Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/103334
greenkeeper Fast Fact In December, Australia committed to the second round of the Kyoto Protocol, which keeps its emissions reductions target in line with the current unconditional 5% reduction by 2020 based on 2000 levels. Previous page, above and next page: Renewable energy technologies include solar, geothermal and wind power. In its latest report, The Benefit of the Renewable Energy Target to Australia's Energy Market and Economy, the Clean Energy Council supports the goals of Australia's renewable energy target (RET). The report says that since the target was established, $18.5 billion has been invested in clean energy, and wholesale electricity prices and emissions are lower, with a large proportion of these gains driven by the RET. The target was recently in doubt, with speculation that the RET was ineffective. However, with these latest figures supporting the retention of the RET, there have been calls from industry players such as Origin Energy, Energy Australia and the Business Council of Australia to instead scale back the target, with claims that maintaining the original goal would result in an overachievement: more like 25 per cent of energy generated from renewable sources. While this higher renewable energy capacity is good in theory, these industry stakeholders say it would lead to higher than necessary industry costs. Despite this pressure from stakeholders, the Climate Change Authority, the supervisory body established this year, has released its first draft of a review of the RET and has recommended that the 20 per cent target be retained. The Clean Energy Council report says it is estimated that retaining the RET will drive investment of $8.8 billion in renewable energy by 2030, with a further $9.9 billion worth of investment encouraged by the carbon price scheme. On the other side of the fence, however, renewable energy advocates are lobbying for more investment. It's a controversial issue, with the non-renewable resources market clamouring for less tax and less restrictions on their industry, saying that jobs and exports are at risk. Despite the noise made in the non-renewable energy market, on her recent visit to Sydney, Christiana Figueres, the United Nations climate change chief, said Australia was "blessed" with plentiful renewable energy resources and that many other countries are envious of such supply. She went on to say that Australia is currently making use of many of these resources (including wind, solar, hydro and geothermal sources, among others) and that Australia is not the only country working towards renewable energy targets. For example, China recently published a white paper stating it would aim for 30 per cent renewable energy use by 2015, and Norway is aiming for 67 per cent by 2020 (it currently uses 61 per cent renewable energy). In 2011 Australia's renewable energy accounted for 9.6 per cent of all energy generated. In the October edition of its monthly energy update, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which is tasked with running the country's energy supply, published a statement that it will be undertaking a study at the request of the federal government to model 100 per cent renewable energy usage by 2030 and 2050. While this would represent a radical change in energy generation and consumption, the proposed modelling shows the weight that renewable energy investment now has in Australia's energy market and policymaking. "This work will provide industry and governments with a comprehensive resource that can be used to develop and introduce new technologies to the national electricity market over 89