Latest
Renewables are cheapest, even with poles, wires and batteries added in
CSIRO’s annual price comparison of energy sources include transmission and storage costs in renewables calculations for the first time. They still come out on top.
- Ben Potter
AGL lights up Liddell battery, Forrest wind farm seals NSW contract
The latest round of NSW renewables and storage projects coincides with AGL Energy giving the go-ahead to build a $750 million large-scale battery at its Liddell site.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
NSW wind farm heads for approval, breaking project drought
A contentious renewables project near a historic gold mine looks set to be the first large wind farm approved in NSW since May 2021.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Climate body targets cattle barons on methane emissions
Some of the nation’s biggest pastoral companies generate enough greenhouse gas emissions to be counted as major polluters, says the Climate Change Authority.
- Jacob Greber
Santos secures drilling approval for Barossa gas project
The approval will allow Santos to resume drilling at the Barossa field in the Timor Sea, which it had to suspend last year after a successful legal challenge by a Tiwi Islander.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
This Month
- Exclusive
- Electric vehicles
PEP bets $250m on EV charging firm founded in a Sydney garage
Most of the cash will be used to drive EVSE’s growth and integration with Intellihub smart meters to help customers manage their charging and protect the grid.
- Ben Potter
‘Too much risk’: Call for strategic coal power reserves
The head of the electricity supplier, Mark Collette, wants serious discussions on a scheme for a coal power reserve to prevent the lights going out on consumers.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
‘Don’t do it’: Woodside investors baulk at Santos tie-up
Portfolio managers are understood to have voiced concerns to chairman Richard Goyder and senior management that a merger just for scale doesn’t make sense.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
The world just made it clear the fossil fuel era is ending
More than any climate deal before it, the new pact reflects a recognition that the world is doing more harm than good by prolonging the era of coal, oil and gas.
- Chico Harlan, Maxine Joselow and Timothy Puko
Coal power ‘to be gone in 15 years’
All coal power plants will have closed by 2038, the energy market operator said in a forecast that piles on pressure to pick up the pace of the transmission build-out.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Four key takeaways from the new energy market roadmap
Coal is dead, the consumer is king, rising costs are squeezing new transmission and utility-scale generation projects, and gas will play an indispensable but small role.
- Ben Potter
- Exclusive
- Environmental protection
Unions line up to back offshore gas against environmental activists
The AWU and MUA say vulnerabilities in Australia’s approvals regime are being exploited to stop or delay major projects and must be changed to save jobs.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Victoria to offer discounts to switch stoves from gas to electric
The Victorian government has expanded its plan to end the use of consumer gas by offering discounts for residents upgrading to electric induction cooktops.
- Gus McCubbing
Greenpeace takes Woodside to court alleging greenwashing
The environmental activists allege the oil and gas producer is misrepresenting its emission reduction efforts because it relies on carbon offsets.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
COP28 deal says gas to play role in energy transition
Climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen hailed the stronger than expected COP28 outcome as a way to bolster Australia’s transition to renewable energy.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Updated
- Energy transition
COP28 deal pledges fossil fuel ‘transition’ for first time
After a marathon round of backroom wrangling, the 198-nation summit endorsed a “transition away from” fossil fuels by 2050.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
Santos could draw global interest amid Woodside talks
Expectations of global interest in Santos came as CEO Kevin Gallagher told staff Woodside had approached Santos several times over the past year or so.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Labor hits family-friendly hybrids with luxury car tax
Popular models such as Toyota Klugers will be included in a new definition of fuel efficiency and face a 33 per cent tax.
- Jacob Greber
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
We’re still the iron ore lucky country. It won’t last forever
A surging iron ore price is driving Australia’s post-pandemic budget repair, the mid-year update shows. But the lucky country’s resources luck shouldn’t be taken as a given.
- Updated
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Energy transition
COP28 shows weaning the world off fossil fuels is hard to do
The hard reality is coal demand will be here for decades to come. Oil and gas are no different.
- Patrick Gibbons
Activist pressures weigh on Santos’ PNG growth
Slow work on financing the $US12 billion Papua LNG project come as ExxonMobil voices ambitions for further major gas growth tapping the Wildebeest prospect.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Your office could double as a data centre – with free hot water
Liquid-cooled server racks can create opportunities in technology and real estate as demand for computing power grows with artificial intelligence.
- Michael Bleby
- Analysis
- Analysis
Will COP28 fail after dropping fossil fuel pledge?
For the Albanese government, and many others, the test of success or failure at COP28 is not necessarily a fossil fuel phase-out, but simply making progress.
- Hans van Leeuwen
COP28 draft agreement drops phase-out of fossil fuels
Australia is among the countries pushing back against the UAE’s suggested deal text, saying the draft was only a “step forward” not the needed “step change”.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Sprawling and costly: Can Australia host COP31 in just two years?
The conference, which could attract up to 80,000 people and puts pressure on transport, is likely to come to Australia in 2026. But the decision will be made next year.
- Hans van Leeuwen
