Australia

Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian Corp, has used the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York to announce plans to help fund the ambitious 10 GW, $20 billion, Sun Cable Project in the Northern Territory (NT).

Australia’s chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel continues to voice his support for some modicum of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Australia’s hydrogen future, providing a lifeline to fossil fuel producers. While Finkel’s argument holds some water, it holds nowhere near enough water to produce a hydrogen economy. 

Rooftop solar penetration has reached the point where a choice needs to be made between distribution networks spending billions on new substations, poles and wires to cope – or start delivering the grid of the future so consumers are not landed with unnecessary costs, says the Australian Energy Market Commission.

The China-headquartered battery manufacturer has opened a new assembly facility at Lonsdale, as part of its commitment to the South Australian Government’s Home Battery Scheme. Alpha-ESS batteries will form part of a new virtual power plant launched into the market this week by ShineHub and energy retailer Powershop.

Australia’s chief scientist Dr. Alan Finkel continues to push Australia toward a strong hydrogen economy produced by solar and wind through electrolysis. However, Finkel remains attached to the idea that toxically unpopular carbon capture and storage methods, a lifeline for fossil fuel producers, should also play a part.

The Australian Space Agency (ASA) has joined the next generation, or rather this generation, space race, between the U.S. and China. A $150 million investment from the Morrison Government into the ASA will see Australia partner with NASA on its next sustainable exploratory missions.

ANZ has become the latest Australian signatory of The Climate Group’s RE100 initiative, joining a growing pool of businesses in the global transition to a zero carbon grid.

South Australia is looking to leverage its wind, sun, land, infrastructure and skills to be a world-class renewable hydrogen supplier.

Despite being such a sunkissed country, Australia is still lagging behind in the race to embrace solar power. While solar panels adorn hundreds of thousands of rooftops throughout the nation, we have not yet seen the logical next step: buildings with solar photovoltaic cells as an integral part of their structure.

Natural Solar and sonnen have revealed that the first Australian family to adopt the sonnenFlat electricity retail model has saved more than $3,400 on their energy bills in the first year of operation. Given the $18,000 solar+storage price tag, payback for the system under the sonnenFlat is less than six years.