Rolling blackouts were narrowly averted earlier this week when authorities were forced to suddenly called on emergency power reserves to fill a shortfall in supply due in Victoria.
Record drop in electricity production from coal as rich nations go green | The Times UK
Reductions in burning of the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel in Britain, Germany, South Korea and other developed countries are outstripping increases in China, Vietnam and elsewhere, meaning that the overall total is expected to decline by 3 per cent in 2019.
Has Australia ‘over-invested’ in renewable energy? | Renew Economy
No. Minister Angus Taylor clearly hasn’t looked at the history of our electricity infrastructure. Renewable energy policy has been poorly designed, to some extent because of politicisation, and to some extent because no-one imagined it would grow this fast, driven by astounding cost reductions and technology developments.
The hot topic of climate change | The Saturday Paper
“The failure to have a coherent national energy policy is a major problem but it is founded on this rock of climate denialism inside the Liberal Party and inside the media, including by the newspaper you [the interviewer] work for.” Malcolm Turnbull
Green New Deal: The enormous opportunity in shooting for the moon | Medium
In short, without changing the size of our homes, or our cars, or fundamentally changing the fabric of our lives, these discounts mean that a fully electrified energy economy using non-carbon fuel sources would require less than half of the total amount of energy we use today.
Booming LNG industry could be as bad for climate as coal, experts warn | The Guardian
Natural gas is at times described as a transition fuel in the response to the climate crisis as it has about half the carbon dioxide emissions of black coal when burned to generate electricity. That argument has been rejected by the head of the International Energy Agency and science bodies warning the world needs to rapidly move to clean energy and industries.
Westpac joins shift to 100% renewables, starting with big NSW solar farm | One Stop Off The Grid
In a statement on Wednesday, Westpac said the deal would deliver a 45 per cent transition to renewables by 2021 for the bank globally, as well as providing greater cost certainty on its electricity spend.
Tectonic shift as network owner buys solar farm, points to renewable future | Renew Economy
The implications for the likes of AGL, Origin, EnergyAustralia and the government-owned Snowy Hydro, are significant, and they will no doubt increase their efforts to keep the networks out of what they see as their traditional business.
Norway is walking away from billions of barrels of oil | SMH
The dramatic shift by Norway's biggest party is a significant blow to the support the oil industry has enjoyed, and could signal that the Scandinavian nation is coming closer to the end of an era that made it one of the world's most affluent.
2018 was boom year for renewables despite political chaos, report finds | The Guardian
“the amount of renewable energy capacity committed in Australia during 2018 increased 260% on 2017, with 14.8 GW underway in 2018 compared to 5.6 GW in 2017”
Global Energy Perspective 2019 | McKinsey & Company
With the speed and magnitude of these changes evolving rapidly, we’ve identified eight potential shifts that could further accelerate the energy transition. Although these eight shifts may not represent the most probable future, they should be considered conceivable based on the developments that can be observed today.
Download the summary here.
Australia's first Business Renewables Centre to help Australian businesses to switch to renewables | ARENA
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has today announced it will help build Australia’s first Business Renewables Centre to encourage Australian businesses to make the switch to renewable energy.
“The Business Renewables Centre will help in that transition by using its expertise in running programs, entrepreneurship, innovation, education and other sustainability objectives to make it easier for companies and councils to enter the renewables market.”
Business to go it alone on climate policy | AFR
In a salutary indicator of how our politicians have created a vacuum in climate change policy, the Business Council of Australia feels it must provide leadership.
"The nation's energy companies and biggest electricity users have given up on politics and begun backroom talks about a self-regulated package of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, restore energy reliability and improve investor stability.”
California governor signs law for clean energy by 2045 | BBC News
Paris climate deal doesn't stop us building new coal plants, Canavan says | The Guardian
“We have to build power stations. There’s nothing in the [Paris] agreement that would stop us building power stations, including coal-fired power stations,” Canavan said.
The inconvenient truths about South Australia’s renewable success | Renew Economy
"But here’s the thing: South Australia’s renewable share has likely proved the opposite to what’s being claimed. Since the events of the summer of 2016/17, there have been no major outages. In fact, it’s quite possibly been the most reliable grid in the country."
Renewables haven’t screwed up the grid. Regulators and lawyers have | Renew Economy
“Is this intermittent?” Summers asks. “No. They (wind and solar) are doing the job of baseload while the actual baseload band (the synchronous generation) is misbehaving.” Summers noted that the legal framework had made this type of behaviour acceptable.
By 2030, Renewable Energy Costs Could Be "Effectively Zero" | Inverse
Investors call for ambition shortfall to be addressed in the NEG | IGCC
‘Peak coal’ is getting closer, latest figures show | Carbon Brief
"The amount of coal power capacity in pre-construction stages has declined every year since 2015."