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HAWTHORN, Victoria, AU, February 15, 2006
(Refocus Weekly)
A community survey in Australia indicates that
more people would purchase solar panels than a new home
entertainment system.
Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Royal
Australian Institute of Architects, says 5,600 people have responded
during the past year to its online web survey. The question is, “If
you had $10,000 to spend, would you purchase solar energy panels,
water saving devices, or a home theatre?”
Of the respondents, 45% (2,530) voted for solar panels, 30% (1,715)
for water saving devices and 25% (1,397) for the entertainment
centre.
“We believe the 50% cutback in solar subsidies to community
organizations and the closing of the program in 2007 for residential
rebates is a backward step which is removing an important incentive
that pays back the community by lessening the demand on the
electricity and public infrastructure,” says David Lawrence of
Archicentre’s ACT & NSW group. “Diverting the money to demonstration
projects instead of extending funding is a backward step by the
Australian Greenhouse Office and the federal government.”
The AGO offers cash refunds for the installation of solar PV panels,
but halved the maximum rebate to community groups last month to
AU$4,000. Rebates to private homeowners will be reduced gradually
until the program is closed in 2007, the group explains.
“With the increase in temperatures through climate change and the
inevitable growth of air conditioner demand on the electricity grid,
the federal government should be moving from just setting up
demonstration projects to looking at encouraging an Australian-based
solar energy industry,” says Lawrence, who noted that three-quarters
of survey respondents opted for environmental action.
Last month, Archicentre called on the government to set up a
Solar-Powered Air Conditioner Task Force, noting that air
conditioners which run on solar energy should become a compulsory
part of Australia's residential and commercial building projects.
“Energy authorities have been warning for years that the explosion
of power-hungry air conditioners in Australia threatens the
stability of the electrical grid during peak power demands in
summer,” said managing director Robert Caulfield. “When this demand
is at its highest, potential solar energy supply is also at its
highest level; this is a natural association.”
“Our energy and climate problems are a clear and present danger, and
one has to ask the question why all of the government-funded
agencies supposed to be dealing with issues of the greenhouse have
not been coming forward with a plan to develop solar-powered air
conditioners,” he added. “Australia has a fantastic opportunity to
develop and patent new non-fossil-fuel technologies that have
world-wide application.”
“The government has just announced a $30 million research project to
bury carbon dioxide through geosequestration; this suggests that
governments are committed to burning more coal rather than looking
at creative new 21st century technologies,” and he said the funding
is like telling a smoker to cut back from 40 a day to 35, and use
filter tips rather than suggesting they quit.
“Australia's energy planning bureaucracies appear to be in the dark
over the latest technologies or are unable to find Google on their
computers,” he added. Every Member of Parliament in Australia should
spend five minutes searching 'Solar Powered Air Conditioners' on
Google to see the plethora of information and products available,
including the Pentagon in Washington that has solar-powered air
conditioning.
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