Sustainability

Western Australia’s City of Stirling has fast tracked its investment in an estimated $6 million solar PV program in a bid to maximise potential savings and reach its goal of sourcing 100% of the city’s electricity needs from renewables by 2030.

Australian power producer AGL Energy has abandoned its plan to split the company into two, conceding defeat in the face of “opposition from a small number of investors” including major investor Mike Cannon-Brookes.

A parliamentary committee has recommended the Victorian government explore options to allow greater integration of distributed energy resources, including rooftop solar PV into the grid as climate activists urge the state to ramp up its renewable energy ambitions.

It’s been just over 24 hours since Anthony Albanese was sworn in as the new prime minister of Australia and already his government is coming under heat for its longstanding refusal to block the 114 coal and gas projects under development in Australia, especially the recently approved Scarborough and Beetaloo projects. With a number of seats still in doubt, Labor may need to up its ambition with the ‘Greenslide’ election on Saturday leaving little doubt about Australian’s desire for climate action.

Incoming Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has promised to make the nation a “renewable energy superpower” in the wake of Labor’s federal election victory at the weekend.

Australian miner IGO is claiming an Australian first in its joint venture with China’s Tianqi Lithium after producing battery grade lithium hydroxide, a key component in rechargeable battery technology, at its Kwinana refinery in Western Australia.

Australian energy major AGL’s plan to split the company in two are in jeopardy with software billionaire and climate activist Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures cementing a more than 11% stake in the power producer in a bid to stop the demerger.

Reclaim PV Recycling and the Circular PV Alliance (CPVA) have announced a partnership which will see the pair work together to develop standards and testing procedures to support the reuse and resale of solar panels in Australia. The union comes after Reclaim PV found more than 31% it collected in a Queensland region could be considered for reuse rather than recycling.

New Zealand’s government this week unveiled its plan to cut emissions and fund the clean energy transition, featuring policies like a ‘scrap and replace’ scheme to incentivise electric vehicles and funding for electrifying industry. The NZ$2.9 billion (AU$2.6 billion) plan has received mixed reviews, with Greenpeace saying it has overlooked the country’s most glaring problem.

ACE Green Recycling has announced plans to build a new plant in Texas to recycle both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.