A research report released today by The Australia Institute shows job claims of the Acland mine on the Darling Downs have been grossly exaggerated by owners New Hope and other coal lobbyists. The new report shows: 1. New Acland Coal and the Queensland Resource Council (QRC) are using inflated job figures up to triple what

The quarterly edition of the National Energy Emissions Audit, released today by The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program, shows Australian transport emissions are ramping up thanks to a significant increase in diesel usage. Key Findings: Transport sector emissions are rising due to a significant increase in diesel usage and this almost cancels out all

New report shows Australia’s Paris target of 26 percent is nowhere near a fair share of the world’s emission reduction task. Australia will come under increasing pressure to increase its target as UN negotiations escalate.  The report Advance Australia’s Fair Share, by The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program, provides a first of its kind assessment

Port Augusta Mayor Sam Johnson is visiting Canberra to call on politicians to stop undermining certainty with coal closures. Following Port Augusta’s own experience of coal closure and its rapid transition to a renewable energy hub, Mayor Sam Johnson welcomes AGL’s decision to reject Alinta’s offer to buy Liddell power station. In 2015 Alinta Energy

New analysis by The Australia Institute shows the Liddell Power Station broke down four times this year. These breakdowns were on high-demand Summer days when reliability is most important for electricity supply. This follows Liddell’s failure in the 2017 heatwave, which saw half (1000 MW) of the power station’s capacity out of service on the

A new report from The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program shows that a Federal Government policy to prevent energy consumers being tricked onto expensive ‘discount’ contracts is unlikely to work. In his budget speech last week, Treasurer Scott Morrison said, ‘We will keep the pressure on the big energy companies to give you a better

Everyone is saying Tasmania is a becoming a clean energy powerhouse, so how do we make sure ordinary Tasmanians get a piece of the action?

A report released today by The Australia Institute reveals New Hope Coal’s spending on advertising and astroturfing for its controversial New Acland mine expansion. The mine in Queensland’s Darling Downs agricultural region has been fought by local farmers for a decade due to concerns over water and social impacts. The local community won an epic

Twenty of Australia’s top scientists are calling to permanently ban fracking in the Northern Territory because of its impact on climate change. The joint statement, written in response to the Final Report of the NT Fracking Inquiry, commends the Inquiry’s findings that the increase of greenhouse gases that would result from fracking is “unacceptable” and again

Over summer there were 16 major breakdowns at Victoria’s three brown coal plants, Loy Yang A, Loy Yang B and Yallourn. All of these breakdowns saw hundreds of megawatts of capacity withdrawn from the grid almost instantly. This made Victoria the standout state for power plant breakdowns. Between the 15th and 21st of January, at

Research from The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program has found the Liddell power station to be a major contributor to the unreliability of the NSW grid. 53 breakdowns & failures of gas and coal generation have been tracked by the Climate & Energy Program’s Gas and Coal Watch between December 2017 and March 2018.

Polling of the electorate of Solomon released today by the Australia Institute shows a majority support keeping the NT fracking moratorium in place. Results: 53% total support for keeping in place the fracking moratorium, to 38% opposed. 58% do not trust the NT and the gas companies to implement and enforce all recommendations from the

Emissions have increased now for three years in a row, since the repeal of the carbon price. Energy emissions are now at record highs, as revealed by the National Energy Emissions Audit. National polling released today by the Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy program shows only 25% of Australians believe the country is on track

Polling released today by The Australia Institute shows strong support for reviewing the environmental approval for the Adani mine in the Prime Minister’s seat, as well as the seat of Brisbane. On the evening of 5th March ReachTEL surveyed 676 voters in Wentworth and a 747 voters in the electorate of Brisbane, with a series

Federal Ministers and officials have helped Adani in attempts to secure funding from foreign governments – not once, but twice in 18 months. New documents from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), requested under FOI by the Australia Institute, show in 2017 Adani asked for a “letter of support” to be sent to

30 of Australia’s most respected scientists and energy experts have signed an open letter, published by the Australia Institute today, calling on the Northern Territory and Federal Governments not to allow fracking in the Territory to proceed under any circumstances. The Fracking Inquiry found that a single gas field that would increase Australia’s emissions by

Read a pdf version here

Adani “may have been negligent” when it failed to disclose its CEO’s links to four earlier environmental offences, according to documents released under Freedom of Information.  [FOI brief in PDF below] Adani’s CEO in Australia, Mr Janakaraj, was an ‘executive officer’ of a Zambian mining company when it was charged with polluting a river and

Clean energy technology is becoming competitive with fossil fuels, globally. This provides the basis for a new strategic approach to solving the political aspect of the climate threat.This is a speech given at ‘Imagining a Different Future Conference’, Hobart, on 8 February 2018, hosted by the University of Tasmania, the University of Utrecht Ethics Institute,

The Australia Institute’s submission to the NT fracking Inquiry has found that fully exploiting the Northern Territory’s shale gas resources could result in emissions equivalent to sixty times Australia’s total current annual emissions, equivalent to 130 new coal power plants operating for 40 years. The submission also finds that the inquiry failed to follow its

Just as many politicians choose to ignore the evidence of criminologists when designing crime prevention policy, the majority of Australian politicians choose to ignore economic evidence in the design of Australian energy policy. That’s OK. There’s no mention of role of evidence in the Australian Constitution and there’s no obligation on parliamentarians to base policy

3600 MW, or 14% of coal and gas generation failed during the February 2017 heatwave. Report calls for the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) to require “heat safe” back-up for coal and gas plants. New analysis released today by The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program shows that coal and gas failed to provide energy security

The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy program has released the latest electricity update of its National Energy Emissions Audit, covering October and November. Written by respected energy analyst Hugh Saddler, the Audit shows that Australia’s energy system is in transition, regardless of the political turmoil the change is creating. [Full report] “Brown coal generation continues

Research released today by The Australia Institute highlights the difficulties that the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) presents to agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors of the economy. [Full report see PDF below] The NEG looks to reduce emissions in the electricity generation sector by 26% by 2030, in line with our Paris target of 26 to

An open letter, published as a full-page advertisement in today’s Australian Financial Review, calls for a higher emission reduction target for the electricity sector – well above the 26% proposed by the government’s National Energy Guarantee (NEG). — See full letter in pdf below — Signatories to the letter comprise high-profile business leaders, CEOs, academics,

A new ReachTEL poll of over 2,181 Queenslanders, commissioned by The Australia Institute, has found strong support for Queensland parties choosing to veto a federal subsidised loan for the Adani coal project. To accompany the polling (full results in PDF below), The Australia Institute has also released new research on the economic case for the

Few electorates will be clear winners if the Adani coal mine goes ahead, new research from The Australia Institute reveals. A limited export market means that Galilee Basin coal projects like the Adani coal mine could come at the expense of Bowen and Surat Basin coal projects. A report released today by The Australia Institute