We conduct public interest financial analysis on the most profound economic transformation since the industrial revolution: the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

Investor Front Door was launched in September last year, aiming to streamline the approvals process and fast-track projects of national significance. Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance (CEF), told Carbon Pulse he was supportive of the initiative and hoped that it became permanent, noting “it’s taking a long time to get from announcement to substance”. “We’ve got to move at double the speed” to decarbonise, he said. Read more

Tim Buckley, director of Climate Energy Finance, says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Singapore aims to strengthen face-to-face ties and ensure energy security through cooperation with Asian partners. Australia, a major LNG exporter, relies on Singapore for refined fuels, while partners depend on Australian gas. Amid global disruption and high fossil fuel prices, collaboration is vital to reduce supply chain risks. Buckley stresses the importance of commitments from Japan and South Korea, and warns of Australia’s heavy reliance on imported fuel. Long term, he urges electrification and reducing diesel subsidies to cut dependence on imports. Read more

Buckley and others note that the technology has been around for a while, but is rarely used. Adolf Hitler adopted it in WWII because he had no other way to provide fuel for his warplanes, and cost and emissions were not top of mind. The apartheid government in South Africa developed it, too, in the 1970s, again for lack of other options, but it has proved to be an economic and environmental nightmare. It has not built a new plant for more than 40 years. The US looked at the technology after the 1970s fossil fuel crisis, but decided it was too expensive and too dirty to deploy at scale, although it toyed with the idea for military bases, where costs and emissions are not priorities. Read more