Australia has a long history of prioritising fossil fuels over renewables in research and development (R&D) funding. ARENA turned this around, making Australia a world leader in renewables. Government plans to cut ARENA’s funding while providing new funds for fossil fuel R&D risks putting Australia back decades in energy R&D.

Climate of the Nation is Australia’s longest running survey benchmarking community attitudes on climate change.

A new report by The Australia Institute outlines a solution to the twin problems of incentives for retirement of coal fired generation and funding rehabilitation liabilities.

This research was supported by funding from The Australia Institute and other groups, and conducted by the University of Melbourne Energy Institute. Dramatic changes in the eastern-Australian gas market are prompting projections of sharp declines in domestic gas demand. Data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) indicate that gas demand in eastern Australia peaked

The Howard Government decision in 2001 to cut indexation has cost the budget more than $46 billion in tax revenue to date. If no change is made the total cost to the budget is projected to top $160 billion by 2025. Additional carbon dioxide emissions attributable to the policy are projected to reach 16 million

UPDATE: The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on 13 April 2015 released a report confirming the slump in gas demand. At the time of the initial release of The Dash from Gas report, the industry and many politicians continued to warn of a potential ‘gas shortage’. A new report commissioned by The Australia Institute shows gas

The Cobbora proposal is to develop an open cut coal mine near the towns of Gulgong and Dunedoo, east of Dubbo, NSW. The mine would extract up to 20 million tonnes per annum of run of mine coal. The mine is proposed by the NSW government-owned Cobbora Holding Company.  Our submission focuses mainly on the

The proposal is to develop an underground coal mine near Wyong, situated between Newcastle and Sydney, NSW. The mine would extract up to 5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of coal which would require little further processing to reach saleable quality. The mine has attracted controversy due to its potential impacts on the local environment,

This week energy company AGL released a research paper entitled Solving for ‘x’ – the New South Wales Gas Supply Cliff. The paper contains plenty of economic terms and algebra, but these merely serve to provide camouflage for another reiteration of the gas industry’s claims – that NSW is running low on gas and the

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Australia needs to change the way it uses energy and many of those changes will be taking place over the next decade.  Our current reliance on coal is unsustainable, while Australia’s considerable reserves of unconventional gas – tight, shale and coal seam gas (CSG) – are raising controversy after being

The Climate Institute has been measuring the ebbs and flows of Australian attitudes to climate change and its solutions through its Climate of the Nation research and reports since 2007.

This Spotlight Report provides an objective benchmark of attitudes to the issue of climate change in 2012 in Australia and a rigorous analysis, qualitative and quantitative, of the pros and cons of climate change and its solutions.

The Gillard Government is committed to introducing a price on carbon pollution by July 2012 however the details of the price, the sectors of the economy that will be covered by the scheme and the design features of the compensation package that is likely to accompany the carbon price are currently being negotiated by the

The introduction of a carbon price in Australia in July 2012 will raise more than $10 billion per year, help influence industrial and household decision making and, inevitably, increase the costs and reduce the profits of some businesses. Such increases in cost and the subsequent change in behaviour are, of course, the objective of introducing

Contrary to popular belief, the policies that are most effective in driving down greenhouse gas emissions actually raise revenue rather than cost the budget money. The Gillard Government has recently scrapped, or wound back, a range of policies designed to help reduce greenhouse gasses in order to ensure the budget returns quickly to surplus. These

Like climate change, the possibility of peak oil poses an uncomfortable challenge to citizens and governments alike in the 21st century. ‘Peak oil’ is the term used to describe the point in time at which the worldwide production of crude oil extraction will be maximised. But while it is inevitable that production will peak at

The Climate Institute has commissioned both quantitative and qualitative market research on the attitudes of the Australian public on climate change and climate change solutions, for the past three years. This research aims to understand and track Australians’ attitudes to climate change and policy over the past year, as well as identify and track issues,

Energy market reform and greenhouse policy are complex areas of public policy. It is unlikely that those who designed the current RET/CPRS set out to encourage coal mines to burn their waste methane rather than use it to generate electricity, but that is precisely what is being proposed. This problem can be simply fixed by

Coal-fired power stations comprise the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, accounting for 36 per cent of total emissions in 2008. Any determined effort to tackle what Prime Minister Rudd has referred to as the ‘moral challenge’ of climate change would presumably seek to reduce emissions from that source significantly. The proposed Carbon

In the aftermath of what has been described as the world’s first “climate change” election, public interest remains strong on climate issues. The public appear to be cautiously sceptical about the major parties and their commitment to climate change. There remains a strong desire for further initiatives backed by meaningful targets. 

The Climate Institute has commissioned both qualitative and quantitative market research on the attitudes of the Australian community to climate change and climate change solutions over the past year. This paper summarises research by the Australian Research Group (ARG) and draws on broader market research on public opinion on climate change. This report is the

A submission to the Senate Environment References Committee Inquiry into Australia’s Response to Global Warming

A submission to Senate Environment References Committee Inquiry into Australia’s Response to Global Warming