The Climate Change Authority has recommended a “toolkit” of climate policies, but has been accused by its critics of sidestepping the need for more rapid emissions cuts.
- Senior Industry Fellow, Environment and Planning, RMIT University
South Australia’s recent electricity price spike has seen calls for more gas. But Australia already has plenty.
Will merging the environment and energy portfolios result in joined-up thinking, or one set of ideas steamrollering the other?
Labor has said it would introduce an emissions trading scheme for large emitters. PolicyCheck unpacks the detail and provenance of this proposed plan.
‘Energy productivity’ is the new buzz-phrase in energy and climate policy, what even is it?
The key drivers for energy in the 21st century are managing climate change, shifting community concerns, and radical technology change.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said his government’s 2030 climate target will be good for the environment and jobs – and good for protecting the nation’s coal industry.
Broadcaster Alan Jones told the Q&A audience this week that coal fired power costs about $79 a kilowatt-hour, while wind power is about $1502 a-kilowatt hour. Is that right?
The unveiling of Tesla’s Powerwall home battery has been hailed as a huge moment in renewable energy. But don’t forget the other innovations that can help you use that stored power more efficiently.
Australia’s federal government wants to boost ‘energy productivity’ by 40% by 2030. A good idea, but the plan needs to cut energy use, not just deliver more economic bang for the energy buck.
The federal government’s keenly awaited Energy White Paper is firmly focused on cutting prices and red tape, and boosting industry competitiveness - and less so on climate change and renewable energy.
The US has made its formal submission of climate targets beyond 2020. But Australia continues to twiddle its thumbs.
Experts question where the jobs for older Australians will come from.
Late in 2014, we saw iron ore and coal prices fall. Now we are seeing oil prices tumble, dipping to less than US$50 a barrel, half the price of a year ago. In all cases, these price collapses reflect the…
The Climate Change Authority has recommended that the government move back the deadline for the large-scale Renewable Energy Target by three years, from 2020 to 2023, rather than risk jeopardising investment…
There’s little point in getting too excited just yet about the details of Direct Action and its merits (or otherwise) as compared with emissions trading. Why? Because all of the current debate about Australia’s…
The federal government’s Direct Action climate policy, a A$2.5 billion scheme aimed at paying polluters to cut their greenhouse emissions, is set to be approved in the Senate after a deal between environment…
Federal industry minister Ian Macfarlane has finally revealed his opening gambit on negotiations on the future of the Renewable Energy Target (RET). He and environment minister Greg Hunt have pledged to…
We have 9,000 megawatts (nine big power stations equivalent) of excess capacity in electricity generation … We have more than 15% overcapacity in generation in Australia - Industry minister Ian Macfarlane…
The review of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) has recommended deep cuts to the scheme. If implemented by the government, the changes could mean closing off the scheme to new large-scale wind…
The long-awaited review of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target has been released and, as widely predicted, has recommended winding back or even scrapping the various parts of the scheme. We asked Conversation…
Rooftop solar power has slashed Australians’ demand for electricity during the day, but left evening peak power demand largely unchanged. That’s why, as strange as it may sound, we now need to behead a…
There are billions of dollars of broken promises in the Abbott government’s first budget for low-emission and renewable energy programs – and wiggle room to break even more in the next few years. Among…
The latest review of Australia’s energy-saving appliance scheme has delivered a rare trifecta: a good news story for the economy, the community and the environment. According to my estimates from data…
From flicking on a light to travelling around town, our lives are utterly dependent on energy. That’s why it’s so surprising that Australia has been so bad at thinking about our country’s future energy…
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