Australia invests $9.6m in 'revolutionary' Chinese solar company Sunman - ABC News. Consumers could potentially see their power bills drop within years if Australia's latest bet on solar energy pays off.
Key points: Taxpayers by extension of the money invested will own 14 per cent in SunmanThe company has developed a new type of flexible solar panelThe founder of the company Dr Zhengrong Shi is an Australian Chinese national With Australia-China relations showing no clear signs of improvement, the government-owned Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has poured $US7 million ($9.6m) into a Shanghai-based company called "Sunman".
This means taxpayers, by extension, will own a 14 per cent stake in Sunman, which also has offices in North Sydney and Hong Kong. The little-known company was founded in 2015 by leading solar scientist, Dr Zhengrong Shi, nicknamed the "Sun King" as he is widely regarded as a pioneer in the industry's development. Essentially, these are lightweight solar panels that Sunman says are "revolutionary" and can be glued "onto any surface". World's largest renewable energy project proposed for north-west Australia ditches electricity in favour of ammonia exports - ABC News. An international green energy company planning to build the world's largest wind-and-solar power generator in the Australian outback, has ditched plans to send electricity through thousands of kilometres of undersea cables to Singapore, despite receiving environmental approvals.
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Australia's canola trade is 'dangerously exposed' to global disruptions and must diversify, experts warn - ABC News. A grains industry expert says Australia's canola industry will be "dangerously exposed" if it does not urgently diversify export markets and embrace value adding.
Key points: The Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre's chief economist says the canola trade is dangerously exposed to global disruptions Exports to the European Union accounted for 76 per cent of Australian canola exports from 2014/15 to 2019/20The Australian canola industry is being urged to find alternate markets and embrace value adding to limit risk The warning comes after the grains industry was blindsided in May when China suddenly imposed an 80.5 per cent tariff on Australian barley amid ongoing political tensions between Beijing and Canberra.
Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre chief economist Professor Ross Kingwell said the canola sector is at the mercy of European Union trade policy.
Electric car put to the test in regional and rural NSW - ABC News. More than 60 public electric vehicle charging stations are being built this year around regional New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland in a bid to make electric cars a more practical option in regional Australia.
Key points: New regional public EV charging stations are being rolled out on the east coastThe charging stations make regional travel more practical in an electric car, but there are still some challengesPurchase price is still the biggest roadblock to electric car sales But will this be enough to make electric vehicles (EVs) work in the bush? To find out, I hit the highway for a 1,200-kilometre regional road trip in an electric car. Before I left, my biggest anxiety was, of course, range. I planned to charge the car at a new public charging station in Jugiong, 337 kilometres away. Leaving Sydney, the car told me I had a range of 410 kilometres, leaving me a margin of 70 kilometres. But outside Sydney, I drove into the teeth of headwinds strong enough to shake the car.
Angus Taylor says Australia has the world's largest carbon capture and storage project. Here's what he's not saying - ABC News. NT business groups warn Gunner Government against chasing 'fanciful' economic recovery projects - ABC News. AGL says floating gas project won't hurt wetlands on Mornington Peninsula - ABC News. Drilling contractor first to be certified carbon neutral, wants mining industry to shed 'dirty' tag - ABC News. Theia Energy fracking, ports, and oil pipeline project for west Kimberley to be voted on by Indigenous group - ABC News. How to get solar if you're renting - ABC News. Mass job losses at Hunter Valley mine as industry reacts to plummeting thermal coal price - ABC News.
Are virtual power plants the future of solar power? - ABC News. Powerlines may be limiting savings Australians can make from solar, UNSW research suggests - ABC News. Fears seismic testing undermining southern rock lobster industry's recovery efforts - ABC News. Seismic surveying reduces whiting catch rate by 99.5 per cent, research finds - ABC News. SA breweries' expired beer to generate renewable energy for sewage plant - ABC News. Renewables could power most of Australia by 2040, Australian Energy Market Operator plan shows - ABC News. Matt Canavan says there's no government subsidisation of Australia's fossil fuel industries. Is he correct? - ABC News. Adani power plant and coal plans threatened by land owner court action - ABC News. Atlassian's Mike Cannon-Brookes says clean energy 'best opportunity' for COVID-19 rebound - ABC News. Coronavirus has thrown a spotlight on Australia's manufacturing industry. This is the story of its rise and fall - ABC News.
The economic shutdown that has followed the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of Australia's supply lines and our dependence on manufactured goods from overseas. But this wasn't always the case — there was a time when Australia manufactured a huge array of goods, from cars to washing machines, footwear, clothes and steel. Manufacturing was a significant percentage of our GDP and employed almost a third of the workforce.
