We conduct public interest financial analysis on the most profound economic transformation since the industrial revolution: the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
About
Climate Energy Finance (CEF) is a think tank established in 2022 that works probono in the public interest to accelerate decarbonisation. We conduct research and analyses on global financial issues related to the global energy transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, as well as the implications for the Australian economy, with a key focus on the threats and opportunities for Australian investments and exports. Read more
Our Work
AGL | CEF NEWS UPDATES | CEF SERIES ON CRITICAL MINERALS | China | Coal/electricity/electrification | Critical minerals | Decarbonisation | Energy Crisis | Finance Sector & Emissions | Green Iron | Hydrogen | India & Adani | Monthly China Energy Updates | Nuclear | Submissions | Taxes & subsidies | US IRA/ NZIA et al |
REPORT | GREEN CAPITAL TSUNAMI: China’s >$100 billion outbound cleantech investment since 2023 turbocharges global energy transition
CEF’s news report shows that a green capital tsunami of investments from China into cleantech around the world is speeding decarbonisation, but Australia, with its opaque foreign investment regime, is missing out, as investment hit a multidecade low last year, forgoing its massive opportunity to co-invest with China in clean energy-powered onshore value-adding, including green iron. Read more
MONTHLY CHINA ENERGY UPDATE | Increasing Electricity Demand Showcasing China’s Economic Resilience
During the first 8 months of 2024, China added 210GW of new capacity to the grid, a 14% y-o-y increase. August alone saw China add 25.1GW of new capacity additions. From January to August 2024, China spent RMB333bn (US$47bn) on power grid projects, a 19% y-o-y increase. In August alone, China invested RMB79bn (US$11bn) in the power grid. From January to August in 2024, China’s electricity demand increased by 7% y-o-y, reaching 6,456TWh. This is a sign of China’s continued economic resilience and as a result of the country’s continuous electrification-of-everything strategy. CEF expects China’s electricity demand to continue to climb in the coming decade. Read more
WA Government to Accelerate Electrification and Decarbonisation with Priority Common User Infrastructure Corridors
In a landmark for accelerating electrification and decarbonisation of the Pilbara, Australia’s resources engine room, the WA Government’s Pilbara Energy Transition (PET) Plan has announced the development of priority common user infrastructure (CUI) corridors in the region. Read more
Media
AGL China Coal Critical minerals Decarbonisation Electricity/electrification Energy crisis Finance Sector & Emissions Green Iron/Steel Hydrogen India & Adani Nuclear offshore wind Renewables Taxes and subsidies TIM BUCKLEY ON THE SPARK CLUB PODCAST US IRA/EU NZIA et al
Australia’s clean power growth tops global leaderboard
PV Magazine
Responding to the IEA’s World Energy Outlook which tracks an ‘unprecedented growth in renewables’ and says fossil fuels will peak before 2030, Tim Buckley said: “The fossil fuel era is drawing to an inevitable close. Our future prosperity depends on hastening our energy transition and repositioning as a value-adding trade and investment leader.” “We should be deploying our solar and wind to process our energy transition materials like green iron and the critical minerals essential for cleantech onshore pre-export.” Read more
China’s Australia trade sees more EVs, green tech even as EU, US tariffs fly
South China Morning Post
“China leads the world in clean tech – including solar, wind, batteries and new energy vehicles – with its investments more than double those of the US or the EU,” the Australian non-profit organisation Climate Energy Finance said in a report on October 2. Dong Xuyang, a China energy policy analyst with Climate Energy Finance and one of the report’s authors, said this year there has been a “material step up” of Chinese investments in Australian renewable energy projects. Dong said China provides cost-competitive clean tech to the global market, adding “trade barriers” from the US and EU “risk raising costs for domestic consumers and industries engaged in the energy transition”. Read more
China Daily | Green Chinese backing key for Australia
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The report, “Green capital tsunami: China’s >$100 billion outbound clean-tech investment since 2023 turbocharges global energy transition”, released on Oct 2 by the independent think tank Climate Energy Finance, or CEF, said Chinese firms have committed more than$100 billion in outbound foreign direct investment since 2023. Xuyang Dong, CEF’s China energy policy analyst and co-author of the report, said China leads the world in clean energy. “It is actively injecting more and more zero-emissions energy into its national power system even as it progressively shifts to electrifying everything and upgrading its energy policy to accelerate the energy transition progress,” she told China Daily. “China is increasingly the world leader in almost all these zero-emissions industries of the future, and that opens up opportunities to invest globally into clean energy,” she said. Dong said the problem for Australia is a “lack of effective communication and trust” between the two countries. Read more
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