Category Archives: Energy

Turning out the lights: what is the legacy of the Liddell power station?

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In the first of a two-part report, we look at the successes – and the costs – of what once was Australia’s largest power station

Jackson Channon, an electrician at the Liddell power station, counts “three generations of generation” who worked at the Hunter Valley site, including a grandad who drove cement trucks used to build it and parents who first met while on staff.

Come 29 April, Channon will attend the closure of the AGL Energy coal-fired facility, joining hundreds of current and former staff, community members and even artists marking the end of what was Australia’s biggest power plant when it was built 52 years ago.

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King’s green energy firm was investigated after 38-day greenhouse gas leak

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Health and Safety Executive also issued several notices related to worker safety and explosive substances at JV Energen

A green energy company set up by King Charles was investigated for numerous health and safety breaches after the unauthorised leak of more than 1,000 tonnes of global-heating gases.

Methane, CO2 and traces of the toxic gas hydrogen sulphide were released after a gas-holder at the plant split open in 2020. The incident, which lasted for 38 days, was described as “significant” by the Environment Agency.

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Value of Australian lithium exports tipped to match thermal coal in five years

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Revenue from mining key metal used in EV batteries to triple by 2027-28 while thermal coal exports set to fall by more than 70%

Exports of Australian lithium – a key metal used in batteries – are expected to earn as much as sales of thermal coal within five years, as the world increasingly embraces clean energy and the market value of fossil fuels falls.

New data released by the Australian government forecasts local lithium production will double and the industry’s revenue will triple by 2027-28 compared with last financial year.

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State actor still main suspect behind Nord Stream sabotage, says investigator

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Swedish prosecutor casts doubt over theories that independent group was responsible for pipeline blasts

The Swedish prosecutor investigating the Nord Stream sabotage attack has said the “clear main scenario” was that a state-sponsored group had been involved, seemingly casting doubt over theories that posited an independent group was responsible for the pipeline blasts.

Mats Ljungqvist told Reuters on Thursday that though a non-state-backed plot was still theoretically possible, the type of explosive used in the bombings ruled out a “large portion of actors”.

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Greenhouse gas emissions rose at ‘alarming’ rate last year, US data shows

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Noaa report shows rapid increase in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide

Record temperatures, devastating floods and superstorms are causing death and destruction across the planet but humans are failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions fueling the climate emergency, new US data shows.

Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide – the greenhouse gases emitted by human activity that are the most significant contributors to global heating – continued to increase rapidly during 2022, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (Noaa).

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Pat Dodson takes leave from Senate – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Former Tasmanian Liberal premier condemns party’s opposition to voice

Tasmania is the last Liberal state government left in the country and its former premier has taken to social media this morning to speak out against the federal party’s decision to oppose the voice to parliament.

Should the Liberal party maintain its opposition to the voice it will simply accelerate its increasing irrelevance.

I have asked for Cyber Security NSW to issue advice to NSW government employees, to implement this change as soon as possible.

I will no longer be using TikTok.

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Eastern Australia gas outlook improves but winter shortfall still possible for south, watchdog says

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ACCC says better 2023 forecast due to increase in production estimates and less uncontracted LNG that can be exported

Eastern Australia’s gas supply outlook has improved, but there is still the prospect of a winter shortfall for southern states without piped supplies from Queensland or altered export contracts, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has said.

The ACCC’s March gas inquiry report found the outlook for 2023 had improved since January, with a projected gas shortfall of three petajoules for the year, down from the 30 petajoule shortfall forecast previously.

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Solar panels could be a lifesaver for public housing tenants grappling with Australia’s soaring energy costs

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Natalie Rabey, who relies on power-hungry machines to help her breathe, is campaigning for solar power for Victoria’s public housing

Natalie Rabey doesn’t know how much time she has left. But she knows what she wants to do with it.

“While I’m still breathing I’d like to get some action on solar panels for people in public housing because it’s just terrible at the moment,” she says.

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People in Cheshire village will not be forced to join hydrogen energy trial

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Backlash prompts companies to give residents option of keeping natural gas rather than joining pilot project

Energy firms will no longer force people in a village in Cheshire to stop heating and cooking with natural gas and swap to lower-carbon hydrogen after a local backlash to a planned government-backed pilot.

British Gas and Cadent had been prepared to cut off gas supplies to nearly 2,000 homes in the village of Whitby, just outside Ellesmere Port on the south bank of the Mersey, as part of their proposals to create the UK’s first hydrogen-fuelled village.

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‘Half-baked, half-hearted’: critics ridicule UK’s long-awaited climate strategy

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UK’s 1,000-page plan criticised as doing ‘little to boost energy security, lower bills or meet climate goals’

The UK’s new energy plan unveiled on Thursday is a missed opportunity full of “half-baked, half-hearted” policies that do not go far enough to power Britain’s climate goals, according to green business groups and academics.

The 1,000-page strategy has been criticised by many within Britain’s green sectors who fear the country could surrender its leading role in climate action because of the government’s “business as usual” approach to delivering green investments.

