22 March 2024

CLIMATE POLITICS

Fed Gov to fund $840M rare earths refinery in NT (Energy Magazine): The Federal Government has announced it will provide up to $840 million to help deliver Australia’s first combined rare earths mine and refinery in the Northern Territory, which aims to support the state’s transition to renewables. The government said the facility will create more than 300 jobs across the Northern Territory and diversify Australia’s critical minerals supply chain. A first of its kind in Australia, the project is a step forward for the rare earths and critical minerals industry.

Coalition won’t be ‘Labor lite’ on fuel standards: Dutton (Australian Financial Review): The Coalition will never support Labor’s fuel-efficiency standards regardless of how many concessions are made, because people should not pay more to fund the choices of others, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has declared. As Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen reaffirmed he was prepared to compromise in response to an avalanche of industry concern about the proposed National Vehicle Emissions Standards, Mr Dutton told his party room the Coalition would take an alternative policy to the next election that, presumably, would not involve credits or penalties.

Biden gives Bowen green light to soften vehicle pollution reforms (Australian Financial Review): Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen is working with car companies to recast proposed vehicle emission rules after the Biden administration said it would allow US car makers more time to meet standards Labor says are a model for Australia. Manufacturers and car industry groups met with government officials in Canberra on Thursday to address potential compromises over Labor’s New Vehicle Emissions Standard, which has been criticised by non-EV makers as too onerous and costly.

CARBON MARKETS

Australia Integrated Farm Land Management ACCU method likely to be delayed again -market sources (Carbon Pulse): The Australian government is likely to delay the Integrated Farm Land Management (IFLM) method, according to market sources, with potential alternatives to be considered as several outstanding issues remain.

Prioritise Article 6, global coal miner suggests in climate plan (Carbon Pulse): One of the world's largest coal miners would like to see Article 6 negotiations concluded so it can better trade carbon credits and decarbonise operations, it said Wednesday.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Rio bows to investor pressure on green-steel spending (Australian Financial Review): Rio Tinto has bowed to sustained pressure from big investors to start reporting how much it spends on so-called green steel projects and other efforts to reduce carbon emissions for iron ore mined in Australia and turned into steel in China. The decision improves so-called scope 3 disclosures and comes after what Fidelity International and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors described as years of lobbying for better financial transparency.

Woodside rebuffs activist push against chairman on climate (Australian Financial Review): Woodside Energy says its chairman, Richard Goyder, is “a highly capable and effective leader” as the oil and gas major pushes back against activist shareholders campaigning against his re-election to the board. The board said it “strongly disagrees” with statements made by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, which claims the high-profile West Australian businessman had been “persistently unresponsive” to concerns about environmental risks.

Emissions connected to top oil and gas firms may cause millions of heat deaths by 2100, study finds (The Guardian): The emissions from burning oil and gas produced by the world’s leading fossil fuel companies could cause millions of excess heat deaths before the end of the century, according to a new analysis. The study from Global Witness found that the combined emissions from fossil fuels produced by Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron up to 2050 could result in 11.5 million excess deaths from heat by 2100.

GREEN PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES

Feds splash cash on mammoth Aboriginal energy venture (Business News): A proposed $3.2 billion solar and hydro-powered energy project led by Kimberley traditional owners has attracted Federal support to test the waters for what would be one of the world’s largest renewable energy projects. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency on Tuesday committed $1.6 million to the Aboriginal Clean Energy Partnership to conduct a $3.3m feasibility study into its East Kimberley Clean Energy and Hydrogen Project centred on Lake Argyle.

Renewables spending bounces back in race to 2030 (Australian Financial Review): Renewable energy developers insist momentum is building in the clean energy build-out with several billions of dollars worth of projects due to close in the next few years, representing a turnaround from the near 80 per cent plunge in activity last year. Octopus Investments Australia managing director Sam Reynolds and David Pollington, head of the Australian arm of Philippines-owned developer ACEN, said they had major wind, solar and storage projects heading towards financial close this year, with more to follow in later years as their expansion plans pick up pace.

