The Federal Government announced on Sunday 23rd that it will replace the existing Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) of 9,500 GWhr of new zero-emission electricity generation by 2010, with a new Clean Energy Target (CET) of 30,000 GWhr of new renewable power generation by 2020.

People less charitable than me howled down the announcement, saying that replacing existing State-based targets with the CET (as is the Federal Government’s plan) will have a negligible net effect on the development of renewable energy in Australia.