As reported by Energy Daily the Turnbull government is having an argument with the Asian Infrastructure bank to which it has pledged almost $5 billion over lending guidelines that support socially acceptable renewable power, but shut out nuclear, coal and gas electricity generation, which are the backbone of Australia’s energy exports as stated by Dennis Shanahan, political editor of The Australian.
He said that the treasury has criticised the preliminary guidelines, arguing that in the interests of helping people throughout Asia who do not have access to electricity, coal should have a significant role in generating power. The Australian mining industry has also expressed serious concerns about the proposals, which may undercut the goal of developing infrastructure and growth in Asia due to a commitment to the social acceptability of energy.
The guidelines of the Chinese-backed regional bank is to set up to lend funds to countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Thailand for rail, ports, roads and electricity generation. These are aimed at boosting economic growth and providing power to about 500 million people without access to electricity.
The bank is hoping to lend $100 billion for projects, wants to clean up Asian cities and support forms of energy that are socially acceptable, policies that follow the United States and European-backed global bank’s resistance to funding nuclear, gas-fired and clean coal projects.
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Featured Image Credit: Thomas Depenbusch
Solar Trust Centre Team
