Policy

A major new report finds there is a pathway to zero emissions for every major economic sector in Australia. Over 18 months in the making, Decarbonisation Futures offers fresh ideas for how Australia can embrace the zero-emissions future that is visible on the other side of the pandemic, writes Amandine Denis-Ryan of ClimateWorks Australia.

Modelling from a new report backed by ARENA has found that on-site solar electrolysis is not only the most cost-effective way of reaching Australia’s ambitions of both a domestic and export hydrogen economy, but perhaps the only way.

The New South Wales government has amended legislation to allow for larger-scale solar systems to be installed on homes and commercial buildings without council approval and to facilitate the installation of utility-scale batteries.

New analysis highlights the need of, and Tasmania’s potential for, deep storage to back up Australia’s future energy market. Tasmania is determined to become the Battery of the Nation.

Renewable Investment Fund Solar Bay is dishing out its $350 million mandate over the next three years by buying on-site solar systems to provide discounted PPA’s. The move is part of an ongoing trend in smaller-scale renewable investment.

Earlier this month, the Western Australian government released its Distributed Energy Resources (DER) roadmap. Another report focused on the threats posed to grid stability by accelerating solar uptake? Not so, says Bill Johnston, the WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Energy and Industrial Relations; it’s about opportunities.

The COAG Energy Council’s plan to unlock Australia’s potential to reindustrialise its energy system has taken another step forward with the publishing of an Energy Security Board consultation paper. The paper discusses what the two-sided market required to free up the potential of household energy technology will look like.

Sydney’s Macquarie University has signed a seven-year contract with Snowy Hydro owned Red Energy to be powered by 100% renewables from 1 July 2020. The move demonstrates the variety of pathways to sustainability through renewable energy.

The City of Ryde has decided to adjust its ambitions from a 60% renewable energy target by 2030 to a 100% renewable energy target.

To achieve the goal of ‘H2 under $2’, ARENA has opened the $70 million Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Funding Round for expression of interest from large scale renewable hydrogen projects.