Category Archives: Energy

Hope for power bill relief as eastern Australia’s wholesale electricity price tumbles

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Exclusive: September quarter average fell to $63 a megawatt hour, partly thanks to milder winter and increased renewables

Eastern Australia’s wholesale electricity prices fell sharply in the September quarter, a trend that if maintained could deliver power bill relief for households and businesses alike.

Spot market prices in the national electricity market (Nem) that serves about 80% of Australia’s population averaged $63 a megawatt hour in the July-September period, according to data provided by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

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Ed Miliband to announce Labour plan to boost energy independence and cut bills

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Exclusive: Party says bill would enable UK electricity system to be fully based on clean power by 2030

Ed Miliband is to unveil Labour’s plan for an energy independence act, which would boost Britain’s energy independence and cut bills for families.

The party says the bill will enable a Labour government to establish a UK electricity system fully based on clean power by 2030, with the largest expansion of renewable power in Britain’s history, and establish “GB Energy”, a publicly owned energy company announced by Keir Starmer last year.

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Renewables ‘arms race’: clean energy report says Australia must spend $10bn a year or be left behind

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The country must work harder to attract investment to keep up with the US and other competitors, Clean Energy Council says

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will need to increase Australia’s investment in the renewable energy sector to $10bn a year over the coming decade if it’s to stay in the global clean energy “arms race”, industry modelling shows.

Albanese has indicated he will look to accelerate the transition to low emissions after Saturday’s Indigenous voice referendum as countries around the world move more quickly than expected to combat the climate crisis.

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Mark McGowan phone call allegation puts fossil fuel influence in WA under new spotlight

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Carmen Lawrence says former premier’s behaviour, if true, is ‘certainly improper’ and ‘ethically questionable’ and shows power of oil and gas interests

Claims that the former Western Australia premier Mark McGowan directly put pressure on the independent Environmental Protection Authority to withdraw climate guidelines opposed by gas companies are evidence of the fossil fuel industry’s “ownership” of the state, senior figures say.

Carmen Lawrence, another former Labor premier, said McGowan’s alleged behaviour four years ago, if true, was “certainly improper”, “ethically questionable” and “illustrated the power that fossil fuels have to influence the government” in the state.

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Tory swing voters switch to Labour after Sunak’s green retreat, poll finds

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Survey shows nearly 90% of 2019 Conservative voters say green industry is vital to UK’s economic growth

Almost nine in 10 voters who intend to switch their support from Conservative to Labour candidates in the next general election believe that “green growth” is important for the future of Britain’s economy, according to a poll.

Carried out by pollsters Opinium, the survey found that 82% of all respondents backed the growth of Britain’s green industry to boost the economy, in the same week that the prime minister announced a series of U-turns on the government’s green commitments in an attempt to create a dividing line with Labour before the election.

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Most new cars sold in UK will have to be fully electric by 2030, government confirms

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Green campaigners relieved after last week’s decision to delay ban on petrol and diesel cars

The government has confirmed the majority of new cars sold in Britain will have to be electric by 2030 despite Rishi Sunak’s decision last week to delay a ban on petrol and diesel cars by five years.

Under the long-awaited zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate, 80% of sales must be fully electric, or another alternative, within seven years. Carmakers would have to pay £15,000 for each petrol or diesel engine above that threshold, the Department for Transport said on Thursday.

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Europe’s banks helped fossil fuel firms raise more than €1tn from global bond markets

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Exclusive: Pan-European investigation looked at thousands of transactions since Paris climate agreement in 2016

Banks including some of Europe’s largest lenders have helped fossil fuel companies to raise more than €1tn (£869bn) from the global bond markets since the Paris climate agreement, according to an investigation by the Guardian and its reporting partners.

In the push to zero carbon, Europe’s biggest lenders face growing pressure to limit their financial support for fossil fuel companies through direct loans and other financing facilities.

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Petrostate windfall tax would help poor countries in climate crisis, says Brown

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Former British PM calls for 3% levy on oil and gas export revenues of biggest producers to generate $25bn a year for global south

Petrostates should pay a small percentage of their soaring oil and gas revenues to help poor countries cope with the climate crisis, the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has urged.

Countries with large oil and gas deposits have enjoyed a record bonanza in the last two years, amounting to about $4tn (£3.3tn) last year for the industry globally. Levying a 3% windfall tax on the oil and gas export revenues of the biggest-producing countries would yield about $25bn a year.

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UK ministers scrap energy efficiency taskforce after six months

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Group tasked with overseeing initiative to insulate homes and upgrade boilers was only set up in March

The government’s energy efficiency taskforce, charged with reducing the UK’s energy use by 15% by 2030, has been scrapped months after it was established.

The group, which was overseeing an initiative to insulate homes and upgrade boilers, was announced by the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in his autumn statement last year as part of plans to boost investment in energy efficiency.

