The future of energy in Australia is a hotly debated topic. Scott Morrison’s centre-right government is enacting a 'gas-fired recovery' to the COVID-19 economic crisis. This involves exploring new natural gas production opportunities whilst investing in the existing natural gas infrastructure. However, critics point to the fact that natural gas is a key contributor to climate change. Investing in gas [...]
In 2013, a loud and angry protest took place at Cecil Plains in Queensland against the Arrow Energy Surat Gas Project. One local landowner told The Chronicle, “The CSG industry has declared war on agriculture, and I say bring it on”. In 2020, Arrow Energy revived its Surat Gas Project with fresh investment to expand its coal seam gas (CSG) [...]
In May 2021, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced that his government would spend up to AUD $600 million on a new gas-fired power plant in Hunter Valley, New South Wales. This is despite that the Australian energy board chair says that this "doesn’t stack up". Natural gas in Australia is neither a cheap source of energy nor a [...]
By the end of 2020, 27 per cent of Australian buildings were fitted with solar systems. This is the highest proportion in the world. Partly thanks to this development, 24 per cent of the country’s electricity came from renewable energy in 2020. But, the Australian government is not taking advantage of this. Instead, they are spending AUD $600 million on [...]
What is Australia’s gas-fired recovery plan? In February 2020, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison first spoke about the need to improve “access to domestic gas supplies”. Simply, this means making sure that Australians can more easily use natural gas from Australia. Additionally, in September 2020, the PM stated that Australia should make more use of natural gas. This could re-establish [...]
Since 2016, a scientist from the University of NSW has been on a mission. Professor Bryce Kelly wants to know how much methane humans release into the atmosphere. That is because methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Therefore, it is a major contributor to climate change. Unfortunately, Kelly has found plumes of methane in the air in both Sydney and [...]
This video demonstrates Australia's damaging focus on natural gas in 2021. In May 2021, Australia’s federal government announced that it would fund a new natural gas power plant. For this purpose, it set aside AUD $600 million. The government wants to build the plant in the Hunter region of New South Wales (NSW).Ransley, E. (2021). “Poor move”: ScoMo’s “appalling” $600m [...]
The Australian government has pinned the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19 on natural gas reserves.Scott Morrison’s “gas-led recovery”: what is it and will it really make energy cheaper?. (2020). The Guardian. [online] 17 Sep. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/17/scott-morrisons-gas-led-recovery-what-is-it-and-will-it-really-make-energy-cheaper [Accessed 16 Jun. 2021]. Furthermore, these reserves support a huge export industry.Climate Council. (2019). Australia is now the world’s largest gas exporter. [online] Available [...]
