This Month
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
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Rinehart’s common sense crucial to green mining transition
Policy-makers need to heed the calls by two prominent female resource sector leaders not to hobble the upstream mining sector on which the nation’s prosperity rests.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Opinion
COP28 puts the heat on energy transition
The conference’s proposed measures could put the world back on course in its climate change response. What we need to see now is action from leaders in politics and business.
- Kerry Schott
- Opinion
- Opinion
What really matters now for investors, and nine more opinion reads
Here are 10 opinion pieces from the week.
‘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
What top CEOs want the Albanese government to focus on in 2024
Corporate leaders want the Labor government to focus on helping households with cost-of-living pressures, the housing crisis and slow planning approvals.
- James Thomson and Anthony Macdonald
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
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
The Australian Financial Review names its Business Person of the Year
Gina Rinehart has capped an extraordinary year of deal-making across the mining, energy, agribusiness and retail sectors by taking out the top honour.
- James Thomson
Westpac boss to fly to Tiwi Islands to discuss Santos project
After a four-hour AGM in Brisbane, Peter King has committed to visiting the Tiwi following concerns about consultation on Santos’ Barossa project.
- James Eyers
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
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
- Paris Agreement
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
- Opinion
- Opinion
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
- Opinion
- Opinion
Methane is Australia’s missing COP28 opportunity
MethaneSAT, which will launch into orbit in 2024, will be a game changer for the energy sector’s abatement of a highly potent greenhouse gas.
- Charlotte Hanson
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
- Carbon challenge
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
