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    Policy

    Energy & Climate

    Today

    Ausgrid CEO Marc England: now is the time to have a proper debate on the role well-regulated distributors can play in the energy transition beyond maintaining poles and wires.

    Distributors can drive lower-cost transition

    Electricity distributors can help deliver a lower cost, more socially equitable transition.

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    by Ausgrid

    This Month

    Nuclear plant under construction in the UK: Australia may be already too late to follow.

    Nuclear power deserves a fair hearing

    The opposition and the government fail to answer critical questions on their respective nuclear stances. It is time to get the experts in.

    • Bruce Mountain
    Peter Dutton has announced his nuclear reactor idea, but has yet to reveal how much it would cost.

    Coalition’s taxpayer-funded nuclear con a road to ruin

    We estimate that the fiscal damage would be in the order of a minimum $100 billion “nuke builder” tax, but likely considerably more given the international experience.

    • Tim Buckley and Annemarie Jonson
    We must repeal legislation preventing the use of nuclear energy in Australia and we need to seriously address energy market design.

    My nuclear talk was cancelled. Here is what I would have said.

    My presentation to Engineers Australia would have outlined why a nuclear-based energy system would cost consumers half as much with four times fewer emissions.

    • Robert Parker
    Very few companies are hitting their emission targets.

    Why top companies are starting to back away from green targets

    In the past year, many of the world’s biggest companies have dropped or missed goals to cut emissions or to loosen ties with polluting sectors.

    • Kenza Bryan and Attracta Mooney
    Advertisement
    The bond will be used initially for carbon mitigation projects including Rewiring the Nation – a $20 billion program to get clean power from the Renewable Energy Zones to the cities.

    $7b green bond to rally nation’s net zero goals

    Australia’s commitment to sustainability has taken a giant leap forward with the issue of the nation’s $7 billion inaugural sovereign green bond.

    Sponsored 

    by NAB

     Andrew Mackenzie’s perspective on the global carbon challenge revealed in an exclusive interview with The Australian Financial Review’s Tech Zero podcast underlines the challenges in the pathway to the net zero future.

    Mackenzie’s climate change

    It shouldn’t surprise to hear the head of a global oil company talking his own book. But it’s no use pretending that the decarbonisation transition is more difficult and more costly than many imagined.

    • The AFR View
    Australians know that renewables drive down prices.

    Culture war is driving Coalition’s plan to stop renewables rollout

    The first auction of the Capacity Investment Scheme has received more than 40 gigawatts of project registrations, showing there is a strong pipeline of renewables ready to go with the right policy settings.

    • Chris Bowen
    If you need external validation of these basic economics, look no further than the opposition’s own announcement.

    Nuclear is unviable because of economics, not engineering

    Even if all that mattered was the cheapest possible energy that meets minimum levels of reliability and emissions, the Coalition’s plan fails.

    • Steven Hamilton and Luke Heeney
    Liberal leader Peter Dutton has announced his nuclear power plan.

    The gambler: Dutton bets it all on nuclear

    The opposition leader is hoping his energy wager could return the Coalition to government. But if it all goes badly wrong, his dream of becoming prime minister could be lost.

    • Tom McIlroy
    Peter Dutton is proposing seven nuclear plants in Coalition electorates.

    Nuclear election poses energy transition questions for both sides

    The Coalition’s nuclear option deserves a proper debate, not the puerile meme scare campaign that Labor is running.

    • The AFR View
    The new homeowners seem happy to live next door to the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, which has operated safely for over 60 years.

    Why I welcome a nuclear power station in my backyard

    I have never been against some solar and wind power. My message is that we need a balanced mix of energy types.

    • Matt Canavan
    Morwell manufacturing manager Peter Ceeney says the Latrobe Valley is screaming out for more jobs and he doesn’t mind if they come through nuclear or renewables.

    Towns at ground zero say if nuclear means jobs, bring it on

    People in Morwell and Traralgon, at ground zero of the nuclear debate, say the need for new jobs could win them over to Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy plans.

    • Gus McCubbing
    Mount Piper.

    Locals might prefer nuclear to renewable poles and wires

    Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy plan could win support from communities concerned about major infrastructure upgrades needed to get solar and wind power into the grid.

    • Tom McIlroy, Gus McCubbing and Brad Thompson
    Peter Dutton is proposing seven nuclear plants in Coalition electorates.

    End the nuclear ban. Don’t stop renewables

    There is a case for considering zero emissions nuclear power but as part of a technology-neutral energy approach to generating reliable baseload power and firmed wind and solar generation.

    • The AFR View
    Advertisement
    Secretary to the Treasury Steven Kennedy gives his keynote speech at the economic security conference.

    China’s ‘predatory’ tactics justify critical mineral subsidies: Kennedy

    Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy says China’s dominance of critical minerals justifies the government’s taxpayer support for rare earths the world needs.

    • John Kehoe
    Tom Villiers, general manager – delivery at Tilt Renewables, at the company’s Rye Park wind farm which is nearing full commissioning.   Photo: Martin Ollman 4th June 2024

    How an energy ‘boot camp’ rescued this mega wind farm

    Rye Park was running into trouble. Its backer – and key customer – needed its power but owner Tilt couldn’t get it to the grid. Enter AEMO.

    • Ben Potter
    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton wants to introduce nuclear power generation in Australia.

    Cancelled nuclear talk enrages politicians and engineers

    There’s been a revolt against Engineers Australia over cancelling a speech by a nuclear scientist after a pressure from renewables backer Simon Holmes à Court.

    • John Kehoe
     Most of the elements of what Peter Dutton has said on energy in recent months is not new territory for the Coalition.

    Dutton’s climate war spells trouble for Labor, and all of us

    The question is why the Coalition feels it can talk safely about doing less on climate change, two years after losing an election where perceived climate change denialism was a major factor in the loss.

    • Laura Tingle

    Can investors de-risk the energy transition? It depends who you ask

    Energy companies and big investors are pivoting to projects that can skirt the transition roadblocks, cut carbon and make money for shareholders.

    • Ben Potter