Sustainability

The Gladstone Regional Council has ratified an ambitious roadmap that will be used to help the central Queensland city navigate the transition from traditional coal and gas hub to a green hydrogen and renewable energy superpower.

Brisbane Airport Corporation has entered a long-term renewable energy agreement and announced it will develop a 5 MW solar installation on site as part of plans to power the airport’s operations with 100% green energy by 2025.

Fortescue Future Industries will partner with clean energy company Windlab to develop a renewable energy ‘Super Hub’ in northwest Queensland. The Hub is expected to deliver more than 10 GW of wind and solar power, underpinning the industrial-scale production of green hydrogen from purpose-built facilities.

The New South Wales government has received bids for more than 5.5 GW of wind and solar projects, along with more than 2.5 GW of long-duration storage projects, in response to its first tender to secure renewable projects to transform its coal-reliant energy system.

Panel shipments collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars are blocked from entering the United States market as they have failed scrutiny under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, said Reuters.

Mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is the founder and executive chair of Fortescue Metals Group, a major Australian iron ore producer. The company recently announced an ambitious USD 6.2 billion ($9.3bn) decarbonisation strategy. Meanwhile, a fully owned subsidiary – Fortescue Future Industries – has rapidly become a global player in green hydrogen, along with a host of other technology pathways in the energy transition. Whether it is pushing to decarbonise mining, hashing out headline-making green energy deals, or using the popular “Rick and Morty” cartoon to educate people about the potential of green hydrogen, Fortescue and its shining magnate are talking the talk. But can they walk the walk? Blake Matich reports.

At least 600 disability and community housing residents in Sydney are set to receive a lifeline amidst the cost of living crisis in the shape of fully funded solar systems. The residential solar PPA model of the Community Solar Program pilot should see benefits for residents, developers and investors.

Economist Ross Garnaut’s latest book, the Superpower Transformation, is promoted as a “practical plan” to put the vision of in his earlier Superpower into effect. Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University, questions if the vision is premised on an imperfect logic.

Australia has paid just 38% of its “fair share” towards the internationally agreed climate finance target. The revelation speaks to the issue of fairness – a key topic at COP27, currently underway in Egypt. But Australia’s premier renewable energy event offered little hope that questions of equity and deep sustainability are being considered here, even by the architects of our own transition.

While not one of the big five-year-cycle COPs like Paris or Glasgow, COP27 is still hugely important, write Wood Mackenzie analysts. The fallout from the conflict in Ukraine has tilted the precarious balance of the energy trilemma – sustainability; affordability; security – towards the latter. But despite this temporary setback, some progress should still be possible.