Sustainability

A campaign to ban fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships has launched in Australia supported by a number of healthcare and environmental groups.

Interest and investment in heat pumps has surged in Europe, but in Australia the technology has struggled to find a serious foothold. Industrial heat pumps could reduce ‘hard to abate’ emissions here by 15 million tonnes per annum by 2050, according to new modelling from the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity though. Despite the potential, dodgy technology suppliers and schemes gone awry have left a bad taste in Australia’s mouth, CEO Jarrod Leak tells pv magazine Australia.

Australia’s national science agency has reaffirmed integrated wind and solar PV remain the cheapest new-build electricity generation options but warned inflationary pressures and ongoing supply chain disruptions are likely to stall any further cost reductions for at least 12 months.

Porsche-backed HIF Global has lodged plans with Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority to build a renewables-powered green hydrogen facility in the state’s north-west that would be used to produce a “highly competitive” e-fuel, or electricity-based fuel, that can be directly substituted for fossil fuels in conventional car engines.

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority has already attracted proposals for 1.2 GW of renewable electricity, to be generated in four southeast Asian nations, and wants to raise that figure to 4 GW by 2035.

Rooftop solar systems are cheaper then centralised ground mounted systems for remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, a new report funded by ARENA and APVI has found. The report, however, did not examine the question of community benefit in its scope – something Alan Langworthy, who has long worked in energy in the NT, told pv magazine Australia is absolutely vital.

The Victorian government has published its Gas Substitution Roadmap detailing regulatory and policy reform designed to help Australia’s biggest gas-consuming state fast-track its transition towards a renewable energy future and navigate the path to net-zero emissions.

The Victorian government has opened a new round of funding for a $20 million initiative designed to support projects that create long-term sustainable jobs, increase the uptake of renewable energy generation and drive innovation in new energy technologies.

Australian miner Liontown Resources has declared the way is now clear for construction to commence on its $545 million Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia after inking an offtake agreement and $300 million financing facility with global car manufacturing giant Ford Motor Company.

With new modelling by PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia revealing that businesses will spend $3.7 billion on advisory services supporting their transition to a clean economy by 2030, the firm has launched a new unit designed to help facilitate the nation’s successful transition to a decarbonised economy.