Highlights

One of the hotly contested issues in the run-up to the Saturday federal election is whether a proactive response to climate change is more expensive than doing nothing. The Australia Institute has examined 22 reports from academics, government agencies and consultants modeling higher emissions reductions by 2030 and found that none of them shows action on climate change is ‘economy wrecking’. Counting the costs of the major parties’ climate change policies, UNSW finds that impacts of inaction on climate change for both Australia’s economy and jobs outweigh the costs of reducing emissions.

As the federal election campaign slowly grinds to a halt, one thing is indisputable: climate change has emerged as the make or break issue in this year’s election. The main parties have come up with a wide range of policies, but some are more supportive of the green energy sector than the others.

A research team from Monash University has introduced an intrinsically stable, ‘self-healing’ catalytic system based on earth abundant elements to promote the water electrolysis process in a strongly acidic environment and elevated temperatures.

The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority is seeking public submissions on the massive Asian Renewable Energy Hub proposed for the Pilbara region.

Canadian company CellCube Energy Storage Systems and Pangea Energy have signalled their intention to install a 50 MW/200 MWh energy storage system in Port Augusta, South Australia. 

This year, pv magazine is setting a new editorial agenda. Via our program, UP, we will be diving deep into the topic of what it means to be truly sustainable, looking at what is already being done, and discussing areas for improvement. Over the coming weeks, months, and years, we will share our findings across our various digital platforms, in our print magazines, and via our roundtable events and webinars. Are you UP for it?

Solar-plus-storage could be competitive against gas peaking power plants in Australia within the next five years, as the average solar-plus-storage LCOE across the Asia-Pacific region is set to fall from $133/MWh this year to $101/MWh by 2023, according to a newly released research report.

A new $200 million partnership with Bank Australia has boosted the capability of Sustainable Melbourne Fund to help all Australian commercial and agricultural enterprises become more sustainable. For many businesses, reducing electricity costs and emissions through solar PV installation has been the first project on their list.

The Clean Energy Council is continuing to push back against new laws in Queensland that will compel solar installation work to be carrier out by a licensed electrician for arrays larger than 100 kW. It convened an “emergency roundtable” in Brisbane today to address the new rules. 

The latest figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) show that solar continues to eat into the share once firmly held by coal on the back of a dramatic increase in installations over the past 12 months. The trend was backed by energy storage facilities which continued to gain foothold as providers of frequency control and ancillary services, lowering overall costs in the first quarter of 2019.