as you may or may not recall, last fall Australians voted in a new gov't behind new prime minister Rudd. The central issue of that election was an absolute commitment by Mr. Rudd to sign the Kyoto treaty. However, after his successful election, some Australians began to frantically point out the real world costs and consequencs of doing so. Rudd ordered a detailed cost estimate of the costs to Australians of Kyoto treaty compliance, and one element of that detailed cost study has just been released.
(snip)"Power bills to double to pay carbon costs
Matthew Warren, Environment writer | February 01, 2008
MAJOR Australian greenhouse gas emitters believe that emissions-trading costs of about $65 a tonne of carbon are inevitable, forcing household electricity bills to rise by almost 100 per cent.
The new director of the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, Mike Hitchens, told The Australian business should look to evolving carbon markets in Europe to estimate the future cost of emissions trading.
"We all need to understand that linking to other emissions-trading schemes outside of Australia is inevitable, whether done formally or informally," Mr Hitchens said.
"That means that it's the world price of permits we need to incorporate into analysis about the impacts on the Australian economy, not simply the implications of setting our own targets.
"The price of emissions in Australia will very likely be set in Europe. Australia is a price taker for commodities in all other global markets, and we will be a price taker in this global market as well."
The European Commission has estimated a future price of about $65 per tonne of carbon, with European banks predicting a price of between $60 and $80.
The National Generators Forum said a price of more than $40 per tonne would eliminate the need for the Government's 20 per cent Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET), while a price at $80 per tonne would effectively double the price of retail electricity in Australia."(snip)





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