"We were making just about every conceivable manufactured item and importing very little in the way of manufactured goods from overseas," Stephen Bell, a professor of political economy at the University of Queensland, tells ABC RN's Rear Vision. "It was a huge emphasis on 'made in Australia'. " So what happened to this mighty industry? The rapid rise of manufacturing After World War II, manufacturing in Australia was helped along by protectionist tariffs. Behind a wall of tariffs, Australian manufacturing grew and grew in the 1950s and 60s. More jobs in renewable-led COVID-19 economic recovery, EY report finds - ABC News. Safflower oil hailed by scientists as possible recyclable, biodegradable replacement for petroleum - ABC News. The world's energy order is changing — and China is set to reap the strategic benefits.
Posted about 6 hours agoSat 18 Apr 2020, 8:48pm There have been many articles written about the social changes that may occur in the aftermath of the Great Shutdown.
But one major change is already upon us, and it's being powered by forces that began years before the coronavirus emerged. It's occurring inside the global energy system. Since the 1960s, a cartel of 14 oil-producing countries, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has controlled a huge amount of the world's oil supply.
In recent years the group has expanded, forming a super cartel with 10 non-OPEC countries, called OPEC+, to control roughly 55 per cent of the world's supply. Its members include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Brunei, Congo, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Sudan and South Sudan, among other countries. Over the decades, the cartel has required a huge amount of diplomatic, bureaucratic, and economic resources. One-to-one solar feed-in tariff scrapped, battery subsidies announced in NT renewables changes. Posted about 7 hours agoThu 9 Apr 2020, 7:18am The phones have been ringing off the hook at Leigh Fowkes' small solar business in Katherine this week — and not in a good way.
Key points: The feed-in tariff that drove rapid rooftop solar uptake in the NT has been slashed without warningThe Government has announced a $30 million grid-scale battery and some small-scale battery subsidiesThe Roadmap to Renewables report author says, without reform, there is a risk of a grid system crash. Adani executive Lucas Dow talks up bigger coal mine in leaked video at LNP fundraising event. Posted about 5 hours agoWed 18 Mar 2020, 8:48pm Leaked documents and video suggest Adani is planning a bigger mine and wants to combine with other miners to export up to 100 million tonnes (MT) of coal a year from Queensland's Galilee Basin.
Key points: Adani Australia chief executive Lucas Dow appears concerned an audience member was recording his remarksSodexo told its employees "not to actually mention the name Adani" when referring to its construction contractAEC returns show Adani subsidiaries donated $247,300 to the Liberal and National parties in 2018/19 In November 2018 the Indian mining giant announced a "scaled down" 10MT-a-year mine, eventually increasing to 27MT — far less than its original 60MT plan. A 2019 contract, obtained by the ABC, showed Adani was preparing to build a mine rail link that would start hauling 40MT-a-year but with an "ultimate capacity" of 100MT, assuming other mines went ahead in the basin.
"Sorry, are you recording that? Gas exploration green light during coronavirus emergency 'sneaky', Victorian farmers say. Posted about 5 hours agoWed 18 Mar 2020, 7:52am Victorian farmers say the State Government's decision to reinstate onshore conventional gas exploration during a coronavirus state of emergency is calculated and "sneaky".
Farmers astride two significant gas reserves say the announcement during the coronavirus crisis was inappropriatePremier Daniel Andrews says drilling for gas reserves underground from July 2021 could generate more than $310 million annually for regional economiesThe Climate Council says the State Government was "sliding back in behind" the fossil fuel industry On Tuesday, the Andrews Government announced it will introduce new laws to allow for an "orderly restart" of drilling for gas reserves underground from July 2021.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the new gas supplies would be reserved for Victorians, and companies that wanted to drill for gas on private land would have to strike agreements with landholders. Posted about 5 hours agoWed 18 Mar 2020, 7:52am. Farmer says report shows CSG company gave incorrect groundwater data to regulator. Posted about 2 hours agoThu 12 Mar 2020, 8:43pm A farmer on Queensland's Darling Downs says his own hydrogeological testing has confirmed that data recorded by a coal-seam gas company about groundwater is inaccurate.
Key points: A hydrogeologist finds fault with groundwater information recorded by a gas company on a Darling Downs propertyIf initial data is wrong, it jeopardises the landholder's legal recourse if their groundwater is later impactedHundreds of bores will be affected by coal-seam gas development in the Surat Basin The landholder said the information, which has the potential to jeopardise their legal recourse if their groundwater is later impacted, had not been corrected in the file kept by the government regulator.
Power bills tipped to drop once AEMC implements demand reduction scheme. Posted about an hour agoWed 11 Mar 2020, 8:20pm A scheme to pay big industrial energy users to cut their power consumption on hot days will be fast-tracked to be available ahead of next summer.
