The Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council has called on the federal government to appoint a commissioner to support the rollout of distributed generation.
“Significant opportunities exist to make energy more affordable, improve energy productivity, increase system diversity and resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through distributed generation,” ASBEC president Tom Roper said.
The commissioner, Mr Roper said, would focus on removing regulatory barriers and inconsistent standards, and “create a viable market for renewable and distributed generation resources”, including solar photovoltaic, cogeneration, trigeneration and district energy systems.
“If they are rolled out in an effective way, a diverse mix of distributed generation technologies would protect homes and businesses from rising fuel costs and reduce energy bills,” he said.