Australia wanting in geo, wave and large solar investments

Only $38 million in new investment was put into the geothermal, wave and large scale solar industries in fiscal 2009-10. According to the CEC report, geothermal spending slumped by 75 per cent, large-scale solar fell by more than 50 per cent, and wave was down by 40 per cent.

The clean energy industry in Australia enjoyed one of its most successful years in 2010. The annual review published by the Clean Energy Council  stated investment in renewable projects nearly tripled, to just short of $1.8 billion. There were also 310MW rooftop solar photovoltaics installations across Australia. But the private investment data reflects a five-fold increase in the wind industry alone, while funds flowing to emerging technologies where Australia should has a natural advantage, such as large-scale solar, geothermal and wave declined sharply.