If anyone thinks the government isn’t behaving in a extraordinary manner in its onslaught against AGL over the future of the Liddell power station, just consider what the Coalition would say if a Labor…
There are many viable options for Australia’s energy future.
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The energy market operator has warned of possible future electricity shortages – but only if everything stays frozen as it is now.
A man fixes electric wires in the Lagos Island district. Nigeria has serious power challenges made worse by the way the sector is regulated.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
The centralised regulation of electric power in Nigeria is stalling progress in the sector. To achieve stable power supply, the country must obey its constitution and decentralise regulation.
Drax and Eggborough power stations in England.
Pete Richman
On Q&A, an audience member said renewable energy is ‘now cheaper than coal’. Senator Matt Canavan disagreed, saying renewables are not ‘at the moment, cheaper than coal’. Let’s look at the numbers.
The first U.S. offshore wind farm, near Block Island, Rhode Island, started delivering commercial electricity in December 2016.
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
Jennifer Morris, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
When utilities plan investments, they think decades ahead. A recent study shows why power companies should be spending more on renewables despite the Trump administration’s tilt toward fossil fuels.
Solar PV outstripped coal as the leading source of new electricity generation worldwide last year.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Solar PV and wind energy have overtaken coal as the leading sources of new electricity generation worldwide, with falling prices and new storage technologies making clean energy ever more attainable.
A single, national market that supplies all of Australia’s electricty is looking dangerously outdated – and politically impossible.
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The idea that Australia’s national electricity market is either useful or feasible has simply passed.
The controversial Narrabri coal seam gas project. Australia has plenty of gas reserves that are cheaper to develop and a safer bet.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Australia has enough gas reserves to supply the next 25 years’ demand. Federal pressure to lift state bans on onshore gas development is pointless, risky – and won’t bring prices down.
Australia will need more sources of zero-emissions energy if it is to stay on track for carbon-neutrality by 2050.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
A new analysis by ClimateWorks Australia says that the electricity sector needs to do far more to cut its carbon emissions than will be delivered by current policies.
A technician checks a smart meter data in this file photo. Research suggests the technology fails to affect consumer behaviour.
(AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Data suggests a smart-meter plan to shift electricity use to off-peak hours has had almost no impact.
A tanker ship heads into Liverpool harbour as a pilot boats heads out. In the background. In the background, the Burbo Bank wind farm. While new facilities have increased capacity, the UK currently imports 6% of its electricity.
Andrew/Flickr
A year after Brexit, experts from the Grenoble École de Management and the Centre for European Economic Research look at what impacts the UK’s leaving the EU could have on energy prices and security.
The Finkel Review is scientifically modest but politically deft.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Chief Scientist Alan Finkel has attempted to address the energy ‘trilemma’: electricity that’s cheap, reliable and low-emissions. Has he succeeded? Our expert panel weighs in.
The Finkel review aims to introduce certainty into Australia’s energy market.
Reuters/Tim Wimborne
Better energy management could reduce peak demand by the equivalent of two Hazelwood power stations. It’s time to get serious about demand response solutions to our energy crisis.
Current political intervention in the energy market is haphazard and disconnected.
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The energy security crisis has politicians leaping to unveil various schemes. But we don’t need piecemeal action – the Finkel review, due in June, aims to create a coherent new energy blueprint.
South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, desperately needs a tariff hike.
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Nick Florin, University of Technology Sydney dan Ben Madden, University of Technology Sydney
A recycling company has received tens of millions from the federal government to develop solid waste fuel. This fuel reduces landfill, shrinks our carbon footprint and protects the environment.
Earlier this year Australia’s energy market operator warned of a gas shortage, sparking fears of an energy crisis. But new research shows the projected shortfall is so small, it may already be closed.