by Stephen Lunn, The Australian December 24, 2010
In a piece on poverty, Steven Lunn quotes Dennis Glover, a Labor speechwriter and fellow at Per Capita, who says "Labor, in the public's mind at least, has lost the political high ground on this key social issue to the Greens and should be recasting itself in a bid to grab it back.
"Labor was founded to tackle poverty," Glover says. "But you have to remember that, 100 years ago, people, even with jobs, could spend their lives hungry, cold and with no education.
"That level of entrenched poverty is no longer with us. The grandparents of working people today wouldn't believe the lives of working-class people now. Their living standards have gone up more in the last few decades than in the last five centuries.
"This is an inescapable fact for people on the left of politics and only by accepting it can we do what we should be doing and zero in on those really in poverty: those who finished school early, the sick, the alcohol and drug-dependent, the homeless.
"People often think this is a marginal question for Labor but I think it's central. Much of the public now look to the Greens for this stuff, but it's where Labor can push into. Generally people want to help those worse off and it's a real political opportunity to impress Labor's base."
To read the whole article link here.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
"Distributed Gas: One third cheaper, two thirds cleaner and ready now"
Tom Foster and David Hetherington from the progressive think tank Per Capita examine the role of energy market design in Australia’s transition to a low-carbon economy. Link here to the study.
The research suggests enormous market design opportunity for Australia to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 10% (~54 million tons of CO2-e) through distributed gas-fired power using private investment and existing off-the-shelf technology. Adopting distributed gas for new generation will significantly slow the growth in electricity prices, since distributed gas is almost a third cheaper than new coal-fired power.
The energy markets are distorted in favour of large-scale black and brown coal generators with hidden subsidies valued at over $5 billion annually, and incentives inhibiting new localised connections to the grid.
Per Capita Executive Director and report co-author David Hetherington says, “The Australian energy sector has a set of legacy distortions which artificially tilt the market in favour of coal-fired power. Intelligent market design removes these distortions, allowing us to slow the growth in electricity prices and rapidly cut our CO2 emissions.”
The key findings of the study are:
• Australian coal-fired power stations receive hidden subsidies of $5.3b p.a. with fuel and water purchased below market value.
• Once the impact of tri-generation is included, the cost for distributed gas-fired power falls to 6.6 cents per kWh, down from 9.8 cents per kWh fully costed including a carbon price of $20 per ton. This compares to 10.7 cents for black and brown coal, and 11.5 cents for large-scale combined-cycle gas turbine.
• Australia would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 10% if half the coal-fired power in the National Electricity Market were substituted with distributed gas-fired tri-generation. This would involve 8,050 new 1.5MW units and would cost approximately $14.1 billion, which could be paid for through private investment
The recommendations are:
• Level the ‘playing field’: Introduce a national carbon price covering the entire electricity sector, and price fuel and water inputs to coal-fired power stations at true market value.
• Offer incentives to distributed network service providers (transmission and distribution companies) for rapid connections to the grid and cap the percentage of connection applications the distributed network service providers are entitled to refuse.
• Roll out a national gross feed-in tariff scheme which does not discriminate between fuel sources or generation technologies.
• Install distributed gas-fired power generation in the 19,000 new social housing units currently under construction by the Federal Government.
• Establish a public/private energy aggregation company to pool savings from energy efficiency measures.
• Roll out smart meters on a national basis building on the Victorian model, and Introduce seasonal and time-of-day pricing variation.
The research suggests enormous market design opportunity for Australia to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 10% (~54 million tons of CO2-e) through distributed gas-fired power using private investment and existing off-the-shelf technology. Adopting distributed gas for new generation will significantly slow the growth in electricity prices, since distributed gas is almost a third cheaper than new coal-fired power.
The energy markets are distorted in favour of large-scale black and brown coal generators with hidden subsidies valued at over $5 billion annually, and incentives inhibiting new localised connections to the grid.
Per Capita Executive Director and report co-author David Hetherington says, “The Australian energy sector has a set of legacy distortions which artificially tilt the market in favour of coal-fired power. Intelligent market design removes these distortions, allowing us to slow the growth in electricity prices and rapidly cut our CO2 emissions.”
The key findings of the study are:
• Australian coal-fired power stations receive hidden subsidies of $5.3b p.a. with fuel and water purchased below market value.
• Once the impact of tri-generation is included, the cost for distributed gas-fired power falls to 6.6 cents per kWh, down from 9.8 cents per kWh fully costed including a carbon price of $20 per ton. This compares to 10.7 cents for black and brown coal, and 11.5 cents for large-scale combined-cycle gas turbine.
• Australia would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 10% if half the coal-fired power in the National Electricity Market were substituted with distributed gas-fired tri-generation. This would involve 8,050 new 1.5MW units and would cost approximately $14.1 billion, which could be paid for through private investment
The recommendations are:
• Level the ‘playing field’: Introduce a national carbon price covering the entire electricity sector, and price fuel and water inputs to coal-fired power stations at true market value.
• Offer incentives to distributed network service providers (transmission and distribution companies) for rapid connections to the grid and cap the percentage of connection applications the distributed network service providers are entitled to refuse.
• Roll out a national gross feed-in tariff scheme which does not discriminate between fuel sources or generation technologies.
• Install distributed gas-fired power generation in the 19,000 new social housing units currently under construction by the Federal Government.
• Establish a public/private energy aggregation company to pool savings from energy efficiency measures.
• Roll out smart meters on a national basis building on the Victorian model, and Introduce seasonal and time-of-day pricing variation.
Small gas engines cut costs of power
Sid Maher in the Australian announces Per Capita energy report with "Small gas engines cut costs of power". http://bit.ly/gZfZ4V
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
iView replay
Watch David Hetherington appearance on ABC24 The Drum (iView) http://bit.ly/ibABd0 (until 12/24/10)
Monday, December 13, 2010
David Hetherington to appear on ABC24 The Drum 13/12/10
Watch David Hetherington, executive director of progressive think-tank Per Capita, appear on The Drum today at 6pm on ABC24.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
A public role for intellectuals
'Academic talent seldom plays a role in Australian politics or business, but that could change' by Lindsay Tanner in today's Australian #auspol http://bit.ly/gO7KuC
Monday, December 6, 2010
Per Capita on Radio National's Life Matters - December 7
Per Capita's David Hetherington will be on with Richard Aedy, Life Matters, ABC Radio National, Tuesday 7 December at 9am. Tune in.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Don't step back or to the Right.
Dennis Glover notes in todays Australian: PROPOSALS for ALP reform have mistaken past agendas for tomorrow's solutions. http://bit.ly/h20cun
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)