The Grattan Institute has reported that the costs of solar panels have outweighed the benefits by almost A$10 billion in Australia. But the real benefits of cutting greenhouse emissions are much larger.
As China realises the unpriced costs of coal power, such as air pollution, coal production is starting to fall.
Gustavo M/Flickr
Australian governments heavily subsidise car, bus and train commuting, but not cycling. Yet a new survey shows many workers would consider riding to work if they got paid for it, and most would even support…
Many cycle to work, but many more might - if the price is right.
ProfDEH
The French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Energy Development has launched a trial scheme where commuters are paid to cycle to work. For six months, 20 companies with about 10,000 employees between…
Solar panels: a tale of the haves and have-nots?
Mtaylor848
Energy-generating solar panels provide the opportunity to generate low-carbon electricity from the roof over your head, at a cost that has fallen dramatically and continues to slide. So many governments…
Alcoa is to close its Point Henry smelter in Geelong.
AAP
Alcoa’s decision to close the Point Henry smelter, at a cost of almost 1000 jobs in Geelong and elsewhere, comes amid a perfect storm buffeting Australia’s aluminium industry. Point Henry will be the second…
Will transmission charges cloud over Germany’s solar industry?
Ben Birchall/PA
Germany, one of the world’s leading users of solar power, is set to charge people generating their own solar-powered electricity for access to the national grid. The move is part of the package of reforms…
Can Scotland generate enough energy to go it alone, or is it blowing in the wind?
Ben Curtis/PA
Could Scotland benefit from having an independent electricity system? Our report published this week found that it could – if it meant Scotland paying for (and benefiting from) its own renewable energy…
The reasons for compensating emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries have vanished; so should the compensation.
Dave Clarke
With the Rudd government announcing a faster conversion to a market-driven carbon price, it should be time to review the assistance provided to emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industries such as raw…
Do they have any idea what they’re doing? Or is it all an act?
Stefan Rousseau/PA
In a dramatic flourish of energy policy announcements over the past two weeks, the government’s spending review was merely the first act. Soon after, a British Geological Survey report revealed our huge…
Big farmers win big under agricultural policy, but change is in the air.
Chris Ison/PA
Reforming the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy has never been easy, and that’s hardly surprising. It’s well established that when interests are concentrated together, such as those of farmers…
Ford Australia has announced it will pull its car production out of Australia by 2016, with the loss of 1200 manufacturing jobs.
The future of Australia’s auto manufacturing industry is under a heavy cloud after Ford’s announcement that it would cease its manufacturing operations in Australia by 2016. Ford Australia president Bob…
Speedy and decisive action is needed from the government to ensure our future energy security.
Flickr/Cayusa
Our nuclear reactors have reached the end of their lives, North Sea oil is running out, coal is dirty: Britain faces an energy crisis of rising demand and falling supply. In our Nuclear Futures series…
Chapelcross, Scotland: decisions over our future sources of energy won’t wait until the cows come home.
Magnox Sites Ltd
Providing power to the nation is no small task. It requires considerable forward planning, involves huge costs and considerable risks. More risk and cost, in fact, than most energy providers can stomach…
The body of people and organisations speaking out against fuel and energy subsidies is growing.
AAP Image/Penny Bradfield
More than half of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels. Reducing and eventually eliminating fossil fuel use is a critical priority. Most of the world’s remaining fossil fuel reserves…
Recent redundancies at Holden have sparked debate over the need for a revised “industry policy”: but is this really the way forward?
AAP/Andrew Brownbill
The recent GM-Holden redundancies have provoked much comment, in many cases appealing for both state and federal governments to find solutions. But can government solve this dilemma, or is it a (big) part…
The government’s handling of the automotive industry underestimates its potential strategic importance to the Australian economy.
AAP
Holden’s announcement of job cuts on Monday demonstrates the dual impacts of the strong Australian dollar and import penetration upon the beleaguered domestic automotive industry. 400 jobs will go in Adelaide…
If Tasmania is broken, maybe it’s because Tasmanians have no reason to fix it.
Gary Sauer-Thompson
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? Over the next two weeks The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and the University of Tasmania, is publishing a series of provocations. Our authors ask where…
Asking what higher education students should pay is a deceptively straightforward question.
University image from www.shutterstock.com
The Grattan Institute’s most recent report Graduate Winners by Andrew Norton has generated valuable debate about what financial subsidy government should provide for university students. But before adjusting…
Incoming Director of the Australian Institute of Business and Economics at UQ, and Professor of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University