Year in review In 2021 global energy markets reminded us of the brutal reality of how inelastic they are in the face of short term change. Just as the pandemic cratered demand and collapsed prices in early 2020, so covid-recovery revived energy prices in 2021. Australian motorists noticed this, as did American motorists, prompting the …
Italian utility giant Enel launched its Australian retail electricity business last week, promising to be “a one-stop shop ‘greentailer’ delivering energy from Australia’s abundant renewable resources for the country’s clean energy future”, according to its country manager. Meanwhile, Shell’s takeover of Powershop has sparked an activist campaign for Powershop customers to switch away from what …
The pace and cost of Australia’s fast growing, multi-million-dollar climate neutral industry may be significantly impacted by the biggest outcome at the recent climate negotiations in Glasgow. Forget all the speeches and the pledges, the big reform from COP26 was to finalise revised rules for voluntary carbon trading markets. Known at Article 6 of the Paris …
Is the cost of going carbon neutral about to get more expensive? Read More »
With the world’s eyes on the COP26 event in Glasgow in recent weeks, we may be looking on the wrong direction for the next major step on decarbonisation. Bilateral trade pacts centred around a US-EU alliance may be the way forward and may give Australia pause for thought on its own approach. The first step …
Australia has a glory box approach to electric vehicles. We’re not going to do anything to accelerate EV supply, but we are going to prepare for them. This means installing thousands of charging stations that risk outnumbering the actual cars they intend to supply. Why so coy on a popular technology? The Federal Government policy …
On Friday, Australia’s energy ministers met and quietly signed off on the Post-2025 package of reforms presented to them by the Energy Security Board. It was not, however, the triumphant return of the market that some had hoped for. Rather energy ministers agreed to give themselves more power to manage the energy transition. This may …
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 …