Key points: The scheme is predicted to reduce household power bills by cutting demand in peak periodsIt will require changes to energy market rules, which are expected to be introduced in OctoberA think-tank has welcomed a decision to fast-track it but wants it to be available to households too The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) proposal is predicted to reduce power bills and the likelihood of blackouts by slashing wholesale prices at times of peak demand. It means large commercial and industrial users will effectively be paid for power they do not use, by reducing their demand in peak periods and selling that energy back into the grid. 'No-one is providing transparency': Audit questions compliance in Qld CSG regulation. Updated about 3 hours agoSun 8 Mar 2020, 9:20pm A lack of transparency, ineffective compliance management and data, and failures of legislative function are just some of the criticisms levelled in a new audit of coal seam gas (CSG) regulation in Queensland.
Key Points: An audit has found Queensland's Gasfields Commission has not been performing its legislated oversight functionThe report says the number of petroleum leases and environmental authorities for CSG activities could not be verifiedIt also found landholders were being disadvantaged in negotiations with gas companies because of a lack of information The report, tabled in State Parliament in late February, examined the two industry regulators, the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME) and the Department of Environment and Science (DES). It also audited the Gasfields Commission, which is not a regulator, but has legislated responsibility to provide oversight and advice to all stakeholders. Telstra struggling with overcast conditions, flooding, to keep solar-powered network up. Posted about 2 hours agoFri 6 Mar 2020, 10:10pm Telstra says the stations that provide landline and mobile phone coverage to some remote communities in Central Australia are not robust enough to withstand several days of cloud cover.
Key points: Under days of cloud cover, solar-powered Telstra stations do not charge and can run empty, resulting in no phone coverageThe telco's staff are tackling bushfire reconstruction on the eastern seaboard, removing staff from the regionOutages mean ATMs can't be used and power cards can't be purchased — the pre-paid electricity system used in remote communities The region has received significant rainfall recently thanks to ex-cyclone Esther, and as a result several communities have gone without phone coverage for more than 24 hours at a time. Contamination concerns after Santos given extended gas exploration rights over Queensland's Channel Country.
Posted about 3 hours agoWed 4 Mar 2020, 8:50pm Documents obtained under right to information laws show the Queensland Government gave energy company Santos extended rights to explore environmentally significant parts of the Channel Country for potential commercial gas extraction. Key points: NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro backs bill to overturn nuclear power ban. Updated 32 minutes agoWed 4 Mar 2020, 9:25am New South Wales Liberals must decide whether they support the overturning of a ban on uranium mining that could also pave the way for nuclear energy in the state.
Key points: A bill put forward by One Nation MP Mark Latham supports a pathway to nuclear powerDeputy Premier John Barilaro has long-supported a push towards nuclear energyA parliamentary inquiry will deliver findings in September A parliamentary inquiry, led by Liberal MP Taylor Martin, has recommended that the law prohibiting uranium mining and nuclear facilities should be repealed. After more than a year, Kennedy renewable energy farm still not fully connected to grid - ABC Rural - ABC News.
A renewable energy park developer will write down up to $20 million from its half-share of a major investment following months of problems connecting the facility to the power grid. Alinta Energy accused of putting customers' sensitive information at risk. By Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett Updated about 3 hours agoSun 1 Mar 2020, 10:08pm. Energy policy shake-up flagged as Government looks to dump solar, wind investment - ABC Rural - ABC News. Research programs into wind and solar could be dumped by the Federal Government in favour of emerging technologies in hydrogen, lithium and reducing or storing greenhouse emissions from major industries, the Energy Minister says.
How the Beetaloo gas field could jeopardise Australia's emissions target. Updated 34 minutes agoSat 29 Feb 2020, 1:04am. Tesla criticised for lack of Autopilot safeguards after Apple engineer playing on phone dies. Posted earlier today at 8:12amWed 26 Feb 2020, 8:12am Tesla's Autopilot driving system steered an electric vehicle into a concrete barrier on a California freeway in a fatal 2018 crash because it was operating under conditions it could not handle, a US investigation has found.
Apple engineer Walter Huang was killed in a Telsa Autopilot crash two years agoThe investigation found he was playing a game on his phone at the time of impactUS authorities urged Tesla to introduce more safeguards to prevent future accidents. Rio Tinto joins BHP in pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Posted earlier today at 9:56amWed 26 Feb 2020, 9:56am Rio Tinto has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, supported by $1.5 billion worth of investments in climate-related projects over the next five years, after posting its largest profit in eight years.
