12 August 2022

CLIMATE POLITICS

We’re no rubber stamp on climate: Pocock, Lambie warn Labor on climate bill (WA Today): The passage of Labor’s signature climate emissions laws has been thrown into question, with key crossbench senators David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell joining forces to demand their own amendments before they pass the bill.They have warned the government they won’t be a “rubber stamp” for the bill, which locks in at least a 43 per cent cut to emissions by 2030. It passed the lower house on Thursday with a raft of amendments from independent MPs and the Greens and will head to the Senate in September where the crossbench senators are crucial to its success.

Power companies switch off support for key clean energy proposal (Sydney Morning Herald): A key reform the federal government says is urgently needed to modernise the electricity grid and boost the take-up of clean energy has been plunged into uncertainty after both major fossil fuel and renewable power companies hit out at the plan. The Energy Security Board (ESB), the Commonwealth’s policy adviser, is receiving pushback, including from Origin Energy and AGL, over a proposal to direct payments to companies to run generators or store power to back up renewables when the sun isn’t shining and wind isn’t blowing.

Ministers urged to dump ESB proposals at landmark meeting that will put green into grid (Renew Economy): State and federal energy ministers have been urged by multiple organisations to reject two key market reforms put forward by the Energy Security Board, and instead embrace other measures that advocates say can fast-track the rollout of renewables and storage. Australia is facing an investment blockage because of uncertainty around the future shape of the market rules, which are to be re-rewritten to make them fit for purpose for the new technologies that are replacing traditional thermal generation. But the key proposals put forward by the ESB – a so-called capacity mechanism and another reform on grid access – have upset nearly everyone. The ministers are being urged to take design back into their own hands, and to push the green light on a suite of “easier and quicker” solutions.

CARBON MARKETS

Pocock wants forestry carbon credits scrapped in support for climate bill (Sydney Morning Herald): A new clash over carbon emissions will decide a crucial Senate vote on the federal government’s climate change bill in an attempt by crossbench senators to strike down rules that offer financial rewards to schemes that claim to help the environment by planting trees. Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen declared on Sunday he was “very, very confident” the government would gain the numbers in the upper house to pass the bill and its 43 per cent emissions reduction target, but he is yet to secure the crossbench support needed for a majority.

Climate Change Authority releases Review of International Offsets (Climate Change Authority – Media Release): The Climate Change Authority’s Review of International Offsets finds the international carbon market is still evolving in response to the Paris Agreement and calls for publication of a National Carbon Market Strategy that makes the most of this opportunity for Australia to accelerate ambition on emissions reduction. The review finds that while carbon is priced and traded in Australia, the market is fragmented, inefficient and complicated. Parts of the market that contribute to meeting Australia’s emissions reduction target, such as the Safeguard Mechanism, are isolated from the voluntary market used by companies and other organisations. And the voluntary market is largely remote from the high-quality, transparent emissions measurement systems that countries use in their national emissions inventories.

‘Unacceptable costs’: savanna burning under Australia’s carbon credit scheme is harming human health (The Conversation): Savanna burning projects in northern Australia provide economic benefits to Indigenous communities and claim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But our research suggests smoke from these projects is harming human health. Northern Australia’s savannas cover about 25% of Australia’s land mass. They’re among the most flammable regions in the world and comprise 70% of Australia’s fire-affected area each year. Savanna fire management involves strategically burning grasslands early in the dry season, purportedly to reduce the chance of large, intense, more carbon-intensive fires later in the season. Under Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund, land managers who undertake savanna burning receive financial rewards in the form of carbon credits.

Price gap widening between OTC and futures market for new nature-based VERs (Carbon Pulse): Nature-based, standardised spot and futures VER values remained in the doldrums Wednesday amid inflation-triggered economic uncertainty, widening the gap below a bespoke voluntary carbon market (VCM) where prices are climbing higher for newer vintage credits.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Trillions of dollars at risk because central banks’ climate models not up to scratch (The Guardian): Trillions of dollars may be misallocated to deal with the wrong climate threats around the world because the models used by central banks and regulators aren’t fit for purpose, a leading Australian climate researcher says. Prof Andy Pitman, director of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, said regulators were relying on models that are good at forecasting how average climates will change as the planet warms, but were less likely to be of use for predicting how extreme weather will imperil individual localities such as cities. The concerns, detailed in a report in the journal Environmental Research: Climate, were underscored by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s release on Monday of its corporate plan 2022-23. Apra plans to “continue to ensure regulated institutions are well-prepared for the risks and opportunities presented by climate change”.

