PROPOSED wind farms at Naroghid, Woolsthorpe and Ballangeich have been saved from potential mothballing due to a new State Government scheme to subsidise renewable energy projects in Victoria.

MAJOR power users in Victoria have questioned government claims that a new renewable energy target will add little to their electricity bills.

...the Victorian Government has hit back, becoming the first state to set its own renewable energy targets in competition with the Minister's newly established national wind farm code. But while the wind energy industry is elated and has promised that the State Government's new mandatory code will lead to hundreds of wind turbines springing up around coastal Victoria, will the industry be able to deliver?

The additional money for renewable energy comes as wind-farm opponents criticised a State Government-commissioned report on the power source. The report, released last week, found greenhouse gas emissions decreased between 250,000 and 310,000 tonnes a year for every 100 megawatts of electricity produced by wind farms. Wind-farm critic Andrew Chapman said the report was based on "typical figures" rather than actual figures.

It just seems to be ludicrous at a time when New Zealand is crying out for new generation, when the world is seeking generation that is renewable, that you have a landowner that wants wind farms on the property, you have a company that is prepared to put the money up and you have a government saying no." The principle of monopoly line companies not cross-subsidising their generation was sound. The practice of it was impractical.

WIND farm developers could be forced to abandon Victoria because the State Government's proposal to set up a state-based renewable energy scheme is "too weak", industry groups claim.

A Royal Commission to examine the validity of claims about global warming and its effect on New Zealand is to be proposed by the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition.

Energy Minister David Parker, outlining a work programme for developing climate change policy yesterday, said there were a range of options on the table to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gases in New Zealand.

STATE and territory governments have rejected a proposal for a national code for wind farms claiming it would just add more red tape.

KERRY O'BRIEN: The Prime Minister has recently argued that nuclear energy is cleaner and greener than fossil fuels. He says it's one of the main reasons he's opened a debate about whether Australia should have nuclear power. But the coal industry counters that it is developing a new type of clean coal technology that will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Power stations using this non-polluting form of coal technology could come on stream in the next four to five years. But does it all add up financially? Peter McCutcheon reports.

The Government says atomic power is not an option for New Zealand.

New Zealand's turn to wind farms in recent times will see us garnering more power from sustainable sources, but communities remain very much unconvinced that the impact to our environment is low.

JOHN Howard's push for a nuclear energy debate is set to hit a political brick wall in Victoria, with the State Government and the Opposition signalling they would reject any move to build a nuclear power plant in the state.
Editor's Note: It appears that Mr Theophanous is unaware that wind energy is not a source of base/peak load capacity while nuclear energy is.

"We are very bullish on the nuclear market," said Lorraine Bolsinger, a corporate vice-president at General Electric. "Any debate on climate change and the need for zero emissions has got to include nuclear in the mix of fuel diversity," she said in Melbourne. The variability of renewable energy sources like wind and solar means they can't contribute more than 10 or 15 per cent of the total.

The Victorian Government is considering a mandatory renewable energy target to encourage wind farm expansion.

Senior government ministers lined up yesterday to spruik the benefits of nuclear power as a solution to global warming, despite repeated denials from green groups and energy experts that it was a saviour.

The prime minister says New Zealand has plenty of alternatives, such as hydro, gas, coal and wind power.

AUSTRALIA should not shy away from considering uranium enrichment, Environment Minister Ian Campbell said today.

The Business Council for Sustainable Energy welcomes a full-blooded debate, but says it should include a discussion about renewable energy resources, as the Government's most recent energy paper, published just two years ago, is now irrelevant.

The Federal Government's decision not to increase renewable energy targets is being blamed for a decision to mothball Tasmania's $300 million Heemskirk wind farm.