Whyalla steelworks at crossroads as billionaire owner Sanjeev Gupta's green steel plan hinges on potential world firsts (ABC News): Australia's steel industry is at a crossroads, with Whyalla's Liberty steelworks on the front line as its billionaire owner's pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030 sets it on an ambitious and risky path. Sanjeev Gupta wants to make green steel at the plant but decarbonisation will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and there is no guarantee the gamble will come off.

Dugald River Solar Farm begins powering outback Queensland mining amid growing demand for green energy (ABC News): The country's largest remote solar farm has officially launched in outback Queensland to power one of the richest mining regions in the world. The 88-megawatt Dugald River Solar Farm, which generates enough power to support 90,000 homes, consists of 180,000 panels across 200 hectares in outback Queensland.

Fortescue wind farm on town flight path rejected (Business News): A Fortescue Energy plan to erect 10 wind turbines under the flight path into the eastern Wheatbelt town of Southern Cross has been knocked back by state planners. The Regional Development Assessment Panel on Thursday refused the $85 million wind farm due to concerns raised by the Shire of Yilgarn turbines would be a safety hazard on the approach to Southern Cross Aerodrome’s runway, and financial implications of resolving this.

Billionaire eyes Mid West green steel plant (Business News): Cheap gas and renewable hydrogen are central to a global industrial giant’s proposal to build a green steel manufacturing plant in Western Australia’s Mid West. British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance is poking around the Mid West to find land for a 2.5mpta green steel plant fueled eventually by hydrogen produced in the region.

Dairy farm installs huge solar and battery system to milk cows off-peak (Renew Economy): A dairy farm in regional Victoria has just launched 100kW solar system and six 13.8kW/h batteries to milk cows more cheaply in the early mornings and evenings.

Zero Petroleum eyes renewables rich South Australia for green fuels plant (Renew Economy): British synthetic fuels developer Zero Petroleum has signed an agreement with the South Australian government as part of the company’s plans to build a synthetic fuel plant in the state with production to begin as early as 2026.

OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST

Could ‘HECS-for-solar’ slash power bills and save climate goal? (Australian Financial Review): Aggressive expansion of household electrification is becoming the new political frontier of Australia’s decarbonisation push, and green energy advocate Saul Griffith is pressing Labor to back a HECS-style loan scheme that would slash bills by up to $5000 a year. The bold pitch, which plays into comments this week by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in favour of more rooftop solar, would trigger a dramatic acceleration in the rollout of solar panels, batteries and electric appliances, including stoves, air-conditioners and electric vehicles.

‘Red alert’: last year was hottest on record by clear margin, says UN report (The Guardian): The world has never been closer to breaching the 1.5C (2.7F) global heating limit, even if only temporarily, the United Nations’ weather agency has warned.

Western Power calls for Goldfields grid support (Business News): Western Power will contract emergency power support from third parties in the Goldfields, as it seeks to avoid a repeat of the disruption caused by severe outages in January. The state government has ticked off Western Power’s request to source up to 150 megawatts of reliability services from third parties through a non-co-optimised essential system services (NCESS) process.

The World Meteorological Organization's State of the Global Climate report confirms 2023 broke every single climate indicator (ABC News): The UN agency's annual State of the Global Climate report confirmed it wasn't just the hottest year on record, ocean heat reached its highest level since records began, global mean sea level also reached a record high and Antarctic sea ice reached a record low.

AEMO requests $100m energy top up (Business News): The Australian Energy Market Operator has asked for almost $100 million to be added to its budgetary allowance, funded by market participants, as it grapples energy transition expenses. AEMO, which oversees the operations and security of the state’s wholesale energy market (WEM), has put its hand out to the state’s Economic Regulation Authority to approve its request, which would cover its growing capital and operating expenses through fees applied to market participants.