CEFC commits $200m to help small business take up solar, efficiency and EVs (Renew Economy): The Clean Energy Finance Corporation has committed another $200 million to work with ANZ Bank to deliver discounted loans to help customers adopt solar, efficiency, recycling and electric vehicle technologies. The program will deliver discounts of 0.5 per cent – equally shared by the CEFC money and ANZ – for loans of up to $5 million. Activities intended to benefit from the loans will include renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, precision agricultural equipment, EVs and – for the first time – recycling technologies.

Climate activist group heightens pressure on Deutsche Bank (Australian Financial Review): Deutsche Bank has been warned that it could be in breach of its own environmental and social policy should it provide finance to either Whitehaven Coal or Adani Enterprises, as a shareholder activist group looks to heighten pressure on the bank to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels. Market Forces has sent legal advice from German law firm Rechtsanwalte Gunther to Deutsche Bank, and the bank’s largest 50 shareholders, that concludes offering additional finance to either Whitehaven or Adani exposes it to legal challenges from multiple angles.

GREEN PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES

Australian vanadium producer invests in Ultra Power to develop flow battery modules (Renew Economy): Richmond Vanadium Technology has agreed to invest up to $5 million in Ultra Power Systems in a bid to capture projected growth opportunities in the vanadium redox flow battery sector in Australia and overseas. VRFB’s are long-duration batteries that can store large amounts of electrical energy produced by solar and wind power generators on a daily basis. Unlike lighter-weight lithium-ion batteries favoured in mobile storage, utility storage batteries using vanadium are restricted to stationary applications where weight is not a key factor.

First CATL batteries installed in WA’s biggest utility scale storage project (Renew Economy): The first CATL batteries have been installed on what will be the biggest utility scale battery storage project in Western Australia’s main grid, the most isolated grid of its size in the world. The 100MW/200MWh Kwinana battery is owned by state-owned utility Synergy, and will feature 600 CATL battery units, believed to be the biggest mandate for that company in Australia to date. The first installations were witnessed by state premier Mark McGowan and energy minister Bill Johnston, both keen to promote the state’s plans to invest $3.8 billion in new renewable energy infrastructure, and a further 1,100MW of storage to be delivered through Synergy.

Labor flags possible new wind power zones in Indian Ocean off WA coast (The West Australian): Offshore wind zones could be declared off the WA coast with Labor starting to take the next steps in creating a new renewable energy industry. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a 60-day consultation process had started to declare the Gippsland coast off Victoria an offshore wind zone and to also look at making six other regions the same. These include the Indian Ocean near Perth and Bunbury, the Pacific Ocean off the Hunter and the Illawarra in NSW, the Southern Ocean near Portland in Victoria, and the Bass Strait off Northern Tasmania.

First commercial green hydrogen plant and refuelling facility a step closer for W.A. (Renew Economy): Western Australia’s first commercial-scale green hydrogen plant has moved a step closer with developer Infinite Green Energy securing land to host a refuelling station and a potential doubling of renewable hydrogen production. The 10MW MEG HP1 project is being developed by Infinite Green – the company behind the large Arrowsmith Hydrogen Project – in the town of Northam, east of Perth, alongside the existing 11MW Northam Solar Farm. Its first phase, when operational in 2024, is expected to be able to produce up to 4 tonnes per day of renewable hydrogen for heavy transport use.

