Media

n this episode of The Greener Way, we hear from Tim Buckley, founder and director of Climate Energy Finance, a public interest pro bono think tank that produces research and analysis on accelerating the global energy transition. Read more

Tim Buckley breaks down the new CSIRO GenCost report out today which finds that a large-scale nuclear reactor would take at least until 2040 to build, cost around $17bn and produce power costing twice as much as firmed renewables, definitively showing that Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is a complete furphy. Read more

Tim Buckley reviews Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ Future Made in Australia Budget handed down this week, breaking down the key takeouts and what it means for Australia’s pathway to decarbonisation as the the energy transition accelerates globally. Read more

Tim Buckley said: In the budget, we saw an excellent $21bn down payment. It is great to see that this is additional funding, not the usual political trick of rehashing previous press releases. The development of the production tax credit (PTC) model for critical minerals and green hydrogen to incentivise onshore value-adding is a very strong step forward, a clear acknowledgement that Australia can’t simply leave it to free markets when other countries have made such significant public interest interventions, undermining global trade. We particularly note the absence of any additional stimulus on “electrifying everything” and only $28m of new funding to better integrate consumer energy resources into the grid. Read more

Tim Buckley on all the highlights of the 2024-25 Budget, which finally builds real momentum toward transitioning Australia to its future as a zero-emissions trade and investment leader. Read more

The boss of Orica, a major explosives manufacturer that relies on gas, says the federal government’s gas strategy won’t assist what remains of Australia’s manufacturing industry unless it caps prices at globally competitive levels.Analyst Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance described the federal government’s gas announcement as “bizarre” and argued it contradicted the government’s decarbonisation ambitions. “Prime Minister Albanese’s Future Made in Australia is exactly the sort of strategy we need, and then the federal government comes out with this own goal,” he told The Business. Read more

There is a lot to unpack in the Albanese government’s Future Gas Strategy, a mind-boggling policy move that seeks to lock the fossil fuel into Australia’s energy and export – and greenhouse gas emissions – mix to 2050 and beyond. Finally, Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance says the “gas shortage” narrative being lapped up by the government is “fabricated and fact-free.” “East Australia produces 5 times as much gas as we use domestically, most of it exported and then sold back to us at outrageously inflated prices,” Buckley said on Thursday. “The only winners from the Future Gas Strategy are the multinationals. And the only gas shortage is a shortage of gas cartel ethics, aided and abetted by a government that appears to be suffering a severe case of industry capture.” Read more

“It is ridiculous and beyond disappointing that the Australian Government in 2024 is releasing a long-term strategy that centres methane gas in the transition to net zero by 2050. The strategy released today is a massive misstep in the context of the strides the Albanese government has been making in pivoting to our economic future as renewables powered zero-emissions trade and investment leader. Read more

New South Wales is not on track to meet climate change targets, according to the government’s own environmental database. The Climate Energy Finance director and analyst, Tim Buckley, said the Eraring subsidy would cost the taxpayer $150m a year. He said: We are putting band aids on end of life coal assets instead of investing in the solutions to permanent low cost zero emission solutions that Australia and NSW desperately needs to see approved. This is a race to the top and yet the NSW government in 2024 is now going in the wrong direction. We call on them to reallocate planning resources to approving the projects we critically need to solve the climate crisis.” Read more

The Future Gas Strategy released by Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King is a massive misstep in the context of the strides the Albanese government has been making in pivoting to our economic future as renewables powered zero-emissions trade and investment leader. Australia, is positioned to lead the world in the decarbonised global economy of the rapidly emerging future, if we invest strategically at scale and redouble our efforts into future-facing clean energy and industry opportunities. Australia needs to invest in our future, not prop up industries of the past. It is beyond time for Australia to make the right choice. Read more

Tim Buckley from Climate Energy Finance says that Labor’s gas plan announcement is at odds with the government’s recent progress on its climate goals. Buckley says the Labor government’s Future Gas Strategy is a total undermining of the climate science and the climate action. Read more

Mr Buckley says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said Australia must embrace the new low-cost, zero-emissions energy solutions available to us to shift our economy to a fully renewable grid. But this strategy will only further entrench a high-emissions, low-tax-paying industry in Australia’s economy. “Placing a long-term commitment to this hyper-expensive climate-polluting fuel at the core of transition policy does exactly zero to ensure affordable gas for domestic use here in Australia first. “On the contrary, the gas cartel is the key culprit behind the domestic energy unaffordability that has smashed Australian households and businesses over the last several years and into 2024. Read more