2008 budget

Will SOO run this year? Last year SOO ran up heavily on the 2007 budget announcement of increased rebates for the installation of solar systems.

The KRudd government has talked up their environmental stakes in the election campaign but there's been little noise from them since then.

This article offers some hope of incentives to come:

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23557398-29277,00.html

We're committed to renewable energy

THE federal Government says it remains committed to the development of a renewable energy system in Australia despite suggestions its support for clean coal technology is far greater.

"We are not just solely relying on the development of clean coal," Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said on ABC TV tonight.

"We are absolutely committed to pursuing the development of a renewable energy system in Australia."

But the framework must first be created to encourage greater investment in the renewable energy sector, he said.

Creating an effective emissions trading scheme was essential to the development of a renewable energy system.

"Our responsibility is to basically develop an emissions trading system which puts a cost on carbon, in association with a nationally consistent feed-in tariff for renewables, which basically makes the renewable energy sector more commercially viable in Australia," Mr Ferguson said.

"That's our national priority - the environment, the market that encourages commercial investment in Australia."