Media

“China leads the world in clean tech – including solar, wind, batteries and new energy vehicles – with its investments more than double those of the US or the EU,” the Australian non-profit organisation Climate Energy Finance said in a report on October 2. Dong Xuyang, a China energy policy analyst with Climate Energy Finance and one of the report’s authors, said this year there has been a “material step up” of Chinese investments in Australian renewable energy projects. Dong said China provides cost-competitive clean tech to the global market, adding “trade barriers” from the US and EU “risk raising costs for domestic consumers and industries engaged in the energy transition”. Read more

The report, “Green capital tsunami: China’s >$100 billion outbound clean-tech investment since 2023 turbocharges global energy transition”, released on Oct 2 by the independent think tank Climate Energy Finance, or CEF, said Chinese firms have committed more than$100 billion in outbound foreign direct investment since 2023. Xuyang Dong, CEF’s China energy policy analyst and co-author of the report, said China leads the world in clean energy. “It is actively injecting more and more zero-emissions energy into its national power system even as it progressively shifts to electrifying everything and upgrading its energy policy to accelerate the energy transition progress,” she told China Daily. “China is increasingly the world leader in almost all these zero-emissions industries of the future, and that opens up opportunities to invest globally into clean energy,” she said. Dong said the problem for Australia is a “lack of effective communication and trust” between the two countries. Read more

TIM BUCKLEY speaks fortnightly with Grant McDowell on his reqular podcast featuring fireside chats with energy transition leaders traversing the key themes in global and Australian decarbonisation Read more

Tim Buckley talks to ABC Illawarra about the surge to 73.6% renewables in Australia’s grid in early October, and what we need to do to drive higher renewables penetration to permanently slash power bills Read more

Tim Buckley comments on the record 73.6% renewables in the NEM last week, noting this is significant but more work is needed on CER and batteries to ensure we grasp our clean energy future – slashing energy bills for households and business Read more

Tim Buckley said the partnership between Australia’s SunDrive and leading Chinese solar panel manufacturer Trina is a strong positive for the federal government’s Solar Sunshot program and broader Future Made in Australia strategy. Read more

Tim Buckley says the partnership of leading Australian solar start-up SunDrive with China’s Trina solar is a great opportunity for the Australian industry to benefit from China’s clean energy nous to accelerate decarbonisation. Read more

Tim details CEF’s new report on the $100bn plus in cleantech capital China is investing around the world into solar, wind, EVs, batteries and more, including what Australia needs to go to attract this capital to speed our energy transition. Read more

The International Energy Agency’s Renewables 2024 report has forecast Australia will add 53 GW of renewable capacity between 2024-2030, with a nearly 65% share being from a mix of utility, rooftop and green hydogen production solar. Independent think tank Climate Energy Finance Director Tim Buckley said the IEA now models a continued increase in global renewables deployments to 940 GW annually by 2030, a 70% increase in the record of 2023. “This shows a global ‘bending of the curve’, very overdue in light of the climate science, but a deployment rate considered impossible only a few years ago,” Read more

Tim Buckley responds to the IEA Renewables 2024 report: “Thanks largely to China, we now have the global cleantech manufacturing capacity to accelerate deployments of renewables significantly to achieve the goal set at last year’s UN Climate Conference to treble renewables to 2030. The massive deflation of prices for renewables technologies and the drive for energy security both favour accelerating investment as the world looks to mitigate the escalating climate crisis of climate change.” Read more

As John Hewson and Tim Buckley write, i the one-page nuclear policy pamphlet the LNP released in June, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton states that “of the world’s 20 largest economies, Australia is the only one not using nuclear energy, or moving towards using it.” Even this claim lacks credibility and relies on half-truths – so no wonder Dutton and his nuclear-spuiking sidekick Ted O’Brien are failing to get buy-in on their delusion from those in their own party, let alone most experts. Read more

Tim Buckley, a leading energy analyst and director of Climate Energy Finance, added, despite a strong increase in investments in renewable energy since the December 2023 COP28 pledge to triple installed capacity by 2030, they are not yet on track to meet this goal, with global capacity expected to grow by 2.7 times by the end of the decade. “This reflects a 25 per cent lift in collective ambition compared to last year, driven by decreasing costs for solar and battery technologies. Increased support from developed nations is crucial for facilitating the energy transition in developing countries, helping to rapidly decarbonise in line with climate science,” Tim Buckley said. Read more