My Friends got solar panels on their roof and at 1st they were getting better than 60 cents now it has been cut to just about 20 cents if that, hardly worth it at a certain age -- or if you intend to move.

I was well over 50 when I had solar panels installed and I would do it again. I did not get them because of the feed in tarrif, I got them because it meant I would be using less energy from fossil fuels. 

I wonder if Malcolm is in someone pocket? 

doesn't malcolm know that there is no such thing as 'clean coal'.  its a myth.

Of course he does, it suits the bill to swing the way is all!

Malcolm is doing exactly what Bill Shorten would have done had he been in MT's place. Blame the one who is in power always, why not?

As for "clean coal", all it means is the coal can be made cleaner with CCUS (Carbon Capture and Utilization Storage) technology. CCUS technology captures carbon emissions from sources like power plants. That CO2 is then stored or used so it doesn’t enter the atmosphere, and already projects in various stages of development all over the world use CCUS.

Although it is not ideal, there are vast resources of coal in Australia and other parts of the world. Third world countries especially depend on coal and utilising ways of making it cleaner makes a lot of sense to me. 

 India and probably China are moving away from their need for coal

India has cancelled plans to build nearly 14 gigawatts of coal-fired power stations – about the same as the total amount in the UK – with the price for solar electricity “free falling” to levels once considered impossible.

Analyst Tim Buckley said the shift away from the dirtiest fossil fuel and towards solar in India would have “profound” implications on global energy markets.

According to his article on the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’s website, 13.7GW of planned coal power projects have been cancelled so far this month – in a stark indication of the pace of change.

In January last year, Finnish company Fortum agreed to generate electricity in Rajasthan with a record low tariff, or guaranteed price, of 4.34 rupees per kilowatt-hour (about 5p).

Mr Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the IEEFA, said that at the time analysts said this price was so low would never be repeated.

But, 16 months later, an auction for a 500-megawatt solar facility resulted in a tariff of just 2.44 rupees – compared to the wholesale price charged by a major coal-power utility of 3.2 rupees (about 31 per cent higher).

“For the first time solar is cheaper than coal in India and the implications this has for transforming global energy markets is profound,” Mr Buckley said.

“Measures taken by the Indian Government to improve energy efficiency coupled with ambitious renewable energy targets and the plummeting cost of solar has had an impact on existing as well as proposed coal fired power plants, rendering an increasing number as financially unviable.

21 December 2016 The Guardian

The Indian government has forecast that it will exceed the renewable energy targets set in Paris last year by nearly half and three years ahead of schedule.

A draft 10-year energy blueprint published this week predicts that 57% of India’s total electricity capacity will come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2027. The Paris climate accord target was 40% by 2030.

The draft national electricity plan also indicated that no new coal-fired power stations were likely to be required to meet Indian energy needs until at least 2027, raising further doubts over the viability of Indian mining investments overseas, such as the energy company Adani’s Carmichael mine in Queensland, the largest coal mine project planned in Australia.

Very interesting article on how Solar and renewables are benefitting the poorest countries and their people.

One of the things I love about the Zayed Future Energy Prize is that it has introduced me to numerous cleantech leaders I hadn’t previously heard or read about. It especially does this for me in one particular segment of the cleantech market: companies and organizations serving the developing world.

These companies and organizations are making a tremendous difference: cleaning up our climate (especially when they help to cut the use of diesel generators, kerosene lighting, and the burning of coal), helping the poorest people in the world gain access to electricity, and even saving lives through the provision of cheap and clean electricity. They’re also creating jobs for tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people.