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The Alternative Technology Association (ATA), Australia’s leading household sustainability organisation, voiced its strong approval of the passing of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) amendments by the Australian Parliament.

ATA’s Chief Executive Officer, Ian Porter, noted that the amendments would make household investment in renewable energy more attractive.

“The establishment of the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) provides some crucial economic certainty for householders and other investors in small-scale renewable energy,such as rooftop solar and solar hot water, with a fixed price of $40 per Renewable Energy Certificate (REC),” says Mr Porter.

The separation of the SRES from the large-scale component of the RET also resolves what was becoming an artificial but unintended conflict between householders and larger-scale investments in wind farms and solar thermal, Mr Porter noted.

“People seek to achieve sustainability through renewable energy in different ways – some of us are keen to install our own systems, others want to support the growth of the large-scale renewable energy industry. This legislation allows people to confidently choose either approach,” says Mr Porter.

“The uncapped nature of the SRES is also important, because it means that people’s investments in renewable energy will clearly deliver environmental benefits.This is an issue which is vitally important to many people who choose to install renewable enegy in their own homes–the confidence that their efforts will have a real impact.”

The ATA also noted with approval other aspects of the legislation which ensured the integrity of the RET, for example that the Parliament had decided not to add additional waste coal mine gas into the RET, or to expand exemptions to emissions trade exposed industries.

Source: http://www.ata.org.au/news/changes-to-the-renewable-energy-target-ret-will-help-households/