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Biden administration sides with climate lawsuit against fossil fuel companies

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DoJ brief argues Colorado case against energy giants ExxonMobil and Suncor should be heard in state court instead of federal

The US Department of Justice filed a legal brief Thursday in support of local governments in Colorado that are part of a growing wave of local and state governments pursuing climate litigation against fossil fuel companies.

In the brief, the DoJ argued that the Colorado case against the Canadian energy giant Suncor should be heard in state court, which is considered more favourable than federal court for plaintiffs who are suing oil companies over climate change. ExxonMobile is also a defendant in the case.

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Gas shortages possible during bouts of extreme weather over next four years, Aemo warns

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Customers could face supply gaps if cold weather coincides with low levels of renewable energy generation, report says

South-eastern Australia faces possible gas supply gaps for at least the next four years during bouts of extreme weather, potentially requiring exports to be diverted south, according to the gas outlook from the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo).

Aemo’s gas statement of opportunities (GSOO) report found that gas output in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania would meet demand until 2027. However, customers could face shortfalls particularly if cold weather coincided with low levels of renewable energy generation.

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ABC staff to walk off job next week – as it happened

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Acting prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles has spoken to ABC News Breakfast this morning after the $368bn announcement of the Aukus deal yesterday.

In response to the reaction from China accusing Australia, the US and Britain of embarking on a “path of error and danger”, Marles defends making a decision that is in Australia’s national interest:

We are seeking to acquire this capability to make our contribution to the collective security of the region and the maintenance of the global rules-based order.

And one of the issues within our region we are witnessing the largest conventional military build-up that the world has seen since the end of the second world war. And it’s not Australia who is doing that, but that shapes the world in which we live.

We’re completely confident these are in complete compliance with non proliferation.

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Australian drivers facing heavy new fines for parking in electric vehicle charging spots

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Experts liken act known as ‘ICEing’ to parking at a fuel bowser, and say high penalties are necessary to encourage EV uptake

Drivers could be fined as much as $3,200 for parking in spaces for electric vehicles as part of little-known penalties introduced in four states and territories.

The fines, some of them added to road rules late last year, range from $3,200 in the Australian Capital Territory to $369 in Victoria.

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Most Australian states face sharp power bill rises, despite government’s intervention

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Energy regulators issue draft default market offer, which set cap for this year’s increases

Power bills for households in three states will rise as much as 23.7% from 1 July if the Australian Energy Regulator’s draft determination, announced on Wednesday, is confirmed. Prices in Victoria may rise by almost a third.

The AER chair, Clare Savage, said the increases were “significant” but they could have been as much as 40% to 50% without the federal government’s intervention in December to cap domestic gas and black coal prices.

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Saudi Aramco’s $161bn profit is largest recorded by an oil and gas firm

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Amnesty International hits out at ‘shocking’ annual figure reaped through sale of fossil fuel

Saudi Aramco has reported a record $161bn (£134bn) profit for 2022, the largest annual profit ever recorded by an oil and gas company, fuelled by soaring energy prices and rising global demand.

The largely state-owned company’s profits rose by 46% year on year and it made more than the recent bumper results reported by Shell, BP, Exxon and Chevron combined.

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NSW to grant coalmines licences for water from Sydney and Illawarra drinking catchments

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Perrottet government quietly gazetted rules day before caretaker period commenced for election campaign

The Perrottet government has introduced new rules that will grant coalmines licences for water from the drinking catchment for Sydney and the Illawarra region.

The government quietly gazetted the rules a day before the caretaker period commenced for the New South Wales election campaign.

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Queensland to spend $5bn on 1,100km CopperString power line to unlock renewables potential

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‘Eureka moment’ project will provide future energy certainty and trigger new minerals processing, Palaszczuk government says

The Queensland government has said it will take control of a $5bn proposal to build a 1,100km power line connecting Mount Isa to the national grid, which it says will “unlock” development of new-economy mineral deposits in the state’s north west.

The project, known as CopperString 2.0, has long been touted as necessary to provide future energy certainty to Queensland’s north-west minerals province, where miners are considering the potential to extract large amounts of copper, cobalt, vanadium, lead, zinc and phosphate.

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Queenslanders to be banned from dumping solar panels in landfill under new recycling program

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More than 25m panels are expected to be installed across the state over the next decade

Queenslanders would be banned from dumping solar panels in landfill within the decade in order to reduce electronic waste under a proposed recycling expansion program.

The Palaszczuk government on Sunday announced its draft e-products waste action plan, which outlined the proposal to ban the dumping of solar panels within five to 10. The plan also aims to encourage the repair and reuse of household electronic products like fridges and mobile phones.

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NSW government called out on net zero goal as own data projects coal and gas emissions until 2050

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Data also shows land sector will absorb more carbon than it emits from 2015 despite passage of laws that make land clearing easier

Labor, the Greens and independent politicians have called on the New South Wales government to explain how emissions projections square with its 2050 net zero goal, after its own data showed pollution from coal and gas extending out to mid-century.

The figures, which are contained within the government’s emissions dashboard, also show the land sector growing as a sink for carbon emissions even after the government loosened land clearing laws allowing farmers to remove more vegetation.

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