Australia, US announce solar research program
Aim to lower the cost of technology:
AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton Sunday announced a joint solar power research
program, in a bid to drive down the cost of the technology.
Gillard and Clinton made the announcement in Melbourne on Sunday,
with the Australian government set to commit up to 50 million U.S.
dollars towards the program.
“One of the greatest barriers to a broader commercial take up of
solar power is its cost and that is specifically what this joint
research initiative will address,” Gillard told reporters in Melbourne.
“The joint project with the United States is part of an aggressive
effort to bring the sales price of solar technology down by two to four
times.”
The price of solar energy had dropped by 50 percent in the past three
years, but Clinton said there was more work to be done, with the program
aimed to make solar power competitive with conventional energy sources
by 2015.
Under this initiative the two governments will share both the costs
and the benefits of research and development which will speed up
innovation, Clinton told reporters in Melbourne.
US state department will provide a 500,000 US dollars grant to the
Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, which is co- funded by the
Australian government. The grant to the two institutes would fund a
global survey to identify methods for reusing carbon.
Clinton also announced up to 15 additional Fulbright Scholarships
would be awarded over the next three years for studies into climate
change and energy.
Clinton, joined by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will attend the
Australia-United State Ministerial (AUSMIN) meeting on Monday in
Melbourne.
The talks to be hosted by Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and
Defense Minister Stephen Smith, and will focus on regional and global
security issues, including the war in Afghanistan.
Melbourne, Sunday, Xinhua |