Exclusive: Looming auction to earmark £1.5bn to put power generators on standby and keep the lights on
The billionaire West Ham United investor Daniel Křetínský and Swiss commodities giant Vitol are among bidders hoping to land hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidies to keep the lights on in Great Britain.
National Grid’s electricity system operator is preparing to announce successful bidders in a “capacity market” auction this month for 2026.
Continue reading...Reforming the scheme would shrink the budget deficit and help Australia hit net zero emissions by 2050, the Grattan Institute says
The Albanese government has been urged to halve the $8bn a year in fuel tax credits it gives mining trucks, semi-trailers and other heavy vehicles, with a new report finding changes are crucial for budget repair and meeting emissions targets.
Fuel tax credits have been “gnawing away an ever-growing share of fuel tax revenue”, with only half of the current amount spent justified in economic or social terms, according to a Grattan Institute report released on Monday.
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Continue reading...Dominic Perrottet says homes will be able to receive the rebate if they compare energy providers
New South Wales residents will receive a $250 rebate for comparing energy providers and plans, in the latest Coalition election promise ahead of next month’s state election.
The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said households would be able to access the one-off cost-of-living payment by comparing energy plans using a tool on the Service NSW website.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: Candidates hoping to hold the balance of power to push for state-level development bans
The “kingmaker” Sydney MP, Alex Greenwich, and a coalition of independent political hopefuls will attempt to kill the controversial Pep-11 gas exploration licence by banning development of the area through a change in New South Wales law.
The six independents, who could hold the balance of power in under two months, will on Saturday unveil a bill that would amend the State Planning Act to ban certain types of development on land and at sea, negating possible future federal approval.
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Continue reading...The Department of Energy’s loan programs office was ‘essentially dormant’, says Jigar Shah, its head – but now it’s ready to bankroll clean energy projects
Deep in the confines of the hulking, brutalist headquarters of the US Department of Energy, down one of its long, starkly lit corridors, sits a small, unheralded office that is poised to play a pivotal role in America’s shift away from fossil fuels and help the world stave off disastrous global heating.
The department’s loan programs office (LPO) was “essentially dormant” under Donald Trump, according to its head, Jigar Shah, but has now come roaring back with a huge war chest to bankroll emerging clean energy projects and technology.
Continue reading...People from Niger delta areas of Ogale and Bille seeking justice in London’s high court
Nearly 14,000 people from two Nigerian communities are seeking justice in the high court in London against the fossil fuel giant Shell, claiming it is responsible for devastating pollution of their water sources and destruction of their way of life.
The individuals from the Niger delta area of Ogale, a farming community, lodged their claims last week, joining more than 2,000 people from the Bille area, a largely fishing community. In total 13,652 claims from individuals, and from churches and schools, are asking the oil giant to clean up the pollution which they say has devastated their communities. They are also asking for compensation for the resulting loss of their livelihoods. Their ability to farm and fish has been destroyed by the continuing oil spills from Shell operations, they claim.
Continue reading...Government plan to educate owners and encourage fines not enough to effectively tackle air pollution
• Study links air pollution to mental ill-health
Politicians and campaigners have called for an urgent review of wood-burning stoves, which cause large amounts of pollution in urban areas.
The calls follow the admission by the environment secretary that the government had set weaker air pollution targets than it would like. The admission came as she announced a new environmental plan for England that held back from banning wood-burning stoves and settled instead for “educating” people on their use.
Continue reading...Interior department report recommends scaled-back version of ConocoPhillips’ Willow project despite Biden campaign pledge
The Biden administration has advanced a $8bn drilling project on Alaska’s north slope. The ConocoPhillips Willow project, which would be one of the largest oil and gas developments on federal territory, has drawn fierce opposition from environmentalists, who say its approval runs counter to the president’s ambitious climate goals.
An environmental assessment released by the interior department on Wednesday recommends a scaled-back version of the project ConocoPhillips originally proposed, and would produce about 600m barrels of oil over 30 years, with a peak of 180,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
Continue reading...Proposed use of tax credits follows pressure to respond to Biden’s $369bn green subsidy scheme in US
The EU is stepping up its green subsidy race with the US through plans to loosen state aid rules on tax credits for renewable energy projects.
European policymakers have been under pressure to respond to the US president Joe Biden’s $369bn (£298bn) Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to encourage renewables investment in everything from electric cars to wind turbines.
Continue reading...Lack of choice over appliances is acutely felt in low-income housing as new research reveals extent of indoor air pollution
New research has revealed the extent of indoor air pollution caused by gas stoves. Switching to alternatives like electric or induction stoves is the best way to reduce the health risk of burning fossil fuels in the kitchen – but that is rarely an option for renters, who typically can’t choose the type of appliances installed in their apartment.
People stuck with gas stoves in rentals are grappling with the reality of living with an appliance that may be leaking dangerous pollutants like methane and benzene even when it’s turned off. The lack of choice over appliances is acutely felt in low-income housing.
