Media

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.” Read more

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. Read more

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. Read more

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. Read more

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. Read more

Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled a major overhaul of foreign investment rules, saying the changes were designed to help attract private capital and better manage national security risks. Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley said Chinese investors had made important contributions to Australia’s renewable industry, and the more competitive investors able to bid, the better for the energy transition. “We need to collaborate with them because they have got the world’s best technology in solar panels, polysilicon, batteries, wind turbines and electric vehicles,” Mr Buckley said. “Getting them to collaborate and invest in Australia in partnership with us will be critically important”. Read more

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. Read more

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. Read more

The New South Wales government will announce within days that it will extend the operations of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for as long as four more years. “They are responding to the demands of the fossil fuel sector,” said Tim Buckley, head of Climate Energy Finance, who has compiled reports on how NSW can retain a reliable power system without Eraring. “They will be using taxpayer funds to crowd out private capital” that would otherwise be investing in renewable energy, he said. In March, Buckley estimated that keeping the power station operating could cost the government as much as $150m a year for just two of its four units. Read more

Climate Energy Finance’s latest report, released this week, modelled China’s electricity system nationally at the annual level through to 2040, evaluating its likely GDP growth trajectory and the resulting energy demand growth, as well as the increased share and hence demand for electricity in the energy mix as China continues to pursue its ‘electrification of everything’ strategy of the last two decades. This is a wakeup call for Australia to accelerate the transition of its economy from its historic overdependence on coal exports and diversify its economic base. We should be pivoting now to deploy our natural advantages – our world-leading wealth of critical minerals and strategic metals – to produce value-added energy transition materials for export. Read more

Xuyang Dong spoke with Amelia Bernasconi at ABC about CEF’s new report POWER SHIFT: Staggering rise of renewables positions China to end new coal power before 2030. Xuyang says that China is massively accelerating renewable energy. In just the first three months of this year China installed 61 gigawatts of wind and solar. This means China is reducing its dependence on coal power. Coal power will fall to less than 50% of China’s energy mix by 2030. Our projections show it can stop building new coal power stations before 2030. Read more

China’s energy landscape is undergoing a staggering transformation propelled by its leadership in cleantech innovation, declining costs in renewable energy technologies and a massive acceleration of its renewables build out, underpinned by central policy support that sees decarbonisation as a key economic goal. Read more