Read Neil Barrett’s column in The Midland Express (week 2, 16/7/2014) on the projected net economic benefit of the MASH+ project to Mt Alexander Shire, the solar panels and inverters used on MASH+ installations, and how fossil fuels get ten times more subsidies per annum than solar. Here’s an extract:
“On current trends in MASH registrations, the net economic benefit of the MASH project to the shire will be around $2.5M per year due to the employment of about 15 local people, profits earned by local companies directly involved in the project and the $400K worth of savings on electricity bills”, says Neil Barrett of The Hub Foundation. “It will also cut the shire’s CO2 emissions by about 50,000 tonnes over 20 years. Worth doing, I think.”
“Which industry do you think receives more subsidies, renewable energy or fossil fuels? Amazingly, fossil fuels still get $10 billion of subsidies annually, compared with solar’s $1 billion. The difference is partly due to the political power of the big miners who receive a huge subsidy on diesel fuel use.”