Gas giants misled governments and it is costing Australian jobs, ACCC boss says. Updated about 3 hours agoWed 26 Feb 2020, 11:20pm The head of Australia's consumer watchdog has slammed the gas industry, accusing it of misleading governments into approving massive gas export projects that have led to soaring power prices, killing off companies and jobs. Equinor abandons plans to drill for oil in Great Australian Bight for 'commercial' reasons. Updated about 3 hours agoTue 25 Feb 2020, 3:21am. Solar power contributes to cheaper energy but also 'critical' grid instability, warns ESB. Updated about 6 hours agoMon 24 Feb 2020, 6:09am. Why Germans all agree on shutting down the coal industry.
Proposed coal-fired power station for Collinsville could become white elephant, economist warns. Rio Tinto says solar farm plan to power new mine first step towards decarbonisation. Germany is shutting down its coal industry for good, so far without sacking a single worker. Power bills to fall in next two years as political stoush over coal continues. Pro-coal Clermont still fights to save its forest from proposed Moorlands open-cut mine - ABC Rural - ABC News. Cheap gas, really? Why gas — from coal seams or ships — may not mean low power prices. Zali Steggall wants the public to force politicians to act on climate change, Malcolm Turnbull hits out at Nationals over coal - Politics. Federal Labor critical of Coalition's coal study, while not ruling out blocking mines and power plants - Politics. Adani agrees to plead guilty for giving 'false or misleading documents to an administering authority'
Solar farms asked to reduce output as uptake challenges remote West Murray power grid stability. The battle against the bushfires should focus our attention on the war against climate inaction. New Acland Coal pursues Oakey Coal Action Alliance for legal costs ahead of possible High Court appeal. Scott Morrison has been gifted an energy alibi, right when he needs it most.
Electricity prices are tumbling for generators, why not for consumers? NSW strikes 'landmark' energy deal with Federal Government, Greens MP calls it 'climate criminality' The future of coal has already been decided in boardrooms around the globe. Great Australian Bight oil drilling approval to be challenged in Federal Court. Mark McVeigh is taking on REST super on climate change and has the world watching. World's largest fund manager BlackRock cuts thermal coal exposure on climate concerns. WA tourist town of Denham to become zero-emission community powered by hydrogen. Batteries made with sulfur could be cheaper, greener and hold more energy. United Nations asked to pressure Siemens to drop Adani contract. Goldman Sachs abandons coal as investors look to low-emissions future. Equinor defends Great Australian Bight drilling plans as fears of an oil spill continue. Australia needs to triple renewable energy plants by 2040 to replace coal power plants set to close.
Power prices forecast to slide in next three years, with increasing supplies of renewable energy a primary driver. Should I switch off power at the wall? Here's what you need to know for your next electricity bill. Hot summer forecast could lead to blackouts in Victoria, energy operator warns. Fracking, ports and oil pipeline project worth $77b proposed for west Kimberley. Coal research group turns hand to advertising in bid to make Australians 'feel proud' about rock. Nuclear reactors called SMRs are being touted as possible energy source for Australia - Politics. Nuclear power in Australia to be examined by multi-party parliamentary inquiry. King Island, in Bass Strait, generates 50 per cent of its energy from wind and solar power. AGL defers Liddell, Torrens power plant closures in bid to avoid summer blackouts. Exmouth Gulf next to World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef needs protection from industry, scientists say. 'This is about humanity': Inside a protest camp in the heart of coal country.
Power prices would be lower under emissions trading scheme, outgoing public service head Martin Parkinson says. Scientist calls for more research into seismic surveys as they leave lobsters flat on their backs - ABC Rural - ABC News. South32 warns Port Kembla steelworks at risk without coal mine expansion under Sydney catchment. French reporter Hugo Clement questions 'unfair' arrest, says it will feature in documentary. Chevron's Gorgon gas plant construction sees 30,000 native animals moved to safety. Adani's Carmichael coal mine surviving on lifeline from Indian parent company.
Low-sulphur, cleaner shipping fuel oil transition looms signalling choppy waters ahead for maritime industry - ABC Rural - ABC News. Australia's solar industry is booming, but so is the amount of valuable waste going to landfill. Oil and gas is Timor-Leste's ticket to prosperity. Is this impoverished nation blowing its one chance? Victorian solar farm to generate enough electricity to power Melbourne's entire tram network. Oil and gas giant Eni starts work on Northern Territory's largest solar farm in race to 50pc renewables by 2030 - ABC Rural - ABC News. AEMC urges change to allow users to sell power back to the grid to guarantee energy demand.
Adani opponents mail bird art to politicians in silent protest. Adani demands names of CSIRO scientists reviewing groundwater plans. Wheatstone gas emissions 'excessive', say residents in north-west WA town of Onslow. AGL holds off plans to mothball gas-fired Torrens Island Power Station ahead of summer. Are there really 54,000 people employed in thermal coal mining? - Fact Check. Gas reservation policy needed to fix 'broken' market, lower energy prices, says IEEFA. On Country renewable energy partnership gets green light.