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OP ED | There is no “gas shortage”, just a shortage of ethics and integrity from gas cartel
Renew Economy
AEMO’s assertion in its Gas Statement today that we need more new supply to offset purported imminent shortages is bizarre and counterintuitive. There is no shortage, just a cartel with a chronic shortage of ethics extorting Australians as they export the majority of domestic production and rake in obscene war profits. It should be a major priority for AEMO to provide rule modernisations incentivising new technologies to rapidly decarbonise our grid and decouple from extortionate, polluting, volatile fossil fuels. Read our take.
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Tim Buckley on AEMO’s Gas Statement of Opportunities
ABC TV News Channel
Tim Buckley talks to AEMO’s ESOO noting that its statement there is a shortage of gas is bizarre when production has tripled in the last 10 years, and the only shortage is an ethics deficit from the extortionate multinational gas cartel extracting superprofits as they export Australia’s sovereign resources and smash Australians with energy price hyperinflation.
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OP ED | Clean energy is the only solution to soaring power prices
The New Daily
As the Australian Energy Regulator announces a projected 20% rise in retail electricity prices from July 1 – a hike which would have been closer to 40-50% had the Albanese government not intervened to cap domestic wholesale coal and gas prices in December last year – we look at the causes and solutions of the energy price crisis.
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‘Clean’ hydrogen from coal? Japan’s betting $2bn on Latrobe Valley getting the tech right
Stockhead
Tim Buckley comments on the Japanese government sinking $2bn into a coal gasification to hydrogen project in Victoria: “Last time I checked, there won’t be a ship ready to transport hydrogen in the next decade… it looks like they are pushing carbon capture storage and hydrogen shipping – neither of which are proven technologies. If the Japanese government want to commit $2bn into an unproven pilot facility, good luck to them, but I don’t want to see a huge amount of taxpayer money going into a project that is designed to promote the extension of more high emitting coal gasification technologies that have continually failed to work globally.”
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Thanks to BHP, this Noosa coal salesman is worth $450m
The Australian Financial Review
On the purchase by a little known Australian investor, with Indonesian partners, of two coal mines divested by BHP, Tim Buckley notes: “Divestment by credible leading Australian companies to far-less accountable Indonesian family-controlled companies, in isolation, does little to solve the climate crisis. On the positive, it does progressively starve the fossil fuel sector of capital and acknowledges the fossil fuel sector’s progressive loss of a social licence to operate.”
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Why You Shouldn’t Wait for Cheaper Solar Panels in 2023
Energy Matters
Tim Buckley forecasts a 10 per cent annual module price reduction over the next decade, with his confidence is driven by the increase in the production capacity of PVs in China, which will likely triple by the end of this year.
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OP ED | Safeguard mechanism needs work but is still a win
Canberra Times
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.
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OP ED | Grid operator needs to dial in EVs to support huge pipeline of wind, solar and storage
Renew Economy
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.
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Electricity shortages predicted from 2027, with threats of blackouts on east coast
Channel 9 News
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.
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Bowen says no to coal and gas ban, yes to more “sensible” discussions with Greens
Renew Economy
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.”
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Carbon Counter: Big oils’ profits see return to “core business”
ABC Radio National Drive
The world’s five biggest oil companies: BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total Energies; collectively made almost USD $200 Billion in profits last year. Tim Buckley breaks down this extraordinary profiteering for RN Drive
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Our climate challenge is our greatest opportunity: So how do we get it right?
Renew Economy
The newly formed Climate Capital Forum – a coalition of financial experts, investors, philanthropists, industry bodies and NGOs – this week launched a policy roadmap detailing bold reforms to position Australia as a superpower in zero-emissions trade and investment. Tim Buckley outlines the key policy asks.
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