Media

As China’s construction slump and steel glut bite, the chairman of government-owned China Baowu Group, the world’s largest steelmaker, has warned China’s steel sector will enter a “severe winter” more challenging than even the major downturns experienced during the GFC of 2008. This spells trouble for iron ore. Australia is the world’s largest iron ore exporter, and it is our number one commodity export, with over 80% going to China. The benchmark iron ore price has fallen below $US100/tonne, while prices for metallurgical coal used in steelmaking have dropped by a third to US$202/t in just 2 months. Read more

You don’t need to believe in anthropogenic climate change to understand that our major coal export customers – China, Japan, and Korea – are rapidly transitioning to renewable energy, because they’d rather produce cheap power in their backyards than buy it from us. I remember being in a room with Tim Buckley, from Climate Energy Finance, who was telling Hunter community members that in 2023 alone, China built six times as much in solar energy generation capacity than Australia has ever built in history – including coal, gas, hydro, solar, and wind. Read more

Woodside disregards historic investor rejection of its climate plan; the energy giant’s US$1.2bn natural gas takeover negates its US$2.35bn carbon capture buy “more than 21 times over”. Woodside paid a “massive” 75% control premium for Tellurian versus the prevailing 2024 share price, Climate Energy Finance founder Tim Buckley said. Leadership is disconnected from climate science forbidding new greenfield fossil fuel project developments or infrastructure, he said. Read more

Tim Buckley at the AFR Asia Summit alongside Foreign Minister Wong and former PM Kevin Rudd said that Australia should embrace the decarbonisation opportunity that would come from a more open stance towards Chinese investment. “It’s critical Australia actually double down and work and enhance and partner with China because if not, they will go elsewhere,” he said. “At the moment, I don’t think that message is coming through loud and clear. We don’t know what the rules, or China doesn’t know what the rules are, for when they do invest here.” Read more

Distributed internationally via AFP – Australia remains one of the world’s leading exporters of coal and gas and has relied heavily on fossil fuels to keep the lights on. But climate finance expert Tim Buckley said August’s record figures were caused by wild weather and a warm start to the spring, which had reduced demand on the grid by up to 20 percent. “It’s a historically low coal share for Australia in the national energy market, but it’s also a sign of where we are going,” Buckley told AFP. “It will only be a few years from now that coal is contributing virtually nothing,” he added. Read more

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has released its latest Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO), painting an optimistic picture of Australia’s energy future. The report suggests that with continued investment in new renewable and storage projects, the nation can successfully transition beyond coal-fired power generation. Tim Buckley, Director of Climate Energy Finance, highlighted that AEMO’s forecasts show power supply reliability can be maintained over most of the next 10 years, provided that established programs and initiatives are delivered on time. Read more

The Spark Club Regular podcast aims to bring balance to the conversation and be a clear and consistent voice on global structural change in energy and the role China is playing. Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance is a banking analyst with deep experience on the rise and rise of China in solar, wind, batteries and EVs. Read more

The global dynamic in the energy transition focuses on Australia, Europe or the US, with occasional reference to China. The capacity and deployment stats coming out of China are staggering, and not well reported. The good news is there is indeed a clear and consistent voice on China, based here in Australia. Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance is a banking analyst with deep experience on the rise and rise of China in solar, wind, batteries and EVs. Tim follows the data points closely and observes trends not cutting through elsewhere. Read more

Elaine Johnson and Tim Buckley argue community concerns and environmental impacts mean that some mining projects, such as the Regis gold mine is NSW should have never got the go ahead. Read more

Fossil fuel lobbyists are exploiting farmers in claims they need the diesel rebate, an $11 billion+ subsidy, to survive. Matt Pollard and Read more

Tim Buckley, Climate Energy Finance Director said AEMO’s new 10 year ESOO concludes there is no reliability gap until 2034 in any state in the NEM unless there are project delays in the deployment of replacement capacity. “AEMO forecasts show that power supply reliability levels can be maintained over most of the next 10 years – assuming programs and initiatives already established are delivered on time and in full,” he said. “We simply need a lot more zero-emissions energy capacity approved and built, particularly utility-scale renewables.” Read more

Tim Buckley speaks on ABC Victoria Radio on AEMO’s 2024 ESOO and continued investment into renewable energy to ensure a stable and secure electricity grid. Read more