Sustainability

Energy ministers from around the country have powered up Australia’s shift from coal and gas to a renewables-based grid with a national agreement to enshrine emissions reductions objectives into laws governing the nation’s energy market.

Local government associations continue to drive Australia’s shift towards renewable energy with councils around the country unveiling a series of clean energy projects, ranging from solar PV and storage installs, to solar panel recycling initiatives and long-term power purchase agreements.

An international group of researchers from 15 universities has said that there is growing consensus among scientists that an energy system based on 100% renewables could be achieved cost effectively by 2050.

The owner of Australia’s biggest coal-fired generator has added another large-scale solar PV project to its renewable energy portfolio with the acquisition of the 60 MW Yanco Solar Farm being developed in the New South Wales Riverina region.

Miner Rio Tinto has received offers to build more than 4 GW of solar and wind capacity after the company sought proposals to help it cut carbon emissions at its Queensland operations.

New research from Stanford University researcher Mark Jacobson outlines how 145 countries could meet 100% of their business-as-usual energy needs with wind, water, solar and energy storage. The study finds that in all the countries considered, lower-cost energy and other benefits mean the required investment for transition is paid off within six years. The study also estimates that worldwide, such a transition would create 28 million more jobs than it lost.

Fourth-generation Victorian dairy farmers this week commissioned their 250kW rooftop solar system coupled with 520 kWh of battery storage from Australian company Energy Renaissance. The couple are forecast to save at least $70,000 annually with the system, cutting their grid reliance by 95% and hopefully inspiring neighbouring farms.

The Australian Capital Territory government has unveiled plans to phase out the use of fossil gas by 2045 at the latest and move the market towards a net zero emissions future by “electrifying Canberra with renewable electricity over the next two decades”.

New legislation to enshrine Australia’s 2030 and 2050 emissions reduction targets into law has cleared the first hurdle with the Federal Government’s climate change bill passing through the parliament’s lower house.

Malaysia’s largest electricity provider Tenaga Nasional Berhad has announced plans to fast track the closure of its coal-fired power plants to hasten the transition of its generation fleet from fossil fuels to renewable sources including large-scale solar PV and green hydrogen.