Horizon deploys new technology for greener micro-grids in isolated communities (Renew Economy): Western Australia government-owned power company Horizon Power is to start deploying a new technology system that will better integrate distributed renewable energy resources into micro-grids across regional and remote areas of the state. Horizon Power says its new distributed energy resources (DER) management system enables utility-owned energy resources – such as power stations, solar farms, and batteries – to be safely integrated with distributed customer owned energy resources – such as rooftop solar, batteries, and electric vehicles. The announcement this week follows Horizon Power’s successful deployment of a DER management system to manage a regional microgrid at its Onslow Renewable Energy Project, a first for an Australian utility.

AGL and Fortescue eye 2GW of green hydrogen at Hunter coal generator sites (Renew Economy): AGL Energy and Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries have significantly upgraded their hopes for a massive green hydrogen facility in the heart of the Hunter Valley, and are now looking at a 2GW renewable hydrogen facility. The two companies last December revealed their plans to turn AGL’s coal plant precinct in the Hunter Valley – which houses the soon to be close Liddell generator and the neighbouring Bayswater facility, into a green hydrogen precinct with solar, wind, storage and manufacturing.

Apple signs up for massive supply deal from Andrew Forrest owned wind project (Renew Economy): Apple has signed up to a major off take agreement from a new 600MW wind farm to be built in north Queensland by renewable energy developer Windlab, now majority owned by Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy. The deal will see Apple buy 500GWh a year – from 2026 – from the Upper Burdekin wind farm, which Windlab plans to build?on pastoral land within Gugu Badhun country, about 65km south-west of Ingham. This is the first renewable project invested in Australia by Apple to address and offset customer energy use, and the second in the world, after a deal announced last month with a 300MW solar farm in Texas.

OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST

Climate transition requires $3 trillion: CBA (Australian Financial Review): The country’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, says the transition to a net zero economy will be of a similar scale to the most recent mining boom, requiring up to $3 trillion in investment to 2050. “Our estimate is Australia’s transition to a net zero emissions economy will require $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion of investment to 2050. While ambitious, this is similar in scale to the investment in Australia’s mining boom from 2005 to 2015,” CBA chief executive Matt Comyn said.

Vehicle emissions standard could be on the table ahead of electric vehicle summit (ABC News): The automotive sector is hopeful Labor's election win has revived the prospect of an emissions cap on vehicles being imposed. A new report has found if an emissions cap on car-makers that was proposed by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull had been implemented, it would have saved consumers $5.9 billion in fuel costs. Australia is an outlier on fuel efficiency standards, with more than 80 per cent of the global car market being subject to one. It's left car-makers in the unusual position of asking for their carbon dioxide emissions to be regulated.

Revealed: car industry’s secret emissions plan would slow electric vehicle uptake (Sydney Morning Herald): The car industry has launched a wide-ranging secret campaign that would delay Australia’s transition to electric vehicles and hamper a key part of the nation’s climate change plan, confidential documents show. The lobbying and public relations strategy, circulated in recent weeks among top motoring executives, aims to limit any new fuel efficiency standards to a level that would leave Australia’s car industry with some of the weakest carbon emission rules in the world.

“Monumental:” US climate bill eliminates cost gap between green and dirty hydrogen (Renew Economy): Plug Power, one of the world’s leading producers of hydrogen electrolyser technology, says the new climate bill passed by the US Senate, and its proposed tax credit for green hydrogen, will deliver a “monumental” boost to the industry, and allow it to beat the cost of incumbent fossil fuel technologies. Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh says the newly announced Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (PTC) of $3/kg for green hydrogen will enable it to match and beat grey hydrogen in just about every application, and will be as significant to the hydrogen industry as the tax credits that underpinned the wind and solar industries. “This bill provides a trifecta,” Marsh told analysts in a conference call after the release of the company’s results on Tuesday (New York time). “It’s good for climate, it’s good for jobs. It’s good for national security. Our electrolyser business has already benefited from the push in Europe to become energy independent from corrupt regimes.

The battery that charges 70 times faster than lithium-ion (Australian Financial Review): Brisbane-based Graphene Manufacturing Group believes it has found a solution to help replace lithium-ion batteries which charge 70 times faster, are longer-lasting and better for the environment. While developers across the world are charging into what is expected to become a trillion-dollar battery market by 2050, GMG thinks it’s on a winner with its next-generation graphene aluminium-ion battery.