‘On Tuesday evening as I was streaming BP’s annual energy outlook statement – wherein the oil “supermajor” explained that fossil fuels have likely peaked and energy growth from here on in will be renewables, renewables and more renewables – a news notification popped up on my screen: Australian minister for energy and emissions reduction Angus Taylor demands electricity sector builds new 1,000 MW gas fired power station.
‘An astoundingly bad idea, on so many levels. With the closure of the Liddell coal fired power station in the Hunter Valley, the federal government doesn’t want a repeat of Hazelwood.
‘… Since gas, as a fuel, costs around three times as much as the equivalent amount of coal, power from gas costs a lot more than from coal. If a new gas power station were to run around the clock, it might be able to produce electricity for as low as $90 per megawatt hour, almost twice as much as current long term power contracts. A “like for like” gas replacement of Liddell would make a multi-billion dollar loss over its lifetime. Won’t happen.
‘In general, gas power stations are run much more sporadically, only during peak demand events. If the mooted gas power station were to run only as a peaking plant, the cost of energy produced could easily be twice as high again.’
- Angus Taylor’s gas plan is an astoundingly bad idea, on so many levels »
- Does Scott Morrison’s ‘go-with-gas’ recovery plan promise more than it can deliver? »
- Grattan on Friday: Morrison signs up to the gas gospel, but the choir is not in tune »
- Morrison government threatens to use Snowy Hydro to build gas generator, as it outlines ‘gas-fired recovery’ plan »
- No, Prime Minister, gas doesn’t ‘work for all Australians’ and your scare tactics ignore modern energy problems »
- 4 reasons why a gas-led economic recovery is a terrible, naive idea »
- Phasing out gas would benefit Australian manufacturers and households »
- Sinking billions of taxpayer dollars into gas would make Australia an international pariah »
- Malcolm Turnbull condemns Scott Morrison’s ‘gas, gas, gas’ song as ‘a fantasy’ »
- The Coalition’s plan to use gas to stimulate manufacturing will fail »
- Labor agrees to support new gas projects after public brawl sparked by Joel Fitzgibbon »
- Benefits of Coalition’s ‘gas-led recovery’ overstated and declining usage inevitable, report finds »
- Morrison government’s $600m gas power plant at Kurri Kurri not needed and won’t cover costs, analysts say »
- The Morrison government’s $50 million gas handout undermines climate targets and does nothing to improve energy security »
The world is moving away from fossil fuels, while in Australia, it’s all systems go for coal and gas
Bill Hare writes in The Guardian (20.5.21) about the Morrison government’s seeming determination to consign Australia to being an international pariah, bearing the brunt of increasingly damaging climate impacts.
‘The International Energy Agency has produced a groundbreaking report on how the world can meet the Paris agreement’s long-term temperature goal of limiting warming to 1.5C. In particular, it shows, from the IEA perspective, how the energy system can reach net zero by 2050.
‘It has two really important top line messages. First, the path to get to net zero emissions by 2050 and to limit warming to 1.5C remains open, but, as we all know, the window is closing on this open unless action is rapidly ramped up.
‘Second, to get there, all new fossil fuel investments and infrastructure – oil, coal and gas – need to stop. Not next year, not in 2030, but today: 2021. And what is key here is that this statement doesn’t come from some activist organisation, but from the world’s leading – and very conservative – energy advisor.
‘To those of us in the scientific and energy policy community working on these issues – and indeed to others paying attention – none of these conclusions should be surprising, or shocking.
‘What is really shocking is the reaction of the Morrison government, a government that appears to be betting the farm, the economy and Australia’s international standing in a wider sense – betting that the world will just walk away from the Paris agreement and of the increasing global momentum towards limiting emissions to net zero by 2050.’
- The world is moving away from fossil fuels, while in Australia, it’s all systems go for coal and gas »
- Government-owned firms like Snowy Hydro can do better than building $600 million gas plants »
- International Energy Agency warns against new fossil fuel projects. Guess what Australia did next? »
- Morrison government to fund $600m gas-fired power plant in NSW Hunter region »
- This $1 billion energy deal promises to cut emissions and secure jobs. So why on earth is gas included? »
- Government accused of pressuring experts who questioned its gas-fired recovery plan »
- Morrison’s gas deal fails to ignite manufacturers’ support »
- How clean is natural gas and could it fast-track Australia’s post-COVID-19 recovery? »
- ‘Zero return’: government savaged over taxpayer grants to open up new gas basin in Australia »
- ‘Unjustifiable’: new report shows how the nation’s gas expansion puts Australians in harm’s way »
- Federal government gives environmental approval to controversial $3.6bn Narrabri gas project »
- Gas won’t fuel Australia’s recovery or reduce emissions. It’s a mirage »
- Australia has not had a gas-led recovery – not in jobs, not in tax receipts »
- Australia’s reliance on gas exports questioned as Japan winds down fossil fuel power »
- Is Queensland’s natural gas industry set to reform Australia’s struggling rural towns? »
- Australia’s resources minister sees a gas-fired future just as international experts chart the fossil fuel’s decline