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.
The gas industry argues burning methane is less damaging to the climate than coal, but are we underestimating the affect of methane leaks?
Barossa would produce Australia's dirtiest LNG and if other companies will not back it Santos has a very expensive problem.
Chevron's ambitious injection of Gorgon CO2 shaped the $US54B LNG project and a year after starting up 2.5 years late its long-term performance remains to be proved.
Major Australian LNG producer Shell has acquired a local carbon farming venture as part of its 30-year march to net-zero emissions.
Droughts could be twice as long and severe in the greenest parts of South West WA from 2050 onwards if greenhouse gas emissions are not controlled, and some WA farms may become unviable.
Chevron has been denied a two-year free pass on Gorgon greenhouse gas emissions by the WA Government that could cost it more than $80 million, and there may be a future bill for Wheatstone as well.
As Environment Minister in 2006 Mark McGowan led the way to ensure gas projects offset some of their emissions. Now as Premier he may need to choose between climate credibility and the interests of WA's most powerful man.
Shell's giant $US17B Prelude floating LNG is late, expensive, dirty and so far unreliable. An exclusive look at how a failed investment for Shell is a terrible deal for Australia.
The WA Government expects no new coal or gas-fired power generation in the South-West will ever be built but those looking for clues to the future of Collie’s existing coal-fired power stations will have to wait for a plan to be released later this year.
Woodside is struggling to portray itself as both green and gassy with mixed messages about carbon emissions, the threat from renewables and why all the way with LNG is a sound long term strategy.
Shell has excluded a vast amount of the oil and gas it sells from its new aim to have net-zero emissions from the manufacture of its products by 2050.
New WA projects will need to publish plans for net-zero emissions by 2050 as the WA Environmental Protection Authority ends a year-long battle with LNG industry.
All the info and a bit of comment on WA energy and climate every Friday