21 April 2023

CLIMATE POLITICS

Albanese government to impose mandatory pollution caps on cars to drive electric vehicle uptake (The Sydney Morning Herald): Mandatory pollution caps will be applied to new cars for the first time as part of the federal government’s National Electric Vehicle strategy to drive uptake of cleaner cars as a key measure to help Australia meet its climate targets. Australia is the last developed economy except Russia that does not impose pollution caps on vehicles. Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Transport Minister Catherine King announced on Wednesday the Albanese government would impose fuel efficiency standards on manufacturer’s fleets of passenger vehicles, although they didn’t detail the standards or the timing for their introduction.

Coalition willing to work with Labor on electric vehicle strategy (AFR): The Coalition has signalled it is open to working with Labor on changes aimed at spurring electric vehicle supply and potentially avoiding giving the whip hand in likely Senate negotiations to Greens Leader Adam Bandt, who is calling for an outright ban on sales of internal combustion motors. Speaking as fresh data showed for the first time that EV sales overtook those of petrol-driven motors in the medium-sized car category, shadow climate change spokesman Ted O’Brien said it was “critical” that the government worked with the transport sector to reduce emissions.

Labor’s EV policy launch a ‘missed opportunity’ for national consistency, Bridget McKenzie says (The Guardian): The Nationals’ shadow infrastructure minister, Bridget McKenzie, has described Labor’s electric vehicle policy launch as a “missed opportunity” to achieve national consistency and warned the government not to rule out road user charging. McKenzie made the comments after Labor announced a further consultation period for fuel efficiency standards, which some clean energy and transport stakeholders fear could push the long-anticipated reforms into next year.

CARBON MARKETS

Xpansiv launches Australian Carbon Credit Unit trading market (The Australian): Australia’s first public trading market for carbon credits has begun and its owner has predicted a shake-up of the nation’s $4.5bn carbon market as demand surges from big polluters offsetting their emissions. Xpansiv – backed by Blackstone and Macquarie – launched its Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) trading and settlement market on Wednesday to a muted start, trading 27,449 carbon credits worth about $1.4m across eight trades.

Safeguard mechanism tipped to spur carbon capture for fossil fuels (The Sydney Morning Herald): Controversial carbon capture and storage projects are expected to get a boost from new safeguard mechanism laws that require the heaviest polluters to reduce emissions to help meet Australia’s legally binding climate targets. Carbon capture and storage traps emissions released when gas is extracted or fossil fuels are burned for energy, and injects them underground. But the Greens and some climate action advocates say the technology prolongs the use of fossil fuels and delays investment in clean, renewable energy.

Australia’s polluting industries cannot rely on the land sector to offset emissions, new report says (Carbon Pulse): Australia’s land sector could reach net zero or even become a carbon sink by 2050, according to a wide-ranging report on how the country will reach net zero emissions, however it warned other sectors should not rely on it as a tool to offset their own emissions.

GREEN PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES

Record 5GW of new solar and wind underway – and big batteries are getting bigger (Renew Economy): In 2022, the Australian renewable energy industry started construction on more than 5GW of new wind and solar farms, a new report has revealed – the highest year for new renewable construction commitments on record. The latest Clean Energy Australia report from the Clean Energy Council on Tuesday paints a picture of where Australia is at on renewable energy and associated infrastructure at the end of 2022.

Origin green-lights big battery to replace nation’s largest coal plant (The Sydney Morning Herald): Power and gas supplier Origin Energy has given the go-ahead to build the $600 million first stage of a giant battery to help replace its Eraring power station, the nation’s largest coal-fired generator, which it intends to close as early as 2025. The ASX-listed energy supplier on Thursday said works on the 460-megawatt battery, which would have two hours of storage and be among the biggest batteries in Australia, were set to begin “within weeks”.

Net zero study finds Australia needs nearly three terawatts of wind and solar (Renew Economy): Australia will need nearly three terrawatts, or 3,000 gigawatts, of wind and solar if it is to meet its goal of a net zero economy by 2030, a plan that could cost up to $9 trillion, according to a new study. The astonishing numbers are revealed in a new report – Net Zero Australia – put together by Melbourne University, the University of Queensland, and the Nous Group, and released on Wednesday. To put the 3,000 gigawatts of wind and solar in some context, Australia currently only has about 30GW of large scale wind and solar across the country. So it has a lot to do.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Woodside Energy faces billions in liability costs thanks to Safeguard Mechanism, as AGM climate revolt looms (Carbon Pulse): Australian-based Woodside Energy and its partners could face a compliance obligation of up to A$63 billion ($42.3 bln) to 2050 from new and existing gas facilities as a result of the strengthened Safeguard Mechanism, according to new research, as its board faces potential revolt from disgruntled shareholders at its upcoming AGM this month.

Emissions from WA gas project with world’s largest industrial carbon capture system rise by more than 50% (The Guardian): Emissions from Chevron’s Gorgon gas development off Western Australia have increased by more than 50% despite it being home to the world’s largest industrial carbon capture and storage system. There has been a sharp drop in the amount of CO2 stored underground at the liquefied natural gas plant over the last three years, data released by Chevron showed.

‘Cat and mouse’: Australia’s biggest coal miner faces investor revolt over climate stance (The Age): Mining giant Glencore is facing a showdown with more than a dozen large institutional shareholders who have thrown their weight behind a landmark climate resolution seeking greater disclosure from the country’s biggest coal miner on how its pursuit of new coal projects will align with its commitments to arrest global warming. A second tranche of nine large institutional investors managing nearly a trillion dollars in funds worldwide – including UK-based Man Group, EFG Asset Management, Fulcrum Asset Management and the Swiss Federal Pension Fund PUBLICA – are backing a push for greater transparency from Glencore, intensifying pressure on the Swiss-headquartered company ahead of its annual shareholder meeting next month.

OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST

Investors release “credible” 1.5°C grid plan with rapid exit for coal (Renew Economy): A group of the biggest clean energy investors in Australia has released a groundbreaking new plan, which they say provides an ambitious and credible pathway to take fossil fuels out of Australia’s electricity grid in line with the 1.5°C target. The Clean Energy Investors Group say this is the first plan that provides such a credible pathway, and involves closing all coal plants by 2033, instead of 2038, and fast tracking Victoria’s 95 per cent renewables target to 2030 from 2035.

EV experts say Australia will rapidly adopt electric vehicles — as long as the government gets its CO2 standard right (ABC News): Electric vehicle advocates say Australians are ready to buy EVs and they expect to see a rapid uptake — as long as the government can land an "ambitious" mandatory CO2 limit on car makers. The federal government has committed to implement a "fuel efficiency standard", which would impose an overall CO2 limit on each car manufacturer, determined by what kinds of cars they sell into the market.