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

The now six-week-long conflict in the Middle East continues, massively disrupting global energy supplies with no end in sight. This underscores the energy security risk to Australia of its extreme dependency on imported oil and resulting exposure to international fossil fuel shocks in an increasingly geopolitically unstable world. The significant implications for national economic resilience are already apparent, with a fuel supply crunch and elevated foreign oil prices driving a cost of living crisis, inflationary pressures and surging interest rates here. At the time of writing, the Hormuz Strait, the critical chokepoint for 20 per cent of the world’s oil, including the Asian supply chains we rely on, remains blocked. Read more

“I think EVs are inevitable and this war in Iran has really given everyone the wake up call to say, hang on wouldn’t it be nice to not be suffering every week filling up your petrol vehicle,” he said. “Its money that you’d be far better off actually paying five bucks for a charger or nothing by charging at home on a slow charger from your rooftop solar. “Now, the emphasis has to be on the government’s role to make sure we bring the whole of the Australian economy and people along, not just the privileged half.” Mr Buckley said he hopes to see reforms that provide financial incentives to electrify and decarbonise energy needs for transport, be it freight, passenger vehicles, mining and then at a slower pace for farmers and agriculture. Read more

Tim Buckley, founder and director at Climate Energy Finance, said the recent fuel hike has been another reminder of how vulnerable the Australian economy is to ongoing fossil fuel disruptions and wars in the Middle East. “The importance of energy, independence, energy, security was brought to the national conscience about three to four years ago when Putin invaded Ukraine and we saw the global gas price, coal and oil price go up,” he said. Read more