Opinion & Analysis

The Asia-Pacific region is becoming a showcase for regional solutions. As electric vehicles rapidly gain traction, the region must confront a dual challenge: managing the environmental and health risks of end-of-life EV batteries, while actively pursuing the economic and technological opportunities of a circular economy.

The world’s highest court says countries are legally obliged to prevent harms caused by climate change, in a ruling that repudiates Australia’s claims it is not legally responsible for emissions from our fossil fuel exports.

In a new monthly column for pv magazine, the International Solar Energy Society debunks old and new urban legends about solar energy.

As the electrification of transport and heating accelerates, many worry the increased demand could overload national power grids. In Australia, electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050.

The role of solar PV in Indonesia will extend beyond replacing coal-based electricity generation; it will also include the production of e-fuels for hard-to-abate segments, offering an alternative to land-intensive biofuel production. A recent study explores, through various scenarios, the cost-competitiveness of solar PV-based electrification in supporting Indonesia’s renewable energy transition.

Topping the agenda for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to China this week has been the massive bilateral opportunity for Australia – the world’s No.1 producer of iron ore, with a 56% share of global exports – to partner with China on developing green iron and steel produced using zero-emissions energy. Traditional practices use coking coal, a carbon intensive, high-emissions fossil fuel, to produce iron from ore, a key step in steelmaking.

Solcast, a DNV company, reports that the first half of 2025 has delivered favourable solar conditions across several key solar generation regions around the globe, with many population centres experiencing above-average irradiance.

Australia is making record-breaking investments in battery energy storage systems, with $2.4 billion committed in the first three months of 2025 alone. These systems are proving to be vital for meeting renewable energy targets and strengthening energy reliability across many critical industries. That includes mining operators, who are increasingly ramping up BESS deployments to replace diesel generators, cutting costs and emissions.

As the world looks for ways to tackle climate change, Australia has invested heavily in green hydrogen, which is shaping as the best option to strip carbon emissions from some industrial processes, such as iron-making and ammonia production. But making the dream a reality in Australia is proving difficult.

Australia’s data centre sector is booming, driven by AI and digital growth – but so too are the energy and regulatory challenges.