climateXchange

Simon Corbell gave an update on where the Government is heading on carbon neutrality at a Property Council lunch on 28 April. He said that ACT carbon emissions are 15% above levels in the year 2000, but the aim is still for emissions to peak by 2013 and then decline between 25-40% by 2020. The Government will introduce legislation later this year to set out greenhouse gas reduction targets, with a series of milestones between 2013 and 2060.

The Government is looking at possible sectoral agreements under which different sectors could indicate how they could contribute to reducing carbon emissions.

He said the ACT has the opportunity to make a real difference in the uptake of renewables. The feed-in tariff has been a success with a 230% increase in the number of PVs installed since it was introduced a year ago. The Government is looking at options to expand the feed-in tariff to apply also to large-scale commercial installations and will decide on this mid-year.

There could be opportunities for the property sector to leverage off the feed-in tariff by installing roof-top solar on commercial properties.

The Government will also introduce energy efficiency legislation to require electricity retailers to work with businesses and households to help them become more energy-efficient.

Simon Corbell closed his speech by saying that his vision for the ACT is for a distributed energy network where at least one third of energy is generated from renewable sources, where energy efficiency is mandated, where there is an electric vehicle fleet, and significant consolidation in town centres and along transport corridors.

All in all, it was a very informative speech.