By Tony Wood, Grattan Institute On Thursday Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a scheme to underwrite the risk of investing in new renewable energy generation and storage. The expansion of the national Capacity Investment Scheme follows a successful pilot study with New South Wales. The government paid A$1.8 billion for just over a gigawatt…
By Anna Skarbek, Climateworks Centre; Anna Malos, Monash University, and Michael Li, Monash University Every bit of warming matters if we want to avoid the worst impacts for climate change, as the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows. In 2020, we released modelling showing how Australia could get to net zero…
By Adam Bartley, RMIT University and Matthew Warren, RMIT University A 12-tonne fishing boat weighs anchor three kilometres off the port of Adelaide. A small crew huddles over a miniature submarine, activates the controls, primes the explosives, and releases it into the water. The underwater drone uses sensors and sonar to navigate towards its pre-programmed…
By Tony Wood, Grattan Institute Australia has a legislated target to reduce greenhouse emissions, a federal government with commitments to increase the share of renewable electricity and reduce power prices, and a globally important economic opportunity at its feet. In the second half of the government’s current term, delivery looks hard across the board. All…
By Alan Finkel, The University of Queensland This article is part of a series by The Conversation, Getting to Zero, examining Australia’s energy transition. Just over a year since US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, it’s becoming clear this strangely named piece of legislation could have a powerful impact…
By Elizabeth Thurbon, UNSW Sydney; Alexander M. Hynd, UNSW Sydney, and Hao Tan, University of Newcastle This week, a diverse group of organisations called on the Australian federal government to establish a A$100 billion, ten-year policy package to turbocharge Australia’s green energy transition. Proposed by groups including the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Conservation…
IBISWorld releases new market figures on baby food manufacture Market research firm IBISWorld has published a new Baby Food Manufacturing in Australia report, finding the sector experienced “mixed results” and declined in size by 0.2 over the last five years. The research showed desire for nutrient-added and organic products had supported performance, as had overseas…
A big electric passenger and vehicle ferry needs a big battery – and electric vessels don’t come much bigger than leading Tasmanian ferry builder Incat’s ferry being built for South American customer, Buquebus. The 130 metre long catamaran ‘utility Ro-Pax’ design (pictured) announced in January will be capable of carrying up to 2,100 passengers and…
By Melita Jazbec, University of Technology Sydney; Andrea Turner, University of Technology Sydney, and Ben Madden, University of Technology Sydney Most Australian food waste ends up in landfill. Rotting in the absence of oxygen produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. While some facilities capture this “landfill gas” to produce energy, or burn it off to…
The federal government recently cancelled a number of key space initiatives, including funding for the Access to Space and National Space Mission for Earth Observation programs. Rather than assess the merit of these decisions, I’d rather emphasise the importance of space to our country. By Adam Gilmour. You’ve probably heard this before… but space technology…
