Alcoa’s WA mining plan draws unprecedented opposition
The US miner's extraction of bauxite near Perth is facing significant public scrutiny for the first time, and many are resisting what is happening to their beloved jarrah forest.
WA is the only State where greenhouse gas emissions have risen since 2005, the Paris Agreement baseline, mainly due to an expanded LNG industry.
Independent MP Zali Steggall's climate change bill aims to take the short term politics out of climate change at the national level and replace it with science, economics and certainty.
When a Biden-led USA rejoins the Paris Agreement and takes strong climate action Scott Morrison will have few international allies for his stubborn idleness.
South Korea, Japan and China's tightened climate goals will crunch Australian thermal coal, make LNG investments harder and possibly kill Santos' Barossa LNG project.
A $40 billion market for Australian coal and LNG exports just became less welcoming with Japan's commitment to zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The giant $50B Asian Renewable Energy Hub proposed for WA's Pilbara has upsized and switched from providing power to make green ammonia, in Australia's most ambitious hydrogen play.
Japan's JERA, the major buyer of Australian LNG, has embraced zero emissions by 2050 in another signal that the clock is ticking on this major export.
Prospects for LNG are under a shadow if Paris Agreement emissions cuts are pursued, according to the IEA, leaving Woodside and Santos in a very dark place.
China's surprise commitment to net-zero emissions by 2060 presents problems and opportunities for Australian exports and increased pressure to get real about emissions reduction.
A budget for a gas-led recovery is delaying inevitable and necessary change. Eventually, Australia will be forced to catch up to the EU, China and a post-Trump USA.
Fortescue and Mitsui appear to have agreed massive emissions cuts with WA's environmental watchdog that is now looking at Woodside and Chevron LNG projects.
Angus Taylor's 'anything but wind and solar' path to low emissions focusses on long term solutions to problems that can be tackled now with existing technology.
Hydrogen is at the back of the queue in BHP's efforts to decarbonize mining, after cleaner electricity, in-pit crushing and trolley-assist trucks.
All the info and a bit of comment on WA energy and climate every Friday