$90 million Green Building Fund open for submissions from office building owners.
The Australian Government’s Green Building Fund is open for submissions from owners of office buildings, either for one building or as part of a consortium covering a number of buildings. Grants of up to $500,000 are available to cover up to half the cost of upgrading an existing office building to lift its NABERS rating. Round 1 will close on January 15, 2009. Round 2 will close just over a month later, on February 27, 2009. Big Switch Projects has attended the AusIndustry briefings in Sydney and Adelaide and offers this guide to the new scheme. November 2008.
Expert commentary on emissions trading
A range of concerns are emerging about the Rudd Government’s emissions trading scheme. Some say the emission reduction targets are too low. Some say they’re too high. Professor Alan Pears, one of Australia’s leading energy and carbon experts, believes the scheme’s design is fundamentally wrong.
The Government’s carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) is just one element of an approach that centralises control of climate change abatement activity and development of clean energy technologies. This comes despite the rhetoric of ‘‘market-based solutions’’.
This trend is deeply disturbing, and it undermines the potential for individuals, businesses, local governments and even state governments to take meaningful action on climate change. It also encourages splits and conflict among groups committed to cutting emissions.
The Victorian Government has been advised by Professor Ross Garnaut that state targets are not only meaningless, they may undermine the efficient operation of the CPRS and its potential to deliver least-cost outcomes.
It should be obvious to all that the CPRS will not deliver least-cost outcomes. Only about 1000 entities will participate in this tiny market, while all the rest of Australia will be disenfranchised. These liable parties will minimise costs for themselves, within the context of their overall business circumstances and priorities. This has nothing to do with the overall societal costs.
Then there is the free-riding problem. Every abatement action simply leaves more room under the CPRS cap for others to emit more. Each year the cap is a pie of fixed size. If I need fewer permits, that frees up room for others to emit more — they are simply free-riding on my actions.
The Federal Government has amended its legislation to state that the minister may take into account the effects of voluntary actions when setting future caps. But such adjustments will not happen for at least five years from the time of abatement action. And the method used to estimate the impact will involve obscure modelling.
The five-year delay is supposed to provide certainty for liable parties. But if the Government retired permits to match additional voluntary abatement at the time it occurred, that would remove all uncertainty.
Click here to read the full article. August 2009.
Garnaut Climate Change Review Report Draft released Friday July 4
If you’re interested in the Garnaut Climate Change Review Report Draft and how it may impact your business, Gavin Gilchrist, Founder and Managing Director of Big Switch Projects has prepared a client note. Download it here. You can also read or listen to Gavin’s interview with Geraldine Doogue on ABC Radio National (Saturday 5th July) here. July 2008
MBF Australia Limited (“MBF”) marks World Environment Day 2008 with its carbon reduction strategy
MBF today announced that it has become the first private health insurance fund in Australia to have its property-related carbon footprint officially measured, and has also created an action plan to reduce its carbon emissions. The announcement was made on the eve of the United Nations’ World Environment Day, June 5, which has as its theme “Kick the Habit! Towards a low Carbon Economy.” MBF’s property-related carbon emissions from energy use have been measured at 3,700 tonnes in 2006, with air travel estimated to add another 1,000 tonnes to that.
For the full press release, and to read about how Big Switch Projects was involved, click here. June 2008
Cheap advice a valuable tool for savings
The Woonona-Bulli Home Energy Challenge is a trial program being run by Big Switch Projects, a Sydney consultancy which specialises in improving environmental conditions in existing buildings. Helped by a grant from the NSW Government's Energy Savings Fund, Big Switch takes all the slog out of becoming energy efficient: it offers a heavily discounted home audit to assess energy use and to suggest how it could be reduced; it has researched the best quality and most effective products and, by ordering in bulk, can secure cheaper prices. It has even sourced local tradespeople to do the installations. Read more. March 2008