Greens’ senator Christine Milne told parliament the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy was not independent, transparent or adequately qualified to carry out its duties.

The centre was launched by the federal government in October, however draft laws formally setting it up were only passed by the Senate on Wednesday.

The resources and energy minister will now be able to appoint up to six non-executive members and a non-executive chair to the organisation’s board for up to two years.

A chief executive will be recruited to run the body daily.

The centre will provide advice on the development and commercialisation of new green technologies in Australia.

Senator Milne said its interim board members had limited renewable energy experience and she’d heard they were going to get permanent jobs when the bill was approved.

“How absolutely disheartening for people … to put their projects forward and be judged by someone who has no expertise in the field and, furthermore, an interest in nuclear or old fossil fuel-style technology,” she said.

“You could almost say (the centre) was designed to fail.”

Senator Milne unsuccessfully tried to amend the draft laws to make the body a statutory authority so a “truly independent” chief executive could be appointed by the governor-general.

She also wanted all advice provided by the centre to the minister to be tabled in parliament, but the coalition sided with Labor to defeat her proposals.

Despite backing the bill, Senate opposition leader Nick Minchin criticised the government for claiming the body would complement its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

“While we agree the centre will support the coordination of renewable energy programs … we do not support the tying of this bill in any way to Labor’s now twice-failed CPRS,” he said.

Government frontbench senator Kim Carr said Ms Milne’s claims were offensive and that the centre’s interim board would not be rolled over as the final board.

The Australian Centre for Renewable Energy Bill 2009 now awaits royal assent.

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Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act, adopted in 2000, established a model for feed-in tariffs that has inspired the development of support schemes for renewable energy in many countries.

In accordance with a 2001 EU directive on renewable electricity, the European Commission published a report in 2005 assessing the support mechanisms that different member states have deployed for electricity from renewable sources, releasing a follow-up report in 2008.

The EU executive decided against proposing an EU-wide framework for support schemes, arguing that harmonisation would be premature and would disrupt the market.

In January 2007, the Commission published a Renewable Energy Roadmap, calling for a mandatory target to satisfy 20% of Europe’s energy demand from renewable sources by 2020. The target was endorsed by EU leaders in March 2007.

The EU-wide 20% target was later translated into individual targets for each member state, laid down in a new Renewables Directive adopted in April 2009. Support schemes remain a national prerogative under the revised directive.

In a report to the Lok Sabha, India’s parliament, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, head of India’s own Renewable Energy Ministry, said the country installed 5,531 MW of renewable energy capacity since 2007.

The year marks the beginning of India’s 11th five-year economic plan. Renewable energy installations from the current economic plan account for 35 percent of all of India’s installation activities.

Since 2007, India installed 3,857 MW from wind energy; 619.53 MW from small hydro; 322 MW frombiomass; 704.20 MW from bagasse cogeneration; 8.10 MW from solar energy; and 20.10 MW from urban and industrial waste to energy.

Dr. Abdullah said government efforts have been at the forefront of renewable energy growth in India.

The minister cited the allocation of 3.9 billion Indian rupees ($86 million) to different renewable energy projects and programs starting in 2009.

Indian policies

India has introduced policies and regulatory measures for renewable energy development, such as financial incentives, capital subsidy and customs duties.

The country imposed preferential tariff for renewable power in strategic areas under its National Electricity Policy 2005 and national tariff policies. In 2003, the country set a fixed minimum percentage for renewable electricity purchase through electricity legislation.

Further government efforts include a generation-based incentives scheme for wind power which lays a 0.5 rupee per unit incentive for electricity fed into the grid.

But the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission is currently the centerpiece of India’s renewable energy development.

The program, launched in November, will boost deployment of solar energy systems and install 20,000 MW solar capacity by 2022. The first phase of the mission targets grid connected solar power plants with a combined capacity of 1,100 MW; equivalent off-grid solar applications of 200 MW; and solar thermal collectors that will cover an area of 7 million square meters.

Currently, the Indian government is trying to spread public awareness on the necessity of generating power from renewable energy sources.

The country plans to impose taxes on coal. Meanwhile, the World Bank has allotted $4 billion in loans for India’s renewable energy projects.