Yallourn power station, Australia’s oldest and dirtiest coal plant, will close four years ahead of schedule. Without a national policy, coal workers are left dangerously exposed.
The transition to 100% renewable energy will require a lot of land – mostly in regional Australia. This presents big challenges, and opportunities, for the farming sector.
Last year, renewables provided a whopping 60% of South Australia’s electricity supplies. The remarkable progress came as national climate policy was gripped by paralysis – so how did it happen?
The weather-related impacts of climate change will increasingly threaten critical infrastructure in the future. Shifting electricity grids towards microgrids could help.
The unprecedented intensity of two summers of bushfires, first in the east and then in the west, offered harsh lessons for Australians. One is that some settlements must retreat from high-risk areas.
Heat waves, droughts and deep freezes can all strain the electric grid, leading utilities to impose rolling blackouts. Climate change is likely to make these events more common.
Investment in renewable electricity needs bipartisan political support and some bold decisions if New Zealand is to meet its future energy commitments.
Emissions from road transport in New Zealand have doubled since 1990, and the Climate Change Commission recommends sweeping changes to switch to electric transport options.
Daniel D'Hotman, University of Oxford and Steven Hamilton, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
The end of coal-fired generation in Australia is inevitable. But the federal government can do more to ensure an orderly transition to renewables – avoiding price spikes and supporting workers.