Appliance energy ratings get the standard treatment

Image source :ACT government

Parliamentary debates on the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Bill have been deferred. The Bill was originally scheduled for discussion on Thursday 28 June, with the portfolio Shadow Minister to outline the Coalition’s position. Although the scheme started out as a Labor election promise in 2007, it evolved into a commitment under COAG’s National Strategy on Energy Efficiency to ‘establish national legislation for Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and labelling, and over time move to add Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS)’. This Bill implements that COAG commitment.

The deeper worries about coal seam gas

Image source: WikiMedia Commons

One-third of Eastern Australia cooks its breakfast, warms its homes, and generates its power from natural gas, the main component of which is methane, supplied by coal seam gas (CSG) operations. Our need for natural gas has allowed CSG operations to grow, but critics contend that this has not always been accompanied by sufficient understanding of the social and environmental implications. Ground and surface water contamination, water consumption, and waste disposal are but a few issues fuelling the ongoing debate. However, reports of deeper risks are now surfacing.

Emissions performance standards for Australian coal-fired power

On 30 November 2010, the Government released its discussion paper: A Cleaner Future for Power Stations. The paper proposes that all new power stations be required to meet a minimum emissions performance standard and be capable of retrofitting carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies when these become commercially available (which is expected to occur within the lifetime of new power plants). The Parliamentary Library has produced a Background Note, Performance standards to reduce energy emissions, that sets out the backdrop against which an Australian emissions performance standard might be explored.