Another take on the insulation debacle

After watching the savaging of Peter Garrett over the home insulation program I was pleased to see Kevin Rudd taking responsibility for part of the problem. We all knew the program had been rushed ahead with several other stimulus packages to cope with the GFC.
I was starting to get confused with all the attacks into thinking the points made by Garrett in his defense were perhaps overstated. However, in todays Financial Review (AFR- page 3) paper I have found a well reasoned article "Insulation fears: more hype than actual fires" by Geoff Winestock which has restored (somewhat) my faith in the ability of media to actually discuss facts rather than emotional hysteria as well as restored some trust in the Minister.

I would be the first to admit that if I had lost a son in an industrial accident, I would be extremely emotional, even hysterical.

However, the AFR article points out "based on data from fire brigades for NSW, Queensland, South Australia and metropolitan Melbourne...has found there were 115 house fires in 2009 attributed to faulty insulation. ...It was only slightly higher than the 75 house fires caused by faulty insulation in 2007... In the meantime about 1.15 million houses have been fitted with insulation, ..compared with an average of about 60,000 installations in 2007" So in terms of fires per installation the risk has fallen dramatically.

It would be extremely interesting to see if the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) or some other proper statistical agency, can confirm these numbers as it does back up Peter Garrett's claim to have introduced training and standards into the industry.
The Financial Review had a number of excellent articles - on page 30 "Flawed model, muddled message" by John Breusch on the problems with selling the Emissions Trading Scheme, and page 21 "Safe as houses" by Andrew Cornell which details why I would not be able to keep up with the housing market on a librarians salary!

So thanks AFR for an informative lunchtime read.

Solar Power and Rebate

Currently I'm awaiting my rebate from the Federal Government under the Solar Homes and Community Plan. While waiting I thought I would check the stats on how many Solar Power systems have been installed. The Dec 2009 stats show some 67,472 sites installed with a total of 78,961,534 Grid connected Watts and 4937279 SAPS Watts (off grid systems). Of interest is the number of sites per state. You can find this information and download the Excel sheets at http://www.environment.gov.au/sustainability/renewable/pv/history.html

 

From another chart you can see the effect the Solar Homes and Communities rebate has had - a hockey stick of explosive growth. It will be interesting to see the effect now that the Governments REC's scheme is well on the way but anecdotally, my Solar Installer say they are still extremely busy.

So I have great sympathy with Peter Garrett and the Insulation Rebate debate, particularly the problem exposed in the installation of Metal Foil, with subsequent deaths of contractors and hazards to home owners of incorrectly installed insulation. The overwhelming fault is with the dodgy, inexperienced installers but I think Minister Garrett did need to act faster to remove the Foil Insulation from being covered by the rebate.

My home was insulated from construction, but there were problems even then. The builders chose to use Fibre Fill instead of the specified Batts and the downlights were not kept separate from the fill, leading to a number of problems. This has now been sorted with products covering the downlights, reflecting the heat back into the house and separating the loose insulation from the hot lights. 

Of course all this happened in the days before rebates and so far no-one has been killed (in  my house at least). But who is responsible?? - the home owner, dodgy contractors, safety inspectors or Ministers making regulations and administering schemes?? 

At least Peter Garrett has his heart in the right place unlike the get rich quick, rip-u off merchants who always jump onto these bandwagons. So fair go - give the Minister a swipe but prosecute the installers!

(BTW:  As I own most of Midnight Oils albums you can see where my bias lies!)