A new report by Australia-based thinktank Climate Energy Finance argues that China could reach its “dual carbon” climate goals earlier than planned.
Xuyang Dong talked to Carbon Brief about the findings of the report, China’s coal power output will soon peak and decline – despite rising coal capacity – thanks to the rapid rise of clean energy sources.
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Tim Buckley said: In the budget, we saw an excellent $21bn down payment. It is great to see that this is additional funding, not the usual political trick of rehashing previous press releases.
The development of the production tax credit (PTC) model for critical minerals and green hydrogen to incentivise onshore value-adding is a very strong step forward, a clear acknowledgement that Australia can’t simply leave it to free markets when other countries have made such significant public interest interventions, undermining global trade.
We particularly note the absence of any additional stimulus on “electrifying everything” and only $28m of new funding to better integrate consumer energy resources into the grid.
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“The gas industry has mercilessly price-gouged Australians, with gas prices more than tripling in the last 10 years, driving up energy prices more broadly and destroying manufacturing.
Climate Energy Finance think tank director Tim Buckley described the strategy as “ridiculous and beyond disappointing.”
“The strategy is a massive misstep in the context of the strides the Albanese government has been making in pivoting to our economic future as renewables powered zero-emissions trade and investment leader,” he said.
“Gas as a transition fuel might have made sense a decade ago, but the climate science and renewables and storage technology landscape has changed fundamentally in the decade since.
Power supply firming, where gas plays a small and diminishing role, is now transitioning to batteries and other storage technologies.”
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[Starts around 9:50]Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance, expresses concerns about the government’s continued backing of the gas industry. He indicates that the government’s shift in position towards gas, contrasting it with recent talks of embracing renewable energy and climate science. Buckley emphasizes the vast investment opportunities in renewables and the need for appropriate policy support to seize them.
Regarding future gas projects, Buckley argues against further investment in methane gas production, advocating instead for accelerated adoption of renewable energy solutions. He criticizes the government’s preference for gas over renewables, seeing it as a perpetuation of fossil fuel interests and a hindrance to addressing climate change. He urges policymakers to prioritize renewable energy infrastructure and electrification initiatives as viable alternatives to gas dependence.
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New South Wales is not on track to meet climate change targets, according to the government’s own environmental database.
The Climate Energy Finance director and analyst, Tim Buckley, said the Eraring subsidy would cost the taxpayer $150m a year. He said:
We are putting band aids on end of life coal assets instead of investing in the solutions to permanent low cost zero emission solutions that Australia and NSW desperately needs to see approved.
This is a race to the top and yet the NSW government in 2024 is now going in the wrong direction.
We call on them to reallocate planning resources to approving the projects we critically need to solve the climate crisis.”
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Resources Minister Madeleine King announced on Thursday that Australia would ramp up gas projects as part of its Future Gas Strategy, saying it was needed to meet surging demand.
Tim Buckley, director of independent think tank Climate Energy Finance, suggested the narrative of a gas shortage has been fabricated by the gas lobby in an attempt to expand the industry’s profits.
Buckley also rejected the government’s claims that the Future Gas Strategy would help keep gas prices low for Australian consumers.
“Placing a long-term commitment to this hyper-expensive climate-polluting fuel at the core of transition policy does exactly zero to ensure affordable gas for domestic use here in Australia first,” he said in a statement.
“On the contrary, the gas cartel is the key culprit behind the domestic energy unaffordability that has smashed Australian households and businesses over the last several years and into 2024.”
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The Future Gas Strategy released by Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King is a massive misstep in the context of the strides the Albanese government has been making in pivoting to our economic future as renewables powered zero-emissions trade and investment leader.
Australia, is positioned to lead the world in the decarbonised global economy of the rapidly emerging future, if we invest strategically at scale and redouble our efforts into future-facing clean energy and industry opportunities.
Australia needs to invest in our future, not prop up industries of the past. It is beyond time for Australia to make the right choice.
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Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance says that Labor’s gas plan announcement is at odds with the government’s recent progress on its climate goals.
Buckley says the Labor government’s Future Gas Strategy is a total undermining of the climate science and the climate action.
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Mr Buckley says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said Australia must embrace the new low-cost, zero-emissions energy solutions available to us to shift our economy to a fully renewable grid.
But this strategy will only further entrench a high-emissions, low-tax-paying industry in Australia’s economy.
“Placing a long-term commitment to this hyper-expensive climate-polluting fuel at the core of transition policy does exactly zero to ensure affordable gas for domestic use here in Australia first.
“On the contrary, the gas cartel is the key culprit behind the domestic energy unaffordability that has smashed Australian households and businesses over the last several years and into 2024.
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In the automotive sector, China argues overcapacity is concentrated in combustion-engine cars rather than EVs and says market mechanisms will eventually weed out weak players.
Moreover, some models by Chinese EV maker BYD sell in Germany for more than double their price in China – an argument that critics use against Europe’s concerns over unfair pricing.
China also says many of its firms are more innovative, hence more competitive. It can point to surpassing the United States as world leader in patent applications.
One industry where global demand does not keep up with Chinese production, though, is solar.
Xuyang Dong, China energy policy analyst at Climate Energy Finance in Sydney, estimates China’s wafer, cell and module capacity coming online in 2024 is sufficient to meet annual global demand now through to 2032.
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Australia should be prepared as China’s remarkable ascent in renewable energy generation is poised to reshape the global energy paradigm, argued Climate Energy Finance (CEF), in recent report.
The report forecasts a monumental milestone: the cessation of new coal power construction in China before 2030.
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The scam is bad news for Australian coal exports. A report released today by Climate Energy Finance models a dramatic slowing in the rate of China’s new coal power plant build-out to stop the construction of new plants before 2030.
This critical shift in the global energy landscape has profound significance globally and for Australia – including the inevitable decline in demand for coal in China.
This is a wakeup call for Australia to accelerate the transition of its economy from dependence on coal exports and diversify its economic base. We should be pivoting now to leverage our world-leading wealth of critical minerals such as lithium and strategic metals like iron ore, processing and manufacturing onshore using our abundant clean energy.
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