Australia to install solar thermal at every school

CANBERRA, Australia, August 22, 2007. The government of Australia will provide funding to help every school in the country to install solar hot water systems and rainwater tanks.

The ‘Green Vouchers for Schools’ program will provide Aus$336 million over five years to provide every school with up to $50,000 for the work. The measure is part of a recent announcement by environment minister Malcolm Turnbull to launch a trading scheme for GHG emissions.

The Australian Government has announced today further investment of $627 million on climate change action, bringing the Government’s total investment to $3.4 billion.

“Not only will this initiative help reduce our energy and water consumption, but it will provide students and school communities with a practical demonstration of the sustainable use of energy and of water,” says Turnbull.

Funding of another $252 million over five years will be provided for 225,000 solar thermal rebates of $1,000 for homes which install solar and heat pump water heaters. The rebate is available when electric storage hot water systems are replaced with solar or heat pump systems, and is limited to families with taxable income of less than $100,000.

“Energy used to heat water is the single largest source of energy-related GHG emissions from Australian homes, accounting for around 28% of a home’s energy use,” he explains. “By replacing high emission water heating technologies, almost a million tonnes of GHG will be prevented from entering the atmosphere each year.”

The funding announcement also included $12.5 million for collaborative research on future nuclear technologies and additional funding of $26 million for a national emissions reporting scheme. The emissions trading scheme will cover 75% of total emissions, including transport.

“The science tells us the world needs to make massive cuts to global emissions over the next 50 years,” Turnbull explains. “For practical purposes, this will mean that by mid-century, all or almost all of the world’s electricity will have to come from zero or near-zero emission sources.”

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