A government-appointed review panel has recommended that Australia drastically cut back its Renewable Energy Target (RET) program. The review reported that the program’s costs are “not justifiable” and recommended either closing the program to new investment or modifying it so that renewable power would make up just 50% of any future growth in electricity demand. As the review explained, confining the RET to a growing electricity market “would protect the broader community from the cost of subsidizing unnecessary additional generation capacity if electricity demand continues to fall.” Clean energy industry leaders lamented the review, calling it a “worst case scenario.” A key concern is that the recommendations, if adopted, would hinder investment in renewable energy. As Chris Judd, head of one of Australia’s biggest suppliers of offshore wind turbines, pointed out, investors are likely to move away from Australia and on to more stable environments. For the full story, see http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-28/australia-risks-imperiling-renewables-on-panel-findings.html and http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/review-panel-puts-renewable-energy-target-in-crosshairs-_100016238/#axzz3BnDkihxM.