gizmo_2655 wrote on Jun 14
th, 2013 at 9:04am:
____ wrote on Jun 14
th, 2013 at 8:50am:
Off the top of my head, Green support for renewable energy is in the low 90 percentage.
And the majority of Greens voters being the highly intelligent type, why would they vote conservative and so voting for carbon pollution and higher cost of living pressures from this.
Only a dummy conservative voter would do that.
This is why..
"said persisting with government subsidies for renewable energy represented a “crime against the people”
because higher energy costs hit poorer households the hardest and there was no longer any logical reason to have them.If any Greens voters are intelligent, and if they care about helping the poorer households, then they should agree to scrap RET.
Renewable power now cheaper than coal, gas
According to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), wind power is now cheaper to produce than coal by up to 44 per cent.
After extensive research modelling the cost of generating electricity in Australia, Bloomberg New Energy Finace's Sydney team has concluded that unsubsidised renewable energy is cheaper to produce than coal or gas energy in Australia — one of the world's largest coal producers.
In a statement released 7 February, BNEF revealed that electricity from a wind farm can be produced at a cost of AU$80 per megawatt hour — compared to AU$143/MWh for a new coal plant and AU$116/MWh for a new gas plant — 44 per cent and 31 per cent less, respectively.
That calculation includes carbon pricing; however, even when you take carbon pricing away, wind energy is still cheaper than coal by 14 per cent and gas by 18 per cent. These figures also account for the cost of building new stations.
RET is a fast path to lower electricity prices for homes and businesses.
Cheaper electricity for business increases their profitability and so increased their opportunity to create more jobs.
Alongside, renewable energy is an important part of lowering Australia's carbon footprint. With Abbott's team wanting to dump RET, does this mean Abbott's carbon pollution target is a lie?