Media

Data centres could consume 13 per cent of National Electricity Market power by 2036. Australia should require them to bring new firmed renewable energy rather than add pressure to the grid. We all saw the shocking scenes last week as a glacier collapse in the Himalayas produced a biblical flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border, obliterating everything in its path. The impact was such that it triggered seismic activity signalling an earthquake. Panicked people tried desperately to outrun a churning wall of water metres high. At the time of writing, over 900 are dead, swept away in the raging torrent, with thousands missing, villages and infrastructure destroyed, and scores of Australians unaccounted for. Read more

Rooftop solar and batteries and virtual power plant technology solutions could permanently reduce this massive state budget subsidy, but it requires capacity building and up front capital, as well as political will and policy developments, and ultimately a nationally coordinated approach. Australia has installed over 487,000 home battery systems in the last 12 months. But how many have been installed in remote, end-of-grid and off-grid communities? Next to none. Now is a great time to change this Minister Chris Bowen and Assistant Minister Josh Wilson, Minister Amber Jade Sanderson and Minister David Janetzki. Read more

Australia faces a nation-defining moment. Climate change, energy insecurity, technological transformation and geopolitical competition are reshaping the economic and strategic landscape. They can no longer be understood – or governed – in isolation. They demand a more strategic response: one that aligns public institutions and private investment to build the industries that will underpin future prosperity and national resilience. Read more

Globally, the iron and steel industry’s decarbonisation trajectory – key to tackling climate change, given the sector generated close to 10% of emissions – is advancing. But it is doing so haltingly, and at a pace that remains misaligned with the rate required to meet global emissions reduction obligations. Read more

Last week again demonstrated the growing unreliability of end of life coal fired power plants which costs Australians and domestic heavy industry dearly. Paul McArdle of WattClarity highlights the massive spike in power prices on 8 July 2026 that saw pricing average >A$300/MWh for most of the evening peak across not just Victoria but the entire National Electricity Market (NEM) last Wednesday. From 10.05am, the 6 x Loy Yang lignite coal-fired power plant units across Loy Yang A (AGL) and Loy Yang B (now Sembcorp owned Alinta) rebid upwards due to a ‘coal shortfall’. Read more

Governments, businesses and households are pivoting because electrification increasingly makes economic sense. For Australia, this presents both an opportunity and a warning. We remain the world’s third-largest exporter of fossil fuels, yet many of our biggest export markets are simultaneously accelerating their transition towards renewable electricity and electrified industries. As these economies in Asia continue reducing their dependence on imported coal and gas, Australia’s long-term export profile must change. Rather than resisting that shift in a way that leaves workers exposed to sudden shocks, we should prepare for it. Read more

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey was unequivocal on the central role of energy transition in economic growth and prosperity. Mookhey emphasised that the renewables transition is a top driver of investment into the state, with renewable energy infrastructure a significant contributor to the 20% surge in investment over the year to the March quarter 2026. Read more

Data centre proponents could lose social licence to operate far faster than has in some cases happened in the electricity sector, given the scale and speed of proposed developments. Climate Energy Finance (CEF) and our partners at the Carbon Zero Initiative are calling for a set of binding public interest principles that would shape the emergence of the data centre sector in Australia. Read more

Australia’s smelters will keep needing taxpayer bailouts unless governments create a publicly backed clean energy model that can deliver reliable, affordable power for heavy industry. Read more

China leads the world in almost all zero-emissions industries of the future, be that solar, wind, hydroelectricity, smart grids, very fast rail, batteries, electric vehicles and nuclear. China’s leadership extends to the global upstream mining and processing of critical minerals and strategic metals supply chains that enable these cleantech industries. China leads the world when it comes to research and development, manufacturing, domestic deployments, exports and increasingly, in outbound direct foreign investment across all of these cleantech sectors. Read more

A major expose on ABC Four Corners last night, in collaboration with The Guardian, revealed for the first time irrefutable evidence of BHP reversing its commitments to meaningfully cut emissions in a credible timeframe at its world-dominant Pilbara iron ore business. The egregious walk-back, as the climate crisis escalates, was laid out in hundreds of pages of leaked internal company records. We’ve been saying it for years – BHP’s record of (in)action on clean energy and climate is pathetic and an indictment of its board and CEO leadership. And there it was in black and white. Read more

The federal budget increases investment in emissions reduction, batteries and clean energy infrastructure, but leaves major fossil fuel tax concessions and gas industry profits largely untouched. Read more