The latest renewable energy news from The Guardian
(click on the Title to retrieve full article)
Australia should prioritise large-scale renewable energy options to replace ageing thermal generators, infrastructure body says
Renewable energy zones and dispatchable energy storage have been listed as “high priority initiatives” by Infrastructure Australia for the first time.
The energy initiatives are among 44 new infrastructure proposals on the priority list, released on Friday, which together represent a $59bn pipeline of potential investments.
Related: Renewable energy could render five of Australia’s remaining coal plants unviable by 2025
Related: Can Australia’s Labor party match Joe Biden’s winning message on climate action? | Van Badham
New South Wales – greater Sydney water security, digital infrastructure at Western Parkland City, social housing, Parramatta outer ring-road capacity, and the western Sydney freight line and intermodal terminal
Queensland – south-east Queensland level crossings congestion and safety
South Australia – Adelaide’s outer ring route capacity, and road maintenance to reduce congestion
Northern Territory – enabling infrastructure for developing the Beetaloo Sub-Basin for potential gas market opportunities
Continue reading...Conservatives have blamed the state’s power fiasco on solar and wind even though they account for a fraction of supply
The frigid winter storm and power failure that left millions of people in Texas shivering in darkness has been used to stoke what is becoming a growing front in America’s culture wars – renewable energy.
Related: Aggressive push to 100% renewable energy could save Americans billions – study
Continue reading...Free market can be overruled if necessary to create post-Covid growth, ex-PM advises former rival
Boris Johnson must be “muscular” in reshaping the economy to bring about a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, former prime minister David Cameron has said, calling for an active policy of industrial intervention.
Cameron, who as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 oversaw the UK’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, said the lessons from that recession were clear. “My advice would be, from what I learnt, is that as well as the framework [of climate and economic policy], you have to roll up your sleeves and be quite muscular in your interventionism,” he told the Guardian in an interview.
Continue reading...A new report suggests previous estimates understated the amount of cheap solar and wind energy entering the national electricity market
Up to five of Australia’s remaining 16 coal power plants could be financially unviable by 2025 due to a flood of cheap solar and wind energy entering the electricity grid, a new report suggests.
An analysis by two groups – the consultants Green Energy Markets and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (Ieefa) – found previous estimates had understated the amount of renewable energy likely to enter the national electricity market in the next five years, and its ramifications for the ageing coal fleet.
Related: Australia needs to cut emissions by at least 50% by 2030 to meet Paris goals, experts say
Related: Recent Australian emissions cuts likely to be reversed in recovery from Covid and drought
Related: Australian farmers call for renewable energy zones as Nationals push coal and nuclear
Continue reading...