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Rishi Sunak announces U-turn on key green targets

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UK prime minister delays ban on sale of new petrol and diesel cars as he pushes back net zero goals

Rishi Sunak has announced a major U-turn on the government’s climate commitments as he promised to put his party on a more radical path in an attempt to close the gap with Labour before the next general election.

In one of his biggest policy changes since taking office, Sunak confirmed the UK would push back the deadline for selling new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of gas boilers, prompting furious condemnation from the automobile and energy industries.

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‘Missing half the equation’: scientists criticise Australia over approach to fossil fuels

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Prof Lesley Hughes and others says there is ‘cognitive dissonance’ between Labor’s stated commitment to the climate crisis and its policies

The Australian government is “missing half the equation” in acting on the climate crisis by backing a shift to renewable energy but having no plan to get out of fossil fuels, according to an author of a new scientific review.

Prof Lesley Hughes is a leading climate change scientist and member of the independent Climate Council and government advisory body the Climate Change Authority. Hughes said there is a “cognitive dissonance” between Labor’s stated commitment to addressing the problem and the pace at which it is moving.

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Climate activists block Federal Reserve bank, calling for end to fossil fuel funding

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Action came as world leaders begin arriving in New York for the UN general assembly and after Sunday’s march to end fossil fuels

One day after the largest climate march since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of climate activists blockaded the Federal Reserve Bank in New York to call for an end to funding for coal, oil and gas, with police making scores of arrests.

“Fossil fuel companies … wouldn’t be able to operate without money, and that money is coming primarily from Wall Street,” Alicé Nascimento, environmental campaigns director at New York Communities for Change, said hours before she was arrested.

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Replacing Australia’s retiring coal power stations with small nuclear reactors could cost $387bn, analysis suggests

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The figure adds fuel to the growing political dispute over the pace and form of Australia’s energy transition

The federal government says it would cost as much as $387bn to replace Australia’s retiring coal-fired power stations with the form of nuclear power proposed by the Coalition.

The figure, produced by the energy department, is the projected cost of replacing all of the output from closing coal-fired plants with small modular reactors.

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Australian governments need to set clear policy direction for gas sector, says regulator

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As a growing number of householders turn off the gas, the fossil fuel sector will need clear policy direction from government, says energy regulator

The Australian Energy Regulator says it will be up to governments to “set clear policy direction” for the gas sector as more households ditch the fossil fuel, and bans on new connections spread from Victoria to other jurisdictions.

The AER in June set a $220 standard fee for Victorian households to disconnect from gas in its 2023-28 access agreement. New South Wales is next up, with a decision on its pricing due before next June, with those for the ACT and South Australia to follow a year later.

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Key ‘Bidenomics’ architect calls for spending ‘race to the top’ on green tech

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Biden adviser Heather Boushey urges UK and Europe to increase climate friendly investment to reboot growth

Governments around the world must drastically increase public investment in green technologies to combat global heating and drive sustainable economic growth, a top adviser to President Joe Biden has said.

Heather Boushey, a member of the White House council of economic advisers, said countries including the UK needed to ramp up green investment to reboot economic growth, boost energy security, and protect against future inflation shocks.

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New £1bn government upgrade to plug Great Britain’s draughtiest homes

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Households could save £400 a year on energy bills via means-tested insulation scheme

Households could save up to £400 a year on energy bills under a new means-tested scheme to insulate more than 300,000 of Great Britain’s draughtiest homes.

The government is spending £1bn on grants for homes that have low energy efficiency ratings and are in lower council tax bands.

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Former rubbish dump in Essex becomes UK’s third largest solar farm

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Ockendon solar farm to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 15,000 homes


The largest solar farm in Europe to be built on a closed landfill site has begun generating renewable electricity from a former rubbish dump in Essex.

The Ockendon solar farm, the third largest in the UK, includes more than 100,000 solar modules covering 70 hectares (173 acres) of land.

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UK’s net zero ambitions at risk after ‘disastrous’ offshore wind auction

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Industry figures and the TUC warn of missed carbon reduction targets and lost jobs unless government boosts green investment

Fears are growing that existing offshore wind projects could be shelved, after industry insiders warned that “disastrous” handling by the government had created a big shortfall in future renewable energy.

Ministers revealed last week that no additional offshore windfarms will go ahead in the UK after the latest government auction. No bids were made in the auction, after the government ignored warnings that offshore schemes were no longer economically viable under the current system.

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Offshore wind expecting to lose out in auction for UK financial help

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Energy industry experts say steep rise in costs could result in few projects submitting bids

Britain’s offshore wind industry is expecting to lose out on financial help for projects toward meeting the UK’s climate goals, because soaring inflation means developers are not able to compete for crucial government support.

Ministers are expected to announce the results of the latest auction for financial support contracts this Friday, but energy industry insiders suggest it could be a damp squib in a potential blow to the UK’s climate goals.

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