As of 1 January 2020, Victorian electricity customers will be hit with price hikes. Again. Today’s article ($) in the AFR reports that both Origin and AGL will raise their prices in line with last month’s ruling from Victoria’s Essential Services Commission, with Origin saying an average residential customer would see a $122 increase in… Continue Reading >
With the increased penetration of wind and solar power and the unexpected closure of Hazelwood brown coal power station in March 2017 wholesale electricity prices have skyrocketed and the risk of blackouts have increased. The following chart confirms the impact that unreliable energy sources are having on energy affordability. Today’s article ($) in the Australian… Continue Reading >
This week, Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brian launched his party’s ‘zero-to-landfill’ waste policy. The policy sets an ambitious target, to eliminate all waste to landfill by 2035, with interim reductions of 33% by 2025 and 66% by 2030. The policy targets two key focus areas: Materials Recovery Facilities Energy from waste applications Until now the… Continue Reading >
‘Green’ steel applications are being developed by a range of companies ‘Green’ steel is the term used to describe a production method that uses ‘renewable hydrogen’ instead of coking coal, eliminating CO2 emissions ‘Renewable hydrogen’ is made using electricity generated by wind turbines and solar panels Media reports routinely leave out discussion of cost, which… Continue Reading >
Parts of the media are omitting important information when they present news about Australia’s fledgling hydrogen industry. An example is yesterday’s article in The Age titled ‘Battlelines drawn over Australia’s hydrogen fork in the road’ (link at bottom of this page). The article reported that a ‘potential stoush is brewing over the future source of… Continue Reading >
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES RAISES CASH TO EXPAND A rights issue is underway in which industrial technology group Environmental Clean Technologies (ASX:ECT) is seeking to raise between $2.75 million and $7.45 million for expansion. The company is developing a number of technologies to upgrade low-grade materials such as brown coal as well as recover waste resources… Continue Reading >
RESEARCH: Environmental Clean Technologies, Promising Cleantech Play Environmental Clean Technologies is moving beyond the initial Indian disappointment. “ECT is currently executing on an alternate value creation strategy it outlined in September 2019 which involves expanding and upgrading the Bacchus Marsh Coldry facility for end-products beyond coal in addition to the company’s move into the waste-to-energy… Continue Reading >
According to a recent article ($) by Angela Macdonald-Smith and Aaron Patrick in the Fin Review, EnergyAustralia Managing Director and a Director of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Catherine Tanna believes the Victorian government’s ‘aggressive’ wind and solar push is a ‘leap of faith’ that could send electricity prices skyrocketing more than they already have while… Continue Reading >
Last week’s Fin Review carried an article ($) by Angela Macdonald-Smith and Mark Ludlow that quoted the Victorian Minister for Energy, Lily D’Ambrosio on the need to replace ageing brown coal-fired power stations with wind and solar generation: “The real question here is not about how long these [brown coal] generators choose to stay in the… Continue Reading >
Matthew Warren, former chief executive of the Australian Energy Council, the Energy Supply Association of Australia and the Clean Energy Council and author of How is energy-rich Australia running out of electricity, continues to sound the alarm bells on our fragile and failing energy market. He writes the following in today’s AFR: If South Australia… Continue Reading >