Category Archives: Energy

PM calls for Barnaby Joyce to be dumped over ‘bullet’ comment aimed at Labor during anti-wind turbine rally

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Nationals MP apologised after telling anti-renewables protesters to ‘load that magazine’ and that the ‘bullet you have is that little piece of paper’

Prime minister Anthony Albanese says Barnaby Joyce should be sacked from shadow cabinet after the National party MP likened ballot papers to “bullets” during a protest against wind turbines.

Speaking to an anti-renewables rally at Lake Illawarra south of Sydney on Sunday, Joyce compared ballot papers to bullets and urged the crowd to “load that magazine” at the voting booth against the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the energy minister, Chris Bowen.

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Green economy could generate 3.3m jobs across Africa by 2030 – report

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Policymakers and funders are being urged to invest in training a workforce to serve the industries of the future

A greener economy could bring millions of jobs to some of the largest countries in Africa, according to a new report.

Research by the development agency FSD Africa and the impact advisory firm Shortlist predicts that 3.3 million jobs could be generated across the continent by 2030.

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Labour defends Great British Energy plan amid concern over funding – UK politics live

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Ed Miliband said GB Energy would be a crucial tool to tackle the UK’s energy security concerns

The former Lib Dem leader Vince Cable is testifying at the inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal today. My colleague Mark Sweney will be sharing updates on that in the live blog here:

“The days of government ministers waging culture wars against civil servants are over,” chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, has said.

Yesterday I met the civil service unions together with my colleague, the new minister [Georgia Gould]. We had a very positive discussion covering a whole range of issues.

I made it clear that the days of government ministers waging culture wars against civil servants are over. Instead, we want a civil service that’s motivated, valued and helps the government deliver its priorities. And on this specific issue of pay, the government will have more to say on civil service pay before the summer recess.”

We do value civil servants, and of course we want all public servants to be properly and fairly rewarded, and, like any public expenditure, what’s spent on pay has to be balanced against other priorities and fair to taxpayers as a whole.”

Departments do have flexibility on pay, they can direct pay towards the needs of their own workforces.”

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‘Inexcusable’: should climate hypocrites get the petrostates label?

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Suggestions definition of petrostate is too narrow as many rich countries that could phase out fossil fuels double down

“Drill, baby, drill!” Donald Trump’s ominous avowal to pump up the oil and gas production of the US has horrified many people around the world about the intentions of the Republican candidate, who has also declared he wants to be “dictator for a day”. Rather than the prospective leader of the free world, the election frontrunner sounds more like the tyrant of a petrostate.

That should not be entirely surprising given the country’s recent record: it has ramped up fossil fuel production to become the world’s biggest producer. As a Guardian investigation reveals, the total number of projected licences by the US for 2024 could lead to an estimated 397m tonnes of planet-heating emissions.

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Nine Entertainment journalists vote for industrial action – as it happened

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Biden has been ‘a great fan of Australia’: Albanese

Anthony Albanese is speaking with ABC RN after Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the US presidential race.

The president has been a great fan of Australia. [A] very significant economic relationship has grown out our trade during his presidency … He’s someone who has stood up for values of social inclusion, and importantly as well for Australia and for the world he’s been a leading figure on climate action.

He was a gracious host to myself and Jodie during our state visit last year … [He] will continue to be over the coming months the most important leader in our globe. Of course, the United States is our most important ally.

The policies won’t change much. I mean, he’s obviously very interested in policies around tariffs and trade. I don’t think that will change much from his first term.

I think the challenge for us with with Donald Trump is to remind him that one of America’s unique advantages is its network of allies and partners and to make the maximum use of that. And there’s been great progress … in terms of Aukus [and] many groupings in the Indo-Pacific … and all these need to be sort of maintained and strengthened and that requires American leadership.

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Labour told it will need to defeat ‘net-zero nimbys’ to decarbonise Britain

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Opposition in wealthier areas is likely and overcoming it is essential, says Resolution Foundation

The government will need to “take on net-zero nimbys” and ramp up public investment to decarbonise Britain’s homes, transport and electricity system, a leading thinktank has said.

With Keir Starmer promising a rapid transition to decarbonise the power system by 2030, a report by the Resolution Foundation said achieving the target would require more government spending and private investment.

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‘No one understands local issues better’: rural councils call for greater role in renewable energy transition

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NSW, Victoria and Queensland local governments have limited roles in approving developments but advocates say they’re best placed to keep communities on side

Rural councils should be “deeply engaged” with the planning of renewable energy projects in their back yards to keep communities on side and streamline the energy transition, local government advocates have said.

But not all renewable projects require local government approval, meaning developers are left to deal directly with local residents – to mixed results.

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Cop29 host Azerbaijan seeks $1bn from fossil fuel producers for climate fund

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Countries and companies involved in oil and gas extraction to be asked to join scheme aimed at tackling global heating

Fossil-fuel producing countries and companies are being asked to pay into a new international fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of the climate crisis.

The climate investment fund is being set up by the Azerbaijan government, host country of the Cop29 UN climate summit in November.

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CrowdStrike has ‘issued a fix’ to Windows outage – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Follow the latest developments on the global Microsoft outage live blog

Shorten says last CFMEU Labor donation was over two years ago

Earlier on the Today Show, the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, was asked about the CFMEU and said that the last donation received by the Labor party from them was more than two years ago.

We’ve said that we’re suspending all donations from the CFMEU. In fact, we’ve suspended the CFMEU from the Labor party … The last donations were over two years ago. We’ve taken the action to stop any financial relations with the CFMEU.

I want to make clear there is zero tolerance for anyone who tried to subvert the demerit and penalty system. This taskforce will help ensure the penalties apply to all road users.

