Carbon Economy

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has released its National Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the September quarter of 2025.

On Wednesday, I wrote an article explaining how both China and India—the world’s largest and third-largest carbon emitters (combined share of 40.1% of global emissions in 2024)—planned to aggressively expand their coal production and generation.

Earlier this month, I reported on China’s insatiable appetite for coal-powered electricity.

Data centres contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through electricity consumption, and their impact is growing as demand for digital services increases. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centres are responsible for approximately 1-1.5% of global electricity use, which translates to around 330 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually.

Human beings!

Two months ago, the Queensland government signalled a major retreat from net zero, announcing it would extend the life of coal-fired power stations until the mid-2040s and expand gas generation capacity under its new five-year energy roadmap.

China (31.8% share in 2024) and India (8.3% share in 2024) have driven the increase in global carbon emissions this century.

Eric Reguly, the European Bureau Chief of The Globe & Mail, has a timely article that explains how China is deceiving Europe on climate and energy policy.

Germany once operated over 22 GW of nuclear capacity, producing around 160 TWh annually at low cost and without emissions.

My learned colleague, LVO, today argues that wind farms are environmentally destructive.

The poor economics of green hydrogen have led to widespread project cancellations across Australia and globally, including in China.

Why is everything to do with energy in Australia so stupid?

The great cooktop distraction is back.

The NSW government has been criticised for blocking Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for access to taxpayer-funded reports on the likely impact of closing down coal-fired power stations on electricity prices.

Anyone who thinks attaining Labor’s 82% Renewable Energy Target (RET) by 2030 is feasible or affordable is kidding themselves.

Last month, I reported that green groups had lambasted the mass rollout of wind turbines across regional Australia.

This month, the Albanese government unveiled its 2035 climate targets, which promise to reduce emissions by more than 62% and up to 70% below 2005 levels.

China accounted for nearly one-third (31.5%) of global carbon emissions in 2023.

Despite multiple setbacks, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, founder of Fortescue Metals Group, has remained one of the world’s most prominent champions of green hydrogen.

The climate change pantomime has taken an interesting new twist, with low-lying Pacific Nations lambasting Australia over its approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project extension.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled Labor’s long-awaited 2035 climate targets, which promise to reduce emissions by more than 62% and up to 70%.

On Monday, the federal government organisation the ‘Australian Climate Service’ published its latest National Risk Assessment detailing the potential impact of climate change on the nation.

On Monday, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Hastie threatened to quit the opposition front bench unless Coalition leader Sussan Ley abandons the party’s commitment to a net zero emissions target.

The federal government is widely tipped to announce its 2035 emissions reduction target next week, ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.