Continue reading...Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Mark Rylance add their voices to Richard Curtis’s Make My Money Matter campaign
Famous names including Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Mark Rylance have joined activists and businesses in calling on the UK’s big five banks to stop financing new oil, gas and coal expansion.
Make My Money Matter, a campaign set up by Richard Curtis, the screenwriter, director and Comic Relief co-founder, has written to the chief executives of HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds to urge these banks to “stop financing fossil fuel expansion”.
Continue reading...Increased output from renewables, with a near-zero fuel cost, also nudged more coal and gas out of the generation market
Milder temperatures and record levels of renewable energy drove electricity demand to its lowest levels for any December quarter, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator.
Wholesale power prices also retreated during the period, particularly after the Albanese government imposed price caps on black coal and gas that are used to generate power, AEMO said in its quarterly report released on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Billionaire and founder of Microsoft tells Sydney audience it is ‘great to have Australia on board on climate’
The world will be lucky to avoid 2.5C of heating, but emerging technology may help avert even worse, Bill Gates has told a Sydney audience.
The US billionaire and philanthropist told the Lowy Institute on Monday that while malaria still killed more children – 400,000 a year – the climate crisis was “worth investing in massively because it will get worse and worse over time”.
Continue reading...Frontbencher to call for more help with energy bills for householders and to promise massive green power programme
Rachel Reeves has said she wants to be “Britain’s first green chancellor” ahead of a speech in which she will call on ministers to extend relief on energy bills and promise that Labour will reduce these in the longer term with a massive green power programme.
Addressing the Fabian Society conference on Saturday, the shadow chancellor is to argue that investment in renewable energies, plus a huge programme to retrofit insulation to homes – part of Labour’s flagship £28bn-a-year investment in climate measures – could save households up to £1,400 off annual bills each year.
Continue reading...Wood banks distribute firewood to people in need as the average US gas bill goes up by 28% this winter
Inflation may be going down in the US, dropping to 6.5% from last month’s 7.1%, but the cost of keeping a home warm this winter is still on the rise. The average gas bill will increase by 28% this winter compared to last, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration.
In some places across the country, people are returning to a surprising source of heat to keep costs down: wood. In areas where wood is more widely available and used for heating – such as forested parts of New England – wood banks are emerging as a vital way to stay warm this winter.
Continue reading...Student debt cut for teachers who go rural; WA to ban display and possession of Nazi symbols. Follow the day’s news live
Growing impact of climate disasters on mental health revealed
In case you missed it, a new poll commissioned by the Climate Council shows that four in five Australians have experienced some form of natural disaster at least once since 2019.
This coal cap scheme will see NSW doing our part at the request of the Albanese government to contribute to the national solution of this national problem.
I know those currently providing coal for the local market will appreciate that companies enjoying super profits on the back of the war in Ukraine will now do their part for the domestic market.
Continue reading...Miners to be required to set aside up to 10% of production for domestic users, state energy minister Matt Kean says
New South Wales will require thermal coalminers reserve as much as 10% of their output for domestic coal-fired power stations and other users in a bid to share the burden more fairly among producers.
The move, announced on Thursday, is the latest government intervention in energy markets in a bid to limit price increases and avoid a repeat of last June’s supply shortages that helped trigger a suspension of the national electricity market.
Continue reading...High court in Japan agreed defendants could not have predicted the massive tsunami that crippled the power plant and triggered a nuclear meltdown
Three former executives from the company that operates the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have had their not-guilty verdicts upheld by a court in Japan, dealing a blow to campaigners demanding the firm take legal responsibility for the disaster in March 2011.
The Tokyo high court on Wednesday cleared Tsunehisa Katsumata, the former chairman of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), along with former vice-presidents Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Muto, of professional negligence resulting in death.
Continue reading...Producers argue Albanese government’s price cap intervention has ‘paralysed the market’
Strains in the gas market have not been eased by the Albanese government’s price caps imposed late last year, with an industry group claiming supply shortages remain while the peak gas lobby is warning the sector has become “virtually paralysed”.
One month on from the government’s rare intervention to limit domestic gas prices to $12 a gigajoule and black coal to $125 a tonne, big commercial gas users are hoping new compliance guidelines to be released soon by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will force suppliers to provide an adequate supply.
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Continue reading...‘Cease and desist’ letter signed by over 650,000 people sent to oil and gas CEOs follows removal of Greta Thunberg from coal protest
Hundreds of thousands of young climate activists have said they will continue “protesting in the streets in huge numbers” against fossil fuels, a day after Greta Thunberg was removed by German police from a condemned village atop a massive coal deposit.
In a cease-and-desist letter to the CEOs of fossil fuel companies, youth campaigners accuse them of a “direct violation of our human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, your duties of care, as well as the rights of Indigenous people”.
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