The Rudd Government's $2billion investment in clean coal will be overtaken by a wave of new smart energy technologies ''stealing the market'', a leading expert says.
University of Sydney chair in sustainable energy Professor Tony Vassallo said clean energy initiatives in Australia were being thwarted by an ''entrenched culture of resistance and ignorance'' among Federal and state governments.
New research by the Australian Conservation Foundation estimates federal assistance to Australia's highest polluting companies has blown out to $16.4 billion under the Rudd Government's revamped emissions trading legislation.
The top 20 companies to receive assistance will get free permits worth $2.4 billion in the first full year of the scheme in 2012 and $11.7 billion in the first five years.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times.
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