Policy

A national advertising campaign will shine a light on the investment and job opportunities provided by Australia’s renewable energy industry as the Clean Energy Council seeks to counteract “misleading” information spread by “a minority of loud voices”.

PV markets in Southeast Asia have picked up over the past two years, driven by the astounding growth of Vietnam. Regional policies, combined with growing demand for renewable power in the manufacturing industry, will result in 27 GW of new PV installations across the region over the next five years, writes IHS Markit analyst Dharmendra Kumar. PV installations in these countries are driven by attractive feed-in tariffs, net energy metering, tariff-based auction mechanisms, and other incentives.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has released a draft energy plan with ambitious revisions to the nation’s previous energy and emissions targets. The proposed plan will sees a doubling of renewables compared to the previous target, and significant cuts to coal and gas, much of which it buys from Australia. Meanwhile, Australian Resources Minister Keith Pitt reiterated the Coalition Government’s “Gas-Fired Recovery is the right policy for Australia.”

The Morrison Government’s continuing support of fossil fuels has been labelled “reckless” as new figures provided by the Climate Council show that renewable energy generation in the National Electricity Market rose to record highs in the first half of 2021.

The Grattan Institute has recommended the sale of new petrol and diesel cars be phased out in Australia by 2035 in a bid to “supercharge the switch to electric vehicles” to help cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Western Australia’s McGowan Government has joined fellow state and territory governments in joining the Smart Energy Council’s industry-led Zero Carbon Certification Scheme. As the region with the largest proposed green hydrogen projects in the world, this is a significant step toward ensuring a future in which green hydrogen is prioritised.

Brisbane-based battery casing company Vaulta has more to celebrate than just Brisbane’s winning 2032 Olympic and Paralympic bid. The company has won a Federal government Accelerating Commercialisation grant that will see its innovative design pushed ahead as the tide of electric vehicles rising globally.

The number of residential home batteries in Queensland has doubled while electricity bill cost concern has almost halved, found the “biggest survey of its kind” conducted in the state. The survey’s findings, which set to be released in full later this week, were summarised this morning by Queensland Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, at a virtual event.

European commissioner for economy Paolo Gentiloni has outlined how the commission’s planned revision of the energy taxation regime, and introduction of an EU carbon border, could be applied.

Southeast Asia could well become the global engine room of renewable energy expansion. Population and economic growth is expected across the three decades in which the world has to decarbonise, but the brimming bounty of renewables deployment will force developers to navigate the region’s systems. As it turns out, that could be a treacherous task.