Media

In this feature on the flaws in the carbon offsets available under the Safeguard Mechanism emissions reduction framework applying to Australia’s biggest emitters, Tim Buckley notes that fossil-fuel multinationals operating in Australia made $120 to $140 billion gross profit last year alone on exports of Australian LNG and coal. Read more

While the federal government’s safeguard mechanism reform is flawed – in particular, offsets should be strictly limited – it does provide the policy architecture for a high permanent price on carbon – essential to driving decarbonisation, alongside the suite of policy initiatives designed to accelerate the energy transition. After 10 years of LNP failure, this is a massive win. Read more

AEMO’s electricity opportunities update today confirms significant progress on grid decarbonisation in the last 6 months – with a staggering 209GW of new firmed renewables worth > A$250 billion in the pipeline – coupled with the urgent need for accelerating investment in generation, long-duration storage and transmission to ensure supply over the next decade. The acceleration of long delayed deployment of EVs and charging networks also means it’s time for AEMO to start modelling EV-to-grid charging opportunities. With ~20 million EVs in Australia within two decades, this equates to a collective new asset base of 800 gigawatt hours of batteries. Read more

Tim Buckley comments on today’s release by the Australian Energy Market Operator of its electricity market update, noting there has been significant progress on decarbonising the energy grid in the past six months, with a 209 gigawatt pipeline of new firmed renewables proposals worth over $250 billion, highlighting the massive regional employment and investment opportunities from decarbonisation – but also observing the urgent need for further capacity investment to offset exiting fossil fuels. Read more

The price on carbon in the safeguard mechanism will be capped at $75/tonne, increasing annually by CPI plus 2 per cent to a possible $100 by 2030. Tim Buckley notes this means that by 2030 the companies that own the polluting facilities can either invest in new clean technologies or processes, or cop a collective $4.9 billion annual hit, which will double again to $9 billion by 2035. Read more

Tim Buckley comments as the Greens decline to support federal Safeguard Mechanism reforms unless the government commits to banning new coal and gas: while “any argument that Australia needs new coal and gas supplies is pure fossil fuel spin” there is a need for a well regulated carbon market, complete with high quality offsets. “People are underestimating the financial benefit of getting a high, regulated price on carbon into the Australian economy. That is a massive win.” Read more

Tim Buckley joins Renew Economy editor Giles Parkinson, and Lisa Balk and Ed Ahmed from Grid Beyond, in this webinar presentation exploring “Crisis, contingencies and the green energy transition”. Read more

Tim Buckley predicts 10 per cent annual solar module price reductions over the next decade, with prices falling and the speed of the fall accelerating as existing global solar PV annual production capacity triples by the end of the year, with most of the new capacity in China. Read more

Tim Buckley on the Safeguard Mechanism debate: “Australian industry now knows action is inevitable, but they have largely failed to prepare or plan for this, given the energy and climate policy chaos of the last decade. So the affected players are saying they need offsets at least initially because they realistically have ignored the science and failed till now to prepare.” Read more

In this 5 minute explainer, Tim Buckley speaks to pv magazine about the crisis threatening Adani Group, the “positive outlook” for Australian renewables, and the nation’s potential to become a clean energy superpower, including supplying the value added critical minerals the world needs for the energy transition. Read more

Supporting the release of the Climate Council’s report on Australia’s biggest emitters impacted by the government’s Safeguard Mechanism reforms, Tim Buckley says it is crucial to name and shame the laggards that are driving Australia’s industrial pollution to intensify pressure on them to act. “These dozen super-polluters must make tangible, deep progress on reducing emissions and governments and investors alike must hold them accountable”. Read more

Tim Buckley observes that credible and ambitious Safeguard Mechanism reform is critical to driving sustained, rapid reductions in scope 1 emissions: “It is important to call out the worst contributors to industrial pollution and make sure they start cleaning up their acts. We need sustained emissions reduction action, and the dozen super-polluters in the Australian economy should make tangible, deep progress on reducing emissions and governments and investors alike must hold them accountable”. Read more