From the Chagos Islands to ‘windmills’ and sharia law, the US president’s comments do not bear much scrutiny
Donald Trump has been opining about the UK again, saying on Tuesday that Keir Starmer was “not Winston Churchill” and repeating his complaint about the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Here are some recent things the US president has said about British issues, and how they compare with reality.
Continue reading...Expert cautions large pipeline of potential projects will not deliver required energy capacity unless companies make final investments
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Renewable energy investors have warned “deep structural issues” are driving a slump in solar and wind investment in Australia, with commitments on large-scale farms at the lowest level in almost a decade.
Clean Energy Regulator data shows the government agency expects 2.5GW of industry-scale renewable energy capacity to reach a final investment decision this year, down from 4GW last year. The 12-month average for investment commitments on new developments is at its lowest since early 2017.
Continue reading...SunCable says massive energy project proposed in NT could position Australia as global leader but critics are concerned about scale
Energy company SunCable says a massive solar farm it has proposed building in the Northern Territory could power an AI datacentre precinct in the region to position Australia as a global leader in “green industrial development”.
The development would be Australia’s largest solar farm and would generate up to 20GW of electricity, or 10 times the output of a large coal-fired station. It would add to the company’s plans to build a 12,000ha solar farm at Powell Creek Station, south of Elliott, as part of its proposed Australia-Asia Power Link project.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
Continue reading...Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart has previously donated to Institute of Public Affairs but thinktank won’t say if she remains a donor
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
A thinktank known for its rejection of the climate crisis and a conservation group that has opposed renewable energy projects refused to identify their funders during a fiery Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation on Wednesday.
Chair of the committee, Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, asked Rainforest Reserves Australia’s vice-president, Steven Nowakowski, who had funded nine full-page newspaper advertisements promoting an open letter attacking a shift to renewable energy and promoting nuclear.
Continue reading...Watchdog’s flagship report says rise in low-carbon electricity will make transition ‘inevitable’, despite Trump’s calls to carry on drilling
Renewables will grow faster than any major energy source in the next decade, according to the world’s energy watchdog, making the transition away from fossil fuels “inevitable”, despite a green backlash in the US and parts of Europe.
The world is expected to build more renewable energy projects in the next five years than has been rolled out over the last 40, according to the flagship annual report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Continue reading...World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity
China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months, analysis reveals, adding evidence to the hope that the world’s biggest polluter has managed to hit its target of peak CO2 emissions well ahead of schedule.
Rapid increases in the deployment of solar and wind power generation – which grew by 46% and 11% respectively in the third quarter of this year – meant the country’s energy sector emissions remained flat, even as the demand for electricity increased.
Continue reading...Labor announces ‘solar sharer’ program for households in NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Australian households in three states will be promised access to at least three hours a day of free solar power, regardless of whether they have rooftop panels, the federal government has announced.
The “solar sharer” offer will be available to homes with smart meters – which is the majority of homes – in New South Wales, south-east Queensland and South Australia from July next year, with other areas to potentially follow in 2027.
Continue reading...Ed Miliband says pushing for renewable energy and lower emissions will reduce household bills and boost economy
The UK government will go “all in” on clean energy and climate policy, the energy secretary has said, as he unveiled plans to put the UK back on track to reach its net zero commitments.
In the face of intensifying attacks on climate policy from the poll-leading Reform UK party and the Conservatives, the government insists that pushing for renewable energy and lower carbon emissions will reduce household bills and boost the economy.
Continue reading...Bleak report finds greenhouse gas emissions are still rising despite ‘exponential’ growth of renewables
Coal use hit a record high around the world last year despite efforts to switch to clean energy, imperilling the world’s attempts to rein in global heating.
The share of coal in electricity generation dropped as renewable energy surged ahead. But the general increase in power demand meant that more coal was used overall, according to the annual State of Climate Action report, published on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Scheme will offer training for plumbers, welders and carpenters as well as promoting trade union recognition
Plumbers, electricians and welders will be in huge demand as part of a national plan to train people for an extra 400,000 green jobs in the next five years, Ed Miliband has said.
The energy secretary revealed a new scheme to double those working in green industries by 2030, with a particular focus on training those coming from fossil fuel jobs, school leavers, the unemployed, veterans and ex-offenders.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Rainforest Reserves Australia has published submissions naming nonexistent government authorities and a nonexistent windfarm
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
A conservation charity known for its anti-renewables stance has made submissions to federal and state inquiries that name non-existent government authorities and a nonexistent windfarm, and cite scientific articles that the supposed publisher says don’t exist, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.
