Category Archives: Gas

Fifty-year extension for one of Australia’s biggest CO2 emitters likely after WA ditches emissions-reduction rules

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Extending life of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas processing plant on Burrup Peninsula could result in billions of tonnes of climate pollution, critics say

The Western Australian Labor government appears all but certain to give one of Australia’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters the green light to operate until 2070 after it announced it would abolish state emissions-reduction requirements.

Scientists have warned the proposal to extend the life of the North West Shelf gas processing plant on the Burrup Peninsula in the country’s remote north-west is linked to the development of at least three major gas fields and could ultimately result in billions of tonnes of climate pollution being released into the atmosphere.

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Australia’s thirst for power drives a rise in coal and gas-led emissions for third quarter in a row

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Output from gas plants up 29% on average from a year earlier, Aemo says, even though price was up by a fifth over same period

Greenhouse gas emissions from Australia’s main electricity grid increased for a third quarter in a row as higher power demand drove more use of black coal and gas plants, the Australian Energy Market Operator says.

For the September quarter alone, emissions from the national electricity market (Nem) that serves the eastern states and South Australia rose 2% from a year earlier, Aemo said in its quarterly market report.

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Cop29 host Azerbaijan set for major fossil gas expansion, report says

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Exclusive: Those with ‘interest in keeping world hooked on fossil fuels’ should not oversee climate talks, say report authors

Azerbaijan, the host of the Cop29 global climate summit, will see a large expansion of fossil gas production in the next decade, a new report has revealed. The authors said that the crucial negotiations should not be overseen by “those with a vested interest in keeping the world hooked on fossil fuels”.

Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company, Socar, and its partners are set to raise the country’s annual gas production from 37bn cubic metres (bcm) today to 49bcm by 2033. Socar also recently agreed to increase gas exports to the European Union by 17% by 2026.

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Energy prices soar after volatile wind saw heavier gas, hydro and battery use, Australian regulator says

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But wholesale prices are down by 25% compared with the June quarter in New South Wales, down 9% in Victoria and down 12% in Tasmania

Wholesale power prices across much of eastern Australia were sharply higher in the September quarter from a year earlier because of increased reliance on gas, hydro and batteries, the Australian Energy Regulator said in its quarterly report.

Average prices ranged from $114/megawatt-hour in Queensland to $201/MWh in South Australia. The biggest year-on-year increases were in Tasmania, with prices up 290%, Victoria’s increasing 114% and SA’s 76% higher.

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UK ‘risks repeat of surging energy bills’ amid continued reliance on gas

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Energy crisis panel warns country is ‘dangerously unprepared’ and must shift away from gas quickly

Britain is at risk of experiencing a repeat of the sharp increase in energy costs which has fuelled the continuing cost of living crisis because it relies too heavily on gas, according to an expert panel of industry leaders.

The Energy Crisis Commission has warned that the UK is still “dangerously underprepared” for another crisis because it continues to rely on gas for its power plants and home heating.

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Australia’s coalmines and gasfields may be emitting twice as much methane as declared, report warns

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Superpower Institute says analysis of Queensland, NSW and Victorian sites shows need for independent reporting of greenhouse gas emissions

Australia’s coalmines and gasfields may be emitting twice as much methane as they currently declare, underscoring the need to introduce independent reporting of the potent greenhouse gas, an energy thinktank has warned.

The Superpower Institute’s Open Methane tool used satellites and ground-based verification to identify 20 “sites of concern” – all involving coal and gas operations – that are releasing “around double” the amount of methane reported.

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Ramos-Horta says $74bn Timor Sea gas project could begin within months if Australia signs treaty

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Timor-Leste president’s trip comes amid mounting pressure for Labor to finalise an agreement

The $74bn Greater Sunrise gas project, which has been decades in the making, could be under way by the end of the year, the Timor-Leste president, José Ramos-Horta, said.

But he also said the pipeline and accompanying processing work must go to his nation, not Darwin.

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Mineral Resources and Woodside donated to WA Labor while it mulled gas policy changes

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A ban on exporting offshore gas was lifted in WA this week, and the Greens say two of the ‘biggest winners’ were the massive resources companies

Western Australian gas companies Mineral Resources and Woodside gave more than $20,000 to WA Labor while it was considering changes to its domestic gas policy that allowed more gas to be exported from the state.

On Thursday the state government lifted a ban on onshore gas being exported, allowing 20% to go overseas until 2031, in a change the premier, Roger Cook, said would boost the state’s gas industry.

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More than £494bn subsidies a year are harmful to the climate, says report

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ActionAid says ‘parasitic behaviour’ is fuelling the climate crisis and represents ‘corporate capture’ of public finance

More than $650bn (£494bn) a year in public subsidies goes to fossil fuel companies, intensive agriculture and other harmful industries in the developing world, new data has shown.

The subsidies entrench high greenhouse gas emissions and are fuelling the destruction of the natural world, according to a report from the charity ActionAid.

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Russia criticises German progress in Nord Stream sabotage inquiry

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Moscow official claims Berlin shows little interest in finding those responsible for gas pipeline explosions in 2022

Russia has complained to Germany about its investigation into the 2022 sabotage of the multibillion-dollar Nord Stream gas pipelines that run between the two countries, accusing Europe’s top economic power of having little interest in finding those responsible.

The head of a European department at the foreign ministry, Oleg Tyapkin, said Russia had “raised the issue of Germany and other affected countries fulfilling their obligations under the UN anti-terrorist conventions”, RIA news agency reported in remarks cited by Reuters.

