Locking in a gas-fired future at the Whyalla Steelworks would undermine Australia’s emerging green iron industry, according to a report by think tank Climate Energy Finance. BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL) is heading up an international consortium with Nippon Steel Corporation, India’s JSW Steel and South Korea’s POSCO, with the steelmakers eyeing Whyalla as a prospective location for future production of “lower-emissions iron” in Australia for both domestic and export markets. But it is Santos (ASX: STO), as gas supplier to Whyalla, that would be the principal beneficiary of government subsidies, the report found. Read more

One of Australia’s steelworks facilities should be turned into a green iron and steel hub to lead the worldwide race to decarbonise metals. But using gas rather than renewable energy to fuel production could undermine its potential and cost the government billions of dollars in subsidies, a report warns. Clean Energy Finance released the advice about South Australia’s Whyalla Steelworks on Monday from a report endorsed by The Superpower Institute. Read more

A new report by think tank Climate Energy Finance, endorsed by The Superpower Institute, warns that locking in high-emissions methane fossil gas in a ‘transition phase’ for Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia would be a grave strategic misstep with damaging budgetary and national interest impacts. The Steelworks entered forced administration in February 2025 after gross mismanagement and undercapitalisation by former owner GFG Alliance. The Federal and SA governments announced a $2.4bn rescue package, saying that Whyalla “is critical for future ambitions for green steel manufacturing, which will be increasingly lucrative as the world decarbonises”. Read more

Taxpayers could be on the hook for up to $2 billion in extra subsidies for gas supply and infrastructure should the BlueScope consortium buy the ailing Whyalla steelworks, analysis by Climate Energy Finance has found. Read more

The National Party has abandoned Net Zero, attributing their decision to research done by their own party-affiliated think tank, the Page Research Centre. Read more

Energy analyst Tim Buckley, a former long-time managing director at Citigroup who now runs Climate Energy Finance, said modelling is “exceptionally biased”. He said the modelling assumes coal plants run almost constantly [91%], despite global coal plants operating at half that rate. Buckley also said modelling ignores that in Australia power prices go negative a fifth of the time due to solar. Read more

“The path forward to a more sustainable economic model is being driven by multiple factors that are increasingly aligned, irrespective of whether some cave into short-term vested interests thinking they can hold back the tide,” says Tim Buckley, founder of think-tank Climate Energy Finance. The WEO report wasn’t without controversy, however, with many commentators blasting the decision by the IEA to reintroduce a Current Policies scenario (in addition to a Stated Policies and Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario). Rumour has it the need to model what would happen if nothing changes was the result of US pressure. Read more

Green technology start-ups are struggling to attract financing from multibillion-dollar government investment funds that are unwilling to take on high levels of risk, which the agency responsible for managing the economic transition says will slow Australia’s transition to net zero. Read more

Energy analyst Tim Buckley said the report supplied further evidence that China was leading the world in the transition to renewables, driven by its geopolitical urge towards energy independence. In the month of June, China imported exactly zero dollars’ worth of fossil fuels from the US,” Buckley said. This follows imports worth $US1.5 billion ($2.3 billion) in September. Read more

BHP has confirmed that producing green steel in Western Australia remains several years away, despite the Premier’s recent suggestion that […] Read more

The scheme is due to come into effect in some states in July before potentially being extended by 2027, the energy department said. The government has also moved to subsidise household battery installation to store solar electricity generated during the day. Tim Buckley, director of think-tank Climate Energy Finance, called the move a “no brainer”, saying it would create a “demand pool” during the day when people can run air conditioners, washing machines and pool cleaners to balance the grid. The plan “guts coal even faster and makes gas less relevant”, he said.   Read more

The federal energy minister’s plan to make electricity free for three hours in the middle of each day for customers in Default Market Offer regions has made a big splash in the energy world, and sparked calls for more electrification and demand flexibility. “This is excellent, minister,” said Climate Energy Finance founder and CEO Tim Buckley on LinkedIn. “This means many, many more consumers will … benefit from free solar power … at zero cost to the market, and massively incentivise demand load shifting to the middle of the day. Read more