Renewable Energy
The plantation, wood products and paper industry is already a substantial supplier of biomass energy. There is a great potential to increase this contribution to reducing the use of fossil fuels if the policy and economic settings are right.
Renewable Energy
The Australian Government has implemented the Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme – please click here to read more.
The plantation, wood products and paper industry is already a substantial supplier of biomass energy. There is a great potential to increase this contribution to reducing the use of fossil fuels if the policy and economic settings are right.
Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme
The Australian Government has implemented the Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme, which replaced the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) in January 2009. The RET is the primary policy to reach the Government’s target of 20% renewable energy use in Australia by 2020. This target is orders of magnitude larger than the target under the MRET. The RET provides incentives for electricity generation from eligible renewable sources (including forest biomass) by placing an obligation on electricity retailers to surrender renewable energy certificates.
In January 2010, additional legislation passed by Parliament will divide the RET into two sub-schemes: the Large-Scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET – this will be very similar to the RET), and the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES – this will provide an incentive for eligible household renewable installations at a fixed price). The RET presents a mixture of opportunities and challenges to the plantation products and paper industry:
- The RET will increase the cost of electricity, and in this way its impact on EITE industries such as pulp & paper and panel boards manufacturing will be very similar to a carbon cost. Therefore a major area of interest for A3P members is the provision of appropriate assistance to pulp & paper and panel boards manufacturers to ensure they remain competitive in the global markets in which they trade.
- A3P supports the sustainable expansion of a range of renewable energies (including biomass from sustainably managed forests). Being a market-based measure, the RET will favour the least-cost renewable electricity options and may not provide the kind of targeted support that some promising, ready-to-deploy options require. This may lead to missed opportunities for forest biomass.
- The RET target relates to electricity generation from renewable energy, but it excludes all other forms of renewable energy. Forest biomass can also be utilised for the generation of domestic and industrial heat energy, and for the production of liquid transport fuels. These renewable energy alternatives are also important to achieving a move to a less carbon-intensive Australian economy, and they should therefore be supported by appropriate policy mechanisms.
More Information
- RET Submission to Senate Economics Legislation Committee
- Submission discussion paper on the treatment of electricity-intensive, trade-exposed industries under the expanded Renewable Energy Target (RET) Scheme Adobe PDF | 0.1MB |
Links
Back to Key Issues
Timber Information
Free technical information on the source, selection, properties and other attributes of plantation timber based products available for use in building and construction applications.