Our work

China remains ahead in leading global cleantech investment during its domestic renewable energy expansion. While the investment in renewables is unevenly split across the world, China continues to mobilise capital to the Global South to help developing countries in energy transition. 2023 is the tipping point for China to peak its coal use as well as its emissions. Australia should seize this opportunity to work with China, as well as other countries, in order to become a renewable superpower. Read more

As AER flags significant electricity price hikes from July 1, we note that these increases are half what they would have been without the federal government intervention to cap wholesale coal and gas prices in December 2022, as AER acknowledged. Our expectation is that retail prices may have peaked, and we look at the prospects for power prices against the backdrop of the rise of deflationary renewables and global race to decarbonisation. Read more

As APPEA members and lobbyists gather for the annual gas shills’ jamboree and talkfest, we take a forensic look at Resources Minister Madeleine King’s keynote address, and deconstruct the baseless claim that we need more gas – when what we need is a fast, dramatic and wholesale pivot to value-adding critical minerals and energy transition materials onshore, backed by a landmark injection of public investment. With the world responding to the game-changing $1tn US Inflation Reduction Act, we delay, we lose. And the train is leaving the station. Read more

Tim Buckley’s presentation to the board of Argo Investments takes a deep dive into global energy transition, looking at major policy initiatives and capital inflows accelerating decarbonisation in the US, China, India, the EU, Canada and Korea, with a focus the implications for Australian policy and investment. Read more

The Federal Budget is a mixed bag for climate and energy with a serious case of underreach on fixing the failed PRRT gas tax, but some good policy and funding progress on a National Net Zero Authority, energy bill relief and home and business electrification, and measures to respond to the global race to renewables, such as $2bn for a green Hydrogen Headstart program – all in the context of a massive surprise $4.2bn surplus. However, we need to see more fiscal ambition to respond to game-changing international policy and funding reforms such as the US Inflation Reduction Act that are turbocharging global energy transition. Read more

China continues to lead the world in all aspects of the global development of zero emissions industries of the future, both in terms of domestic deployment and manufacturing supply chains, both for domestic and export purposes. To meet increasing electricity demand, China is deploying both more coal power plants and more renewables. However, renewables are now leading China’s newly added power capacity. Read more

Tim Buckley’s presentation to the Smart Energy Council conference looks at the massive global acceleration of decarbonisation, including via the funding and policy reforms of Biden’s IRA which has turbocharged the transition in the US. What are the implications for the imminent Federal Budget if Australia to position itself as a global leader in the new cleantech world economy? Read more

In this submission, we argue that the currently patently redundant and inadequate methodology for assessing methane emissions from coal mines be modernised to incorporate the latest science and new methods, including real time public disclosure of monitoring, reporting and verification. Read more

Woodside Energy risks lumping investors with a multibillion dollar bill, says CEF director Tim Buckley. That’s the cost of meeting measures in the newly legislated Federal climate policy, the Safeguard Mechanism. Read more

CEF’s Tim Buckley told UBS analysts of Australia’s potential to be a renewable energy superpower, given abundant critical minerals, scope to value-add and minimal supply chain risk. Read more

Our op ed on a new report released today by the Clean Energy Investor Group and Investor Group on Climate Change, flagging that Australian governments need to collectively lift collaboration with private investors, and derisk the electricity sector to crowd-in private capital at the scale and speed required to meet energy and climate objectives. Read more

In this presentation for the Moir Group, Tim Buckley looks at key trends in the energy transition including renewable energy price deflation, emissions pricing, market returns, China’s dominance in decarbonisation, the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Net Zero Industry Act, and Australia’s once in a century opportunity to lead the world in critical minerals and energy transition materials value-added processing and manufacturing, powered by renewables. Read more