The Victorian government has just announced the go-ahead for the biggest battery in the southern hemisphere. With a capacity of 300MW and the ability to supply 450MWh of electricity, it’s twice as big as South Australia’s big battery, which weighs in at 150MW & 194MWh. Why do we need the battery? Well, the answer varies,… Continue Reading >
Could hydrogen, made from coal or gas with the carbon captured and stored, be half the price of using renewable energy? It appears so. Yesterday’s article ($) in the Financial Review by David Byers and Peter Cook exposes the cost challenge facing renewable hydrogen production. Byers and Cook are commenting in response to the release… Continue Reading >
Today’s article by James Fernyhough in the Financial Review ($) confirms exactly what we said last week; ‘green’ hydrogen is demonstrably too expensive and the opportunities for meaningful cost reduction are limited. Fernyhough highlights the federal government’s recent call for the private sector to come up with ways to slash the cost of renewable hydrogen… Continue Reading >
An article ($) by Aaron Patrick in today’s Financial Review asks the question: Should the government spend $500 million building a steel mill to promote technology so space-age it may never be deployed? The article is in response to a recent report by The Grattan Institute titled ‘Start with steel: A practical plan to support… Continue Reading >
Well, yes, we can. It’s called HydroMOR and it replaces expensive metallurgical coal with abundant, affordable lignite (brown coal), delivering lower emissions and, most importantly lower cost. And this combination of lower emissions and lower cost is the key to successful innovation as we attempt to shift away from the use of metallurgical coal, and… Continue Reading >
Hot on the heels of the Federal Labor party’s renewed commitment to net zero-CO2 emissions by 2050, the federal coalition government has recently announced a significant shift on climate policy; a shift they describe as ‘more gas and more tech — not taxation — as the way to support cheaper and low emission climate solutions… Continue Reading >
A recent article by Hiroko Tabuchi for the New York Times highlights Japan’s plan to build 22 new coal-fired power stations across 17 sites over the next 5 years, adding up to 20GW of capacity to its grid. This is in addition to Japan’s existing coal-powered fleet of around 46GW and almost as much as… Continue Reading >
Bushfires across Australia’s east coast are topping headlines. Many are blaming CO2 for driving changes in climate that have resulted in the size and intensity of the fires, using it as a platform to demand more ‘climate action’. And while CO2 may play an indirect link via the impact on drought patterns, we are concerned… Continue Reading >
The steel, cement and aluminium industries account for 30% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. A recent article in the Fin Review ($) by Simon Evans and Brad Thompson highlighted the challenge facing the companies that are striving to eliminate or reduce their CO2 footprint by 2030, noting a ‘game-changer’ is needed to ‘unpick tough… Continue Reading >
Alan Finkel, Australia’s Chief Scientist has penned a piece in today’s Age titled ‘How I became a convert to hydrogen’. It’s a great example of how a scientist readily changes their view on a topic when presented with new information. It’s also a great insight into how to shape a particular message on a politically… Continue Reading >