Media

In a feature on better utilisation of consumer energy resources to speed transition, the AFR notes that recently, Marsden Jacob Associates’ Cameron O’Reilly, Electrify Australia founder Saul Griffith and Climate Energy Finance’s Tim Buckley have pushed for more solar and batteries on household, business and public buildings to accelerate decarbonisation while large projects are built. Read more

According to a report released today by Climate Energy Finance (CEF), capping the diesel fuel rebate (the Fuel Tax Credit Scheme – FCT) would save $14 billion over 7 years. It could also help to kick-start a mining electric vehicle industry in Australia, including export opportunities. Read more

Australian Mine Safety Journal reports that restricting fossil fuel incentives could accelerate the transition towards environmentally friendly alternatives, a study found. “This is not a revenue grab we are trying to encourage them to do the right thing,” Climate Energy Finance Corporation founding director Tim Buckley said according to the Australian Associated Press. Buckley suggested extra taxpayer money should be spent on luring Liebherr, Komatsu, Caterpillar and more to expand their domestic electric vehicle operations. Read more

Tim Buckley told AusBiz that CEF calls for a new $100bn new capital and direct budget investment in renewables and energy transition over the next decade, as a response to Biden’s IRA, with half to focus on domestic electrification and decarbonisation, another half to focus on value-added energy transition materials exports. Part of this could be funded by a cap on the diesel rebate to mining. Read more

The federal government could save $14 billion by capping the fuel tax credit for large mining companies and use the funds to drive the electrification of the sector, think tank Climate Energy Finance says. The fuel tax credit scheme, which allows businesses to claim for tax paid on fuel used to power machinery and heavy vehicles, will cost taxpayers $37 billion by 2030 unless the government sets a limit on how much they can claim, a report by the think tank says. Report co-author Tim Buckley said the tax credit scheme was the nation’s largest fossil fuel subsidy and one of the biggest in the world. Read more

Fossil fuel subsidies in Australia reached $11 billion in 2022-23, extending decades of direct capital transfers and tax concessions to some of Australia’s most polluting industries and making Australia one of the G20’s largest providers of subsidies for fossil fuels. The scale of the impact to our economy is enormous. The FTCS is the largest fossil fuel subsidy in Australia and is the 18th largest government expense program in 2023-24. The federal government estimates the FTCS will cost over $9.5 billion in tax concessions in 2023-24 alone, with the credits largely going to Australia’s bulk commodity and fossil fuel mining firms. Read more

Tim Buckley says we have a ‘once-in-a-generation’ chance to pivot our economy towards industries of the future. Australia imports 29 billion litres of high emissions, inflationary diesel each year, heavily subsidised by the Federal Government, critically undermining Australia’s climate and green manufacturing ambitions. A cap to the fuel rebate scheme would create a tailwind for electrifying Australia’s mining fleet, deploying the best technology to become a world leader in embedded decarbonisation. Read more

Australia could kick start the electric truck era by curbing off-road diesel rebates that go to the mining sector, economic modelling shows. A report to be released by independent think tank Climate Energy Finance on Monday calls for the diesel fuel tax credit (FTC) for the mining sector to be capped at $50 million a year per company.”This is not a revenue grab, we’re trying to encourage them to do the right thing,” co-author Tim Buckley told AAP. He said Australia must deal with the “hyper-inflationary” dependence on imported high-emissions diesel and build onshore manufacturing. Australia needs its biggest companies to be “leaders not laggards” on electrification and emissions reduction, he said. “This is all about them having a policy tailwind to back their own strategy of decarbonisation,” he said. Read more

Tim Buckley has a menu of “no regrets” investments in renewables that NSW Energy Minister Sharpe and the Treasurer Mookhey should consider regardless of Eraring. They include: backing with front-loaded finance and accelerated planning approvals 1200MW of utility scale renewables and 1200MW of distributed (customer-owned) renewables each year until 2030; accelerating the rollout of rooftop solar and batteries in public housing and schools across NSW; accelerating the frequency and ambition of Renewable Energy Zones auctions; cajoling NSW transmission and distribution companies to use tech company Neara to identify existing spare grid capacity for new renewables to be plugged in (it reckons there’s room for 10,000MW); and accelerating electrification for rentals and behind-the-meter batteries. Read more

The New South Wales (NSW) State Government has entered talks with Origin Energy to discuss extending the life of Australia’s largest coal-fired power station. The move comes after the nation’s grid operator flagged concerns of energy shortfalls over the next ten years as it retires 62% of its coal power fleet. Tim Buckley, director at the think tank Climate Energy Finance, was critical of the proposals for the Eraring plant stating: “The idea that a 50-year-old plant can just be extended without serious risk of catastrophic failure is ridiculous.” Read more

What is the real cost to transition? The cost of retaining Eraring for an additional 1-2 years would be $200-$400 per year. Eraring has no long term supply locked in beyond 2025, therefore will pay export price parity for coal supply. Locking in coal infrastructure will slow down the transition to renewables. We need to accelerate the deployment of low cost, zero emissions, replacement capacity, not continue with an unreliable coal clunker. Coal subsidies will crowd out replacement capacity that would otherwise permanently solve the problem. Read more

There are concerns that current construction market pressures could delay the rollout of wind, solar, and battery projects needed to plug supply gaps when Eraring comes offline in 2025. “It’s sensible to look at what alternatives $200-$400m/yr provide for New South Wales citizens,” Tim Buckley. Read more