Markets & Policy

A group of biologists in the United States working with a bacteria discovered a mechanism that could be used to convert electricity into biofuels or other useful substances. With better understanding of the genetics, the group says the mechanism could rival hydrogen for the storage of renewable energy.

Electric vehicles could autonomously transport electrons between where they’re generated and where they’re needed based on algorithms and smart software, predicts JET Charge CEO Tim Washington. Such a future, he admits, is “pretty sci-fi” and still a while off.

Plans to create hydrogen by burning wood have swollen in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley, after sawmill offshoot, Sweetman Renewables, yesterday announced a $15 million deal with Singapore’s CAC-H₂ to construct the country’s largest wood-fed hydrogen production plant.

For a small infrastructure investment in rooftop solar systems, state governments can make a material difference to the lives of social housing tenants, and further their net-zero ambitions. Western Australia reports another win-win.

Australia is currently staring down a suite of reforms which could stifle our rapid and sensible transition to clean energy.

Put solar in your hot water tank! Off-peak electricity rates are fast becoming an unhelpful price signal for rooftop solar owners, who benefit by self consuming their excess solar ahead of drawing electricity from the grid at any time of day.

Hive Energy, Ethical Power Group and Solar South West have set up a joint venture they hope will lead to 350 MW of utility scale installations in a country which does not suffer from grid congestion and which appears to have an energy transition-friendly administration.

The European Union’s proposed carbon border tax on imports of energy-intensive goods could push up prices of steel, aluminium and raw materials, which could add costs to the supply chain for solar PV installations. In the longer run, however, the border tax could also offer solar PV manufacturers new opportunities to source materials with a lower carbon footprint.

India’s solar module makers have built a strong track record, and now the country is set to see vast battery facilities developed. Uma Gupta provides a look into ambitious manufacturing projects and the wider enabled ecosystem.

Renewable energy developer Elliott Green Power is now accepting official bids for its Australian solar PV farms and expanding portfolio of battery energy storage assets as it seeks to exit the Australian market.