LAST night the Australian Government handed down its budget for the coming financial year. The centre piece of planned spending on the environment is $4.5 billion for “clean energy”. This is defined as energy that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost employment.
Most of the money, $2.4 billion, will be used for the development of low-emissions coal technologies. This announcement could be interpreted as an attempt to appease the coal industry and unions – it is certainly unlikely to benefit the environment.
There is $1.6 billion for solar energy technology, ostensibly to position Australia as a world leader in solar energy technology. This may produce some benefit particularly if the investment is in new solar thermal technology and it eventually becomes a commercial reality.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.