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Steven Marshall welcomes Elon Musk and wants to cut energy costs

Incoming South Australian Premier Steven Marshall says cutting energy costs to business and households is a major priority for his new government, with a $200 million inter-connector fund a centrepiece of his plans to deliver cheaper power. Mr Marshall is also getting on the front foot with a proposal for a $100 million household storage battery fund, which would provide means-tested grants of around $2500 to households with solar panels that want to install home storage batteries. It would cover about 40,000 households. Getting the fund up and running is among the projects earmarked for the first 100 days of …

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Australia’s First Biofuels Pilot Plant Opened in Gladstone

Australia’s first biofuels pilot plant was officially opened by the Premier of Queensland and Minister for the Arts, Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, in Gladstone. The $18 million Northern Oil Advanced Biofuels Pilot Plant (NOABPP) was opened just 14 months after the project was announced by the Premier. The NOABPP is a joint venture between Southern Oil and J.J. Richards & Sons, on the site of their Northern Oil Refinery and brings together five best-of-class technologies from around the world to produce biocrude and renewable fuels from waste. Southern Oil Managing Director Tim Rose said that, together with a $5.3 million biocrude …

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German Battery Giant Teams with Australian Solar Tile Maker to Take on Tesla – Again

German battery storage giant and major Tesla rival, Sonnen, has opened up competition on yet another front in Australia, with the announcement this week of a partnership with a local roofing company that is set to launch its own version of an integrated solar tile. Sonnen said on Thursday that it had signed an agreement with Australian company Bristile Roofing to be the national supplier of solar powered energy storage systems for homes using its new solar tile, which is due to hit the market in September. Under the deal, Bristile will offer the Sonnen AC Coupled modular battery storage system …

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Renewable Energy In Cities – IRENA Report

Making up 65 per cent of global energy use and 70 per cent of anthropogenic carbon emissions, cities must play a crucial role in the shift to a low-carbon economy says IRENA. A new report from IRENA focuses on best practice gleaned from thousands of cities around the world making up 60% of global energy demand, demonstrates what is possible and details the sorts of policies required to enable the change. “We have to rethink the entire urban energy landscape, which requires rigorous planning and holistic decision-making,” said Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General “Renewable energy, combined with energy efficiency, will …

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The gas industry needs a carbon price to compete with coal

Putting a price on carbon would benefit the Australian gas industry, at least in the short term. It is therefore in the interests of gas producers to lobby for the emissions trading scheme proposed for the electricity industry by the Climate Change Authority. At first a sight this might seem a paradoxical suggestion. Isn’t carbon pricing meant to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels after all? But with gas prices high, coal-fired generation has been increasing. Coal produces about twice as much carbon dioxide as gas when it is used to generate electricity. This is bad news for our emissions, …

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