“Burning something to boil water to create steam is a really old-fashioned technology…” The Australia Institute has spent the hot summer days monitoring when gas and coal power plants trip, taking sometimes hundreds of megawatts of power from the grid at unpredictable times. In contrast, solar power is taking pressure of the grid by delaying

In episode 17 of Follow The Money, we tackle the current energy debate, including the South Australian blackouts, the war on renewables, what Christmas prawns have to do with baseload power and why the way we heat hot water offends our Chief Economist Richard Denniss.  Host: Deputy Director Ebony Bennett // @ebony_bennett Contributors: Chief Economist Richard

Follow The Money this week features former Republican Congressman for South Carolina, Bob Inglis on his Australian tour, hosted by The Australia Institute. Bob Inglis is a very rare bird indeed. He’s a real conservative – Christian, Southern, ‘small-government’, you name it. But his greatest passion is tackling climate change. You heard right! Inglis has

Welcome to our third Follow The Money summer special! It’s still probably scorching hot if you’re somewhere in Australia, but it’s even hotter in Kiribati. This weeks special features the ‘Hero of the Pacific’, President Anote Tong.  President Tong visited Australia as a guest of The Australia Institute ahead of the Paris Climate meeting. He

In a special mini-episode we’ve dubbed “Pocket Money” we take a look at the recent developments with Adani’s Carmichael coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin. It’s a straight discussion, without our usual bells and whistles so that we could respond quickly and if you like it, we’ll probably do more of these Pocket Money episodes

How much is a hole in the ground worth? Australia has considered building a nuclear waste dump many times over the decades. Each time, the proposal has fallen through. This time, in South Australia, proponents are making $100 billion dollar claims. Richard and Rod take a look at those claims and the economics of building

Can Australia live without coal? Episode 7 of Follow the Money looks at the economics of coal and how a moratorium on new mines would help stop the boom and inevitable bust cycle, and instead create a smooth transition to a low carbon future.  Contributors: Richard Denniss – @RDNS_TAI  Rod Campbell – @R_o_d_C  Ebony Bennett – @ebony_bennett.  Produced by

The first episode of The Australia Institute’s exciting new podcast series Follow The Money looks at the economics behind Australia’s mining boom. You can subscribe to Follow The Money on iTunes.  Contributors: Richard Denniss  Rod Campbell Francis Keaney Find us on Twitter/Facebook. In Follow The Money, The Australia Institute explains the economy in plain English. We’ll bust some economic