: Legal Frameworks to Encourage Renewable Energy Uptake

[Katja]

Hi all,

Come to our next seminar!


Flicking the Switch in Australia: Legal Frameworks to Encourage Renewable
Energy Uptake

*Tuesday 13th May (Week 10) 1-2pm*

*Dr James Prest, Lecturer at the Australian Centre for Environmental Law and
the ANU's Centre for Climate Law and Policy, will discuss Australia's
Commonwealth mandatory renewable energy target (MRET) and opportunities for
Australian Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) laws, which require utilities to purchase
renewable energy at an premium price. *

Increased pressure to decarbonise the economy and implement timely and
effective responses to mitigate global warming – arising from the 4th
Assessment Report of the IPCC - has underlined the importance of reviewing
laws for the deployment of renewable energy.

Recent Australian debate on renewable energy uptake has focussed largely on
laws relating to creating markets in renewable energy certificates (RECS).
Although MRET has recently been increased to 20% of Australia's total
electricity by 2020, European experience suggests that a commitment to the
tradeable certificate approach may lead to slower growth rates in the
renewable energy industry than if FIT laws were passed.

In Australia, FIT laws have been passed in SA, and introduced in ACT and
QLD. Such laws have been adopted in more than forty one overseas
jurisdictions. Review of the European experience suggests that FITs have
been more effective than RECs in three respects: capacity deployment,
industry development, and in some cases, price reductions. This suggests
that FIT laws should be considered as a potentially more effective means to
expand renewable energy generation capacity in Australia.

*Dr James Prest is a Lecturer at the Australian Centre for Environmental Law
and the Centre for Climate Law and Policy, ANU. His major research interests
include: energy and climate law, forestry and biodiversity law, as well as
environmental compliance. Earlier this year he presented at conferences in
New Zealand and Japan and advised numerous Public Forums on the ACT
Renewable Electricity Feed-in Bill. *




-- 
Katja Grace
BSc/Econ Undergraduate
President, ANU Zero Emissions Society
e: katjasolveig at gmail.com
m: 0407124549
p: 02 62491216
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