The problem with a rapidly changing electricity system, is sometimes it changes so fast that by the time you have installed a technical solution, it is already redundant. That may be the case with $180 million worth of large spinning machines which are just about to come on line in the live experiment that is …
Can you be made redundant before you’ve started work? Read More »
Households consume around 30 per cent of Australia’s total energy account. They’ve historically been the most expensive to supply, have the most volatile demand and are most politically sensitive customers on the grid. One way to reduce household greenhouse emissions is to use zero emissions electricity for natural gas and run an electric car on …
Household electrification is unlikely to produce free money Read More »
Australia is the world’s second biggest gas exporter, yet still we may face a regional version of the current European-styled gas supply crunch. Nationals leaders need not worry: Queensland is not affected. The ground zero of this looming gas shortage is Victoria, the result of declining local production and infrastructure constraints. How this gas market …
Major international news stories in recent days have centred around energy challenges in Europe and China. Europe and China are on opposite sides of the world and get their energy from (mostly) different sources. Europe’s problems are driven by gas while China’s are driven by coal. Global oil benchmarks reached a three year high this …
It’s clear the Morrison Government intends to commit to a net zero emissions target by 2050 in time for the Glasgow climate summit in early November. There is no sudden epiphany, this is pure politics, both national and global. The groundwork for the Coalition’s climate pivot has been under development for weeks now. Coalition backbenchers …
Greenhouse emissions are a stock, not a flow. Which means every tonne of carbon dioxide not emitted into the atmosphere, regardless of how this is achieved, delivers against the objective of abating emissions. The popular debate around climate has been reduced to an overly simplistic narrative around good versus evil. Renewables are good, coal is …
The carbon price in Europe is soaring, currently approaching AUD$100 a tonne. That’s while the European economy is forging out of its COVID-19 recession with the EU’s economy predicted to grow by around 4.8 per cent in 2021 and more of the same in 2022. Pricing emissions doesn’t appear to be holding the European economy …
High EU carbon prices: does ambition exceed reality? Read More »
Like any big package of reform proposals, the Energy Security Board (ESB’s) post 2025 market design (P2025) recommendations is trying to be many things to many people. One of the most important things is that it is trying to rescue the NEM from collapsing into individual state-based systems, each with their own rules and schemes. …
A long-awaited bill has been introduced to lay the regulatory groundwork for allowing offshore wind farms to be built in Australian waters. Will this spark a tsunami of projects? Offshore wind is more expensive to build and maintain, but more efficient than “conventional” onshore wind. While the size of onshore wind turbines average around 3MW, …
