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Tim Buckley, a 40-year finance analyst and clean tech expert, joins Stress Tested to outline the staggering scale of the AI data centre rollout. Read more

Chinese clean technology is helping Australia decarbonise electricity, transport, industry and mining. The challenge is to turn access to globally competitive, scaled supply chains into lasting local capability and competitive advantage. Chinese technology is now deeply embedded in Australia’s energy transition, from batteries to solar and wind farms, electric vehicles (EVs) and mining equipment. The question is no longer whether Australia will use Chinese technology, but how it can do so while strengthening our energy security and capturing more economic value at home. Read more

Tim Buckley, who has 40 years of experience and previously headed equity research at Citigroup, delivered the extraordinary warning on the Stress Tested podcast, declaring that unelected Silicon Valley “tech bros” are now calling the shots on the global stage. However, they have been met with strong resistance in recent weeks as angry Aussies fight back against the data centres needed to power the AI boom. Read more

Australia is standing on the precipice of a $150 billion tech investment boom that could rival the Pilbara iron ore rush. But do we have the workers, the water, and the energy grid to pull it off? Tim Buckley, a 40-year finance analyst and Director of Climate Energy Finance, joins Stress Tested to outline the staggering scale of the AI data centre rollout. Read more

On critical minerals specifically, Chinese companies, often supported by the state, have made massive investments in developing countries to take control of supplies at the mining stage. According to the Australian think-tank Climate Energy Finance, China has invested more than $120bn abroad in mining and mineral-processing projects since 2023, for lithium, copper, nickel and rare earths. The investment also covers supporting infrastructure like ports and railways. Read more

Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance, a public-interest think tank, said the immediate commercial impact of the proposed measures was likely to be limited because some technologies covered by the proposal, including perovskite cells, were not yet ready for widespread commercial manufacturing. He said solar module prices had remained below production costs for at least 18 months, while global manufacturing overcapacity meant additional module factories might not be commercially necessary for another two to three years. Read more

Think tank Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley said each dollar of data centre investment typically requires an additional dollar of investment in energy infrastructure to meet the facility’s energy needs. This would likely mean billions of dollars of new investment. “If you’re talking a one-gigawatt project, then you’re going to need three gigawatts of wind and solar because obviously they only run 30-35% of the time, you’re going to have behind the meter energy storage, and then you’re going to need a bit more grid investment,” Buckley said. Read more

A climate think tank says WA’s emissions reduction plans must go further to decarbonise the Pilbara, the state’s largest greenhouse gas emitter. The state government yesterday committed to a 75 per cent renewable energy target for WA’s main electricity grid, the South West Interconnected System, by 2031. Read more

Climate Energy Finance’s Tim Buckley has also expressed enthusiasm for the next move towards renewables, however, he also noted the importance of Australia’s world-leading mining industry, saying that mining majors should be supported to “collectively work towards an electrification and decarbonisation Common User Infrastructure strategy for the Pilbara.” He added that this should be done while “leveraging the clean energy supply chains of our key North Asian trade partners and building bilateral agreements in support of this key and overdue industry pivot.” Read more

According to Tim Buckley, Director of the think tank Climate Energy Finance, more than 70% of the port’s revenue still comes from this fossil fuel. Buckley believes the port will probably fail to achieve its goal of generating equal shares of revenue from coal and other businesses by 2030. Projects to establish Newcastle as a hub for offshore wind energy have almost completely failed, according to Buckley. High interest rates and political disputes are the main reasons. Read more

Western Australia will rely on major new wind projects to underpin an ambitious green energy target for its main power grid, but business has warned that the plan will not reduce power prices enough to save manufacturing and minerals processing in the state. Read more

“This is a strong, historic move forward for Western Australia – a floor, not a ceiling – and a meaningful signal to investors and industry, and we congratulate the WA government on this key step. If achieved, all coal generation will be replaced by renewables by 2030/31, and we will see a material decline in gas generation, critical progress in line with the climate science. In that light, it was great to visit one of the two massive BESS yesterday in the historic coal region of Collie WA – the two largest operating batteries in the world today. Read more