Two US-based academics and experts said Rainforest Reserves Australia’s (RRA) claims in submissions about their work were “100% misleading” and “absurd”.
Continue reading...Lobbyists attended 48% more meetings than Tories, as Labour accused of giving them ‘backstage pass’
Government ministers met representatives from the fossil fuel industry more than 500 times during their first year in power – equivalent to twice every working day, according to new research.
The analysis found that fossil fuel lobbyists were present at 48% more ministerial meetings during Labour’s first year in power than under the Conservatives in 2023.
Ministers at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) met fossil fuel lobbyists 274 times, with industry figures present at almost a quarter of meetings.
Ed Miliband, the secretary for energy and climate change, met fossil fuel lobbyists 250 times – with a third of all his meetings attended by industry figures.
During the same period DESNZ ministers met trade union representatives 61 times
Three fossil fuel companies: BP, Shell and Equinor , met ministers 100 times between them.
Fossil fuel lobbyists attended almost every government meeting about the energy profits levy, a temporary windfall tax on the “extraordinary profits” of North Sea oil and gas companies.
Continue reading...A 2% blend of low-carbon gas injected into gas grid to fuel Brigg power station in North Lincolnshire is a UK first
Energy companies have injected green hydrogen into Britain’s gas grid and used the low-carbon gas to generate electricity, in a landmark development for the UK’s climate ambitions.
For the first time in the UK, a 2% blend of green hydrogen was injected into the gas grid and blended with traditional gas to fuel the Brigg power station in North Lincolnshire which generated electricity for the power system.
Continue reading...Grattan Institute report argues fall in costs will provide federal government room for more action on climate
Australian household energy bills will halve by 2050 as solar panels, batteries and electric cars and appliances become the norm, reducing pressure on the federal government over living costs and creating room for more climate action, a thinktank study suggests.
Modelling by the Grattan Institute finds that cutting greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation in line with the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 will cut average household energy costs from about $5,800 today to about $3,000.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
Continue reading...As well as embracing ‘beautiful coal’, the president has set about obliterating clean energy projects
Continue reading...Sun Day national action supported renewable energy, day after ‘Make Billionaires Pay’ march ahead of Climate Week
Hundreds of environmentalists gathered in New York City’s Stuyvesant Square Park and a nearby Quaker meeting house on Sunday to rally in support of solar power and other forms of renewable energy. The event was part of a national “day of action” billed Sun Day, founded by veteran environmental activist Bill McKibben and first Earth Day coordinator Denis Hayes.
“It’s so sad to watch the sun going to waste,” McKibben said at a press conference, standing beside environmentalists and their children. “Every single day, energy from heaven going to waste while we drill down to hell for another dose of the stuff that is wrecking this planet.”
Continue reading...The prime minister has a stonking majority and a progressive crossbench that wants deeper cuts. So what has happened to lower the goal?
Want to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter here
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The Australian government has announced an Oprah Winfrey-style emissions target for 2035. It has tried to promise (nearly) everyone a prize.
By choosing a target range of a 62% to 70% cut compared with 2005 levels – based on long-awaited advice from the Climate Change Authority and its chair, Matt Kean – it has opted for a political solution.
Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter
Continue reading...Renewables are thriving, with Africa breaking solar energy records – but action is needed to plug financing gap
The first signs of a takeoff of Africa’s green economy are raising hopes that a transformation of the continent’s fortunes may be under way, driven by solar power and an increase in low-carbon investment.
African leaders are meeting this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the Africa Climate Summit, a precursor to the global UN Cop30 in November. They will call for an increase in support from rich countries for Africa’s green resurgence, without which they will warn it could be fragile and spread unevenly.
Continue reading...Environment minister says scientific evidence did not convince government that remote island qualified
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here
Australia’s environment minister, Murray Watt, has backed the creation of “no-go zones” where development will be banned in some places under a revamped nature law, but said Tasmania’s remote Robbins Island – the site of a contentious windfarm proposal – does not qualify.
Watt this week said the Albanese government would accelerate its plan to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act so that legislation was introduced to parliament this year, sooner than previously suggested.
Continue reading...Higher energy bills to cover the increased transmission costs could be offset by more renewable energy in the grid, state government says
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
One of Australia’s largest renewable energy transmission projects has expanded zones for solar, battery and wind developments with the cost of connection to almost double.
The latest version of Victoria’s 2025 Transmission Plan, released by state government agency VicGrid on Sunday, revealed a 200,000-hectare increase in the area available to developers.
Continue reading...