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Ukrainian team blew up Nord Stream pipeline, claims report

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Spokesperson for Volodymyr Zelenskiy denies WSJ claims and again accuses Russia of carrying out the sabotage

The Nord Stream gas pipeline was blown up by a small Ukrainian sabotage team in an operation that was initially approved by Volodymyr Zelenskiy and then called off, but which went ahead anyway, according to claims in a report in the Wall Street Journal.

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian president has denied the claims.

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Gas shortfalls for eastern states worse than predicted just months ago, ACCC warns

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Projections of shortfalls – and calls for more production – come even as the bulk of gas produced in Australia is exported

East coast gas shortfalls could emerge as soon as 2027, a year earlier than was forecast six months ago, unless new sources of supply are made available, the competition watchdog has warned in a report.

Released on Friday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report does not cover the supply squeeze that prompted the market operator last month to issue a “threat notice” of potential shortfalls of the fuel in southern states, amid production issues and a prolonged cold snap.

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Australia politics live: Julian Assange leaves Belmarsh prison after plea deal and will return to Australia, WikiLeaks says

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WikiLeaks X account has tweeted that ‘Julian Assange is free’. Follow today’s news headlines live

‘It’s just a lazy delay’

Bill Shorten says a further delay of the Senate vote on the NDIS bill won’t actually lead to any changes:

There’s no good reason on God’s green earth to have another eight weeks of review, which isn’t actually eight weeks.

There won’t be a whole lot of new submissions come in, there won’t be some brand new arguments not considered.

I’m horrified after 12 months of reviewing the NDIS and then another six months of discussing the review including [in] the last three a Senate committee having public hearings calling for submissions.

The opposition has used words never ever said before by them.

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‘Very serious’: gas supplies in southern states under pressure, analysts warn

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‘Threat notice’ flags elevated supply risks, as expert warns problems will get worse without urgent addition of more backup resources

Gas supplies in southern states are likely to remain strained the rest of this winter, and the problems will worsen without the urgent addition of more backup resources, analysts including the market operator say.

Those states, particularly Victoria, have drawn down their gas storage as cold weather increased demand. Gas-fired power generation has also been double that expected on some days amid unusually calm periods, and gas production at Victoria’s Longford plant has dropped because of unscheduled maintenance.

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Shadow energy minister says system in ‘dire trouble’ – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Australia needs more gas supply on east coast, Albanese says

Anthony Albanese is speaking to the ABC from Devonport.

We’ll work those issues through with Aemo.

We need more gas supply. We announced our future gas strategy a short while ago because we understand that we need more supply. Gas has an important role to play in manufacturing in particular. But also in providing firming capacity for the renewables rollout.

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Power bills could rise by $1,000 a year under Coalition plan to boost gas until nuclear is ready, analysts say

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Experts predict major electricity price hikes if opposition proposal to slow rollout of large-scale renewable projects goes ahead

Australians’ annual household power bills could increase by hundreds of dollars, and up to $1,000, under a Coalition plan to slow the rollout of large-scale renewable energy and use more gas-fired electricity before nuclear plants are ready, analysts say.

As Peter Dutton faced cross-party resistance to his announcement that he would go to the next election promising to eventually build seven nuclear plants, energy market analysts warned the Coalition’s proposal would probably lead to a significant rise in prices over the next decade, before a nuclear industry came online.

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Nine independent MPs and Greens back UN call for Australia to ban fossil fuel advertising

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‘The industry is rapidly strangling our planet,’ says Andrew Wilkie, who joins Allegra Spender, Sophie Scamps, Zali Steggall and Monique Ryan in call for ban

At least nine independent MPs and the Greens have backed the UN secretary general’s call for the Australian government to ban fossil fuel advertising and for media companies to stop accepting money to promote coal, oil and gas companies.

Many described fossil fuel advertising as greenwashing that damaged the climate, the environment and people’s health, and compared its use to steps taken by “big tobacco” before cigarette advertising was banned in 1992.

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Devastating Brazil floods made twice as likely by burning of fossil fuels and trees

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Scientists say calamities on same scale as disaster that has killed 169 will become more common if emissions not cut

The unusually intense, prolonged and extensive flooding that has devastated southern Brazil was made at least twice as likely by human burning of fossil fuels and trees, a study has shown.

The record disaster has led to 169 deaths, ruined homes and wrecked harvests, and was worsened by deforestation, investment cuts and human incompetence.

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Guardian Essential poll: $300 energy rebate shouldn’t go to high-income households, voters say

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Poll finds lukewarm response to Labor’s 2024 budget, with only 27% of people thinking it will make a ‘meaningful difference’ to the cost of living

A majority of voters approve of the main measures in Labor’s third budget, although three in five think the Albanese government’s $300 electricity bill rebate should have been better targeted.

Those are the results of the latest Guardian Essential poll of 1,149 voters, which found a lukewarm reaction to the budget overall, with just over a quarter (27%) saying it would make a “meaningful difference” to their cost of living.

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Union urges Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without plan for jobs

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Unite launches bid to persuade Keir Starmer to invest more in north-east Scotland

The UK’s oil and gas workers risk becoming “the coal miners of our generation,” Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, has warned, urging Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without a clear plan to safeguard jobs.

Unite is launching a billboard campaign in six Scottish constituencies aimed at persuading Keir Starmer to commit more investment to north-east Scotland, the centre of the offshore oil and gas industry.

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