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Taxpayers will need to pay up to $2bn in additional subsidies if the federal and South Australian governments support an “entirely uneconomic” gas-backed plan to rescue the ailing Whyalla steelworks, according to new analysis by Climate Energy Finance. The warning comes ahead of a decision by administrators over the future of the steelworks, one of only two major integrated steel projects in Australia and the only local manufacturer of rail. Read more

Australia has more than $4 trillion in retirement savings but little of this finds its way to clean energy. Strategist Jeremy Cooper has an idea to fix this. Plus: The Super battery’s not so super moment, and a rush of new projects. Read more

A new report warns that a gas-led transition for the Whyalla Steelworks could benefit South Australian oil and gas giant Santos with billions of dollars in taxpayer funds. Think tank Climate Energy Finance warned a gas-powered transition for the Whyalla Steelworks, rather than a push towards green iron and steel, would “be a grave strategic misstep” for the state and nation in a new report. Read more

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

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

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