Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Wednesday his support for two clean energy bodies - the Clean Energy Finance Corp. and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. He will develop a new A$1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund. But the Australian Solar Council denounces the revelation stating that it will remove A$1.3 billion from the government's budget for renewable energy through changing allocations and funding.
The announcement shows Turnbull's desire to work on climate change and make himself differ from Abbot, who was ousted in September. Abbott claimed that coal was 'good for humanity', dispraise wind farms and discard the country's first-ever carbon pricing mechanism, says a Bloomberg report.
"This is a good opportunity for Turnbull to reclaim the political debate and signal that he's now in control of the government," said Zareh Ghazarian, lecturer of politics at Monash University's School of Social Sciences. "One of the biggest differences between him and Abbott was on the issue of the environment and clean energy, so this is a statement to show he's not beholden to the anti-climate change forces in the coalition."
The new Clean Energy Innovation Fund will offer debt and equity for projects. The funding will be extended over 10 years and will draw on part of the borrowings mean to uphold the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, a $10 billion project that Mr. Abbott pledged to junk but which will be kept.
According to the Australian Conservation Fund, the judgment of Turnbull government would 'help the growth of renewable energy'. Environment Minister Greg Hunt appointed a Wind Farm Commissioner to regard complaints 'from concerned communities'. He said that there were two important parts to the government's announcement which are the retention and repurposing of the CEFC and ARENA, and the generation of a billion dollar clean energy innovation fund, The Australian reports.
The green transition indicates a significant policy exit from Abbott's minimalist climate platform. Turnbull government states that the $1 billion CEIF will '"drive innovation and create the jobs of the future, while delivering a financial benefit from the investment of public money". Though it will not distribute grants, it will provide a combination of 'innovative equity and debt products" - code for buying shares in and lending money to, new technology renewable energy ventures, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
The retention and support of the Clean Energy Finance Corp. and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency by Turnbull government is a move for a greener Australia where every household will be provided with clean energy. This effort is to replace the use of coal that adds to carbon emission and is considered a pollutant.
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