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Forrest says Fortescue still committed to hydrogen despite job cuts – as it happened

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A drone delivery service will launch in Melbourne today.

Food delivery service DoorDash is working with Wing – a subsidiary of Alphabet, AKA Google – to deliver the service.

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Cold snap sets record winter demand for electricity in Victoria as NSW windfarms supply third of power

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New peak may be challenged as early as Tuesday evening as mid-winter bites in Melbourne

The wintry blast sweeping across eastern Australia has set a record for electricity demand in Victoria and propelled wind generation in New South Wales to new highs, with energy authorities preparing for another power peak on Tuesday evening.

Victoria broke a 17-year record for maximum winter electricity demand, with the tally reaching 8,612 megawatts at 6pm on Monday, the Australian Energy Market Operator said.

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Australia’s big banks lent $3.6bn to fossil fuel expansion projects in 2023, report shows

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Lending puts banks in ‘complete violation’ of commitments to Paris agreement, climate group says, even as overall funding to sector ebbs

Australia’s big four banks are in “complete violation” of commitments to the Paris climate accord by funding fossil fuel expansion even as their overall lending to the sector continues to ebb, according to a new report.

The climate activist group Market Forces said in the report that the banks lent the industry $3.6bn in 2023, bringing their total loans to more than $61bn since 2015. Last year, though, was first year in the past eight that banks avoided explicitly backing a new or expanded fossil fuel project.

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Thames Water owner to liquidate solar energy subsidiary amid debt crisis

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Exclusive: solar developer Trinzic to voluntarily shut down as holding company seeks to recoup more than £25m

A solar energy project developer linked to Thames Water is to be liquidated and its staff made redundant as the crisis engulfing the debt-laden water supplier puts strain on its complex corporate structure.

Trinzic Operations Ltd, which is ultimately owned by Thames’s parent company Kemble Water Holdings, is to be voluntarily shut down, the Guardian can reveal.

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Labour’s ‘rooftop revolution’ to deliver solar power to millions of UK homes

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Ed Miliband sets new rules on solar panels and approves three giant solar farms as Labour seeks to end years of Tory inaction

Keir Starmer’s new Labour government today unveils plans for a “rooftop revolution” that will see millions more homes fitted with solar panels in order to bring down domestic energy bills and tackle the climate crisis.

The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, also took the hugely controversial decision this weekend to approve three massive solar farms in the east of England that had been blocked by Tory ministers.

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Australia news live: religious sect allegedly thought 8-year-old diabetic ‘should not use insulin’, court told; Alice Springs curfew won’t continue

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The curfew declaration will conclude at 12.55pm today, local time. Follow the day’s news live

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier as authorities meet to determine whether a three-day curfew on the central Australian town will be extended.

He is “still waiting to hear” whether the curfew will be extended – a decision for the police commissioner. Asked whether he believes it should be extended, Paterson says:

It’s obviously worked in the CBD, but we are hearing that it is pushing crime out into the suburbs. So we’ll wait to see what happens. Ultimately, the community gets to have a breath while there’s extra resources and police in town, so we’ll just wait to see what’s decided …

The curfew is a reaction to events over the past week or so, and we can’t continue to put these in. We need to think about the long-term solutions.

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AI datacentres to strain Australia’s energy supply, spike prices without change, expert says

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UBS analyst says tech firms must ensure datacentres have ability to power up and down like aluminium smelters

Soaring electricity demand from datacentres could strain supplies and contribute to much higher prices unless tech firms agree to act like aluminium smelters that can power up or down to support the grid, an energy analyst says.

The demand, fuelled in part by the growth of energy-hungry artificial intelligence services, could require between 3.3 and 5 gigawatts of additional capacity by 2030, or about 15% of total load, according to Tom Allen, an analyst with investment bank UBS.

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Climate expert Chris Stark appointed to lead UK clean energy taskforce

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‘Mission control centre’ to work with energy companies and regulators towards goal of clean and cheaper power by 2030

Labour has appointed one of the country’s foremost climate experts to lead a “mission control centre” on clean energy.

Chris Stark, the former head of the UK’s climate watchdog, will head a Covid vaccine-style taskforce aimed at delivering clean and cheaper power by 2030.

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Is coal’s recent revival in Australia’s energy mix just a blip or something more?

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Australia’s electricity sector was fast to cut carbon pollution due to renewables as alternatives to coal and gas – until lately

Australia’s electricity sector has long been the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the economy, accounting for more than a third of the national total.

The industry was one of the fastest to cut carbon pollution because of the availability of wind, solar and hydro power as alternatives to burning coal and gas – until lately.

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Tesla won’t free up use of its batteries, leaving owners unable to reap full benefits

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Exclusive: Experts say Tesla should be excluded from rebates for disabling function on its batteries in Australia that would let users alter power usage remotely

Australian owners of Tesla batteries could miss out on lucrative revenue streams because the US energy giant restricts the devices’ ability to interact locally with third parties and authorities continue to dither over setting and enforcing standards.

An increasing number of products from air conditioners to hot water heaters and solar panels can be controlled remotely, and consumers can sign deals rewarding them for altering power usage during peak load periods, including supplying electricity to grid.

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Dutton says ‘Australia can learn’ from new British PM’s nuclear stance – as it happened

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‘Pretty clear’ Fatima Payman has been planning to join crossbench for a ‘long period’, minister says

The finance minister and manager of the government in the Senate, Katy Gallagher, is speaking with ABC RN after Fatima Payman’s resignation yesterday.

It’s difficult to go into, you know, when the decision was made – only Senator Payman knows that – but we do know, now that it’s been done, it’s a matter of fact that there had been obviously discussions about her role as an independent senator and for some time.

I think the way these decisions have been made by Senator Payman make it pretty clear that she has been thinking about this for a long period of time, and it was executed this week …

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