2017 showed global clean energy revolution is unstoppable, no matter what Trump does
By Joe Romm on 15 December 2017
The solar, wind, battery, and electric car “miracles” have gone mainstream.
Category: Smart Energy
ACCC sets bar on ground for gas industry to jump over
By Bruce Robertson on 15 December 2017
As Australia’s competition regulator and national consumer law champion, it beggars belief that the ACCC continues to pander to the gas cartel.
Biggest game-changer on network spending approved – a decade late
By Giles Parkinson on 14 December 2017
Regulator finally approves demand management incentive scheme, encouraging networks to invest in battery storage and micro-grids, rather than poles and wires. Had it come a decade earlier, it might have negated the climate and energy wars.
AGL says batteries are coming, but coal is uninvestable
By Giles Parkinson on 13 December 2017
AGL says no private investor would invest in new coal plant, but says battery storage is coming and will be a major game changer as costs fall – which is not far away.
Woodside gas platform installs first battery micro-grid – to burn less gas
By Giles Parkinson on 13 December 2017
Woodside gas platform installs a 1MWh battery so it can use less gas in its generators.
‘Utopian’ currency Bitcoin is a potentially catastrophic energy guzzler
By John Quiggin on 12 December 2017
The recent upsurge in the price of Bitcoin seems to have finally awakened the world to the massively destructive environmental consequences of this bubble.
Zibelman: Resisting energy transition like trying to resist internet
By Giles Parkinson on 11 December 2017
AEMO boss Audrey Zibelman says energy transition as unstoppable as the internet, because economics and technology have changed. Some baseload may be needed in the future, but it doesn’t need to be coal.
The first Australian utility to embrace era of “base-cost renewables”
By Giles Parkinson on 7 December 2017
West Australia’s regional utility Horizon Power has become the first major Australian utility to embrace the concept of “base-cost renewables”, recognising that the plunging cost of solar and wind is set to turn traditional theories of energy supply on their head.
Five ways that cities can slash carbon pollution right now
By Jeremy Deaton on 7 December 2017
A new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute lists 22 policies that could help get the job done.
Blockchain App that pays households to cut energy use wins Future Cities Hackathon
By N2N Communications on 6 December 2017
Held at UTS, the hackathon brought together some of the best and brightest from the fields of sustainability, design and technology, the corporate and academic world, and the start-up community.
Corporates waking up to “new world” of cheap renewables, says Westpac
Westpac says at least 20 big companies are tendering for wind and solar plants as they look to bypass soaring grid costs and look for self-generation.