Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100.0% RE Last 219 weeks: 98.6% RE (1/5)

Australian Electricity Emission Intensity Update: Average NEM emission intensity over last 12 months: 529 kg CO2-e/MWh (down 26% in 5-yrs, down 37% in 10-yrs) Sth Australia leading the way reductions thanks to its increase in wind & solar generation. Down 30% in 5-yrs, 66% in 10-yrs)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 218 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100.0% RE Last 217 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Time for 2025 updates to my annual “opinions about solar” thread. If you like these, you might like the second edition of my book, Solar Power Finance Without The Jargon. A 30% discount code WSQ0437 is valid on publisher website until end of November 2025. www.worldscientific.com/worldscibook...

BREAKING! 🧵(1 of 3) Rainforest Reserves Australia used to be a legit NGO in the Queensland Wet Tropics. They fought off a windfarm near a national park, but then were turned into an anti-RE propaganda source for Sky, Advance & the fossil #AtlasNetwork www.rainforestreserves.org.au/media-releas...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 216 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

"Back in January 2011, Santos's then-chief executive David Knox announced that the company would lead a consortium to build a massive LNG export facility on Curtis Island, just off the Queensland coast near Gladstone," Verrender, who gets it all pretty right. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Excellent report from the Grattan Institute recommending a modifed Safeguard mechanism be applied to electricity. Related to this, it's worth noting that ACCUs are currently trading for $38 while just $11 for LGCs. I'd argue that LGCs offer better quality carbon offset for less than 1/3 price /1

Imagine kicking the former national rugby captain out of your sports club instead of the gambling lobby. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, who'd want to belong to a club that would accept Responsible Wagering Australia as one of its sponsors?

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 215 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

1/2 "everyone from News Corp to the Atlas Network, to Advance, to CPAC, to Gina Rinehart are busting a foofer valve—and spending a great deal of money—making the case for the takeover" It’s the process, says @timdunlop.bsky.social, not Andrew Hastie per se. tdunlop.substack.com/p/i-suppose-...

The cost of the ACT 100% renewable target dropped to just $3/MWh in the June quarter of 2025. The cost of the scheme is negatively correlated to the wholesale electricity price, providing ACT consumers a valuable shield against volatile electricty prices. /1

Electricity Emission Intensity steadily reducing on Australia's NEM thanks to the growth of wind and solar displacing fossil generation. Sth Australia leading the way in reductions, down 29% over the last 5-years, down 66% over the last 10-years.

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 214 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

It's important to call this stuff out.

Several really cool announcements over the last few days indicating that Australia's big mines are going renewable! Links in the following thread

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 213 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Why every Sankey diagram you've ever seen is wrong. open.substack.com/pub/mliebrei...

This week on @cleaninguppod.bsky.social I was joined for a 2nd time by @hannahritchie.bsky.social. She's got a new book called Clearing the Air. 50 common questions about climate solutions? 50 little misinformation demons laid to rest! Hannah's is such a valuable voice. youtu.be/voLbbuPEWY4?...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 212 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

BREAKING from us at #4Corners: Former Morrison govt Health Minister Greg Hunt working for a Brethren company which received $54 million in COVID-19 contracts from Health Department while he was Minister. Mr Hunt says decisions made by his department, not him. #auspol www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Chris Bowen’s defining climate moment is nigh. And he knows what it means ‘if we get it wrong’ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The Israeli Government has made an ad about the Global Sumud Flotilla headed for Gaza, and it's surprsingly honest and informative.

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100% RE Last 211 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Thing you wonder with this is how close these leaking *coal exploration* boreholes were to active coal seam gas extraction. CSG extraction locally dewaters the seam to provoke release of adsorbed methane. Once the gas flow gets going it tends to be self-accelerating; the seam becomes pressurised.

Great news. SA now only needs to run one synchronous generator (gas) for system security reasons (was 2). This reduces the min amount of gas SA needs from ~80MW down to ~40 MW. In turn, this will reduce the annual average gas requirements down by ~16 MW (from ~20% to 19%) (cont)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 98.5% RE Last 210 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

The Norwegian Government has made a new tourism ad, and it's surprsingly honest and informative! 🇳🇴

Sore point. My @smh @theage cartoon.

Well this one was a quick bit of fun. Have you heard the line about if you don't have solar and a battery, it's more efficient to heat your home with gas than electricity? You'll be stunned to learn that it's bullshit.

Round and round. My @smh @theage cartoon.

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 100.0% RE Last 209 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last 2 wks: 96.5% & 96.9% RE Last 208 wks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Tax breaks for huge, American-style utes cost the Australian government $250 million in 2023. But it gets worse. Emissions from passenger cars have fallen since 2005, but that drop was wiped out by the increased use of big utes. #auspol

You're likely to hear a lot about Australia and climate and emissions next month. Here's part of the backdrop. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

And, as the piece points out, if the electricity is from an evaporatively cooled fossil fuel power station (much still is), about two times as much water will additionally be consumed at the power station, to cool it. So multiply the data centre water take by 3.

My latest in The Shot. "The pro-lsrael lobby in Australia do not have the power - they have bluff. They're a farce, a smokescreen, a collection of paranoids intent on defending a foreign power’s despicable actions at the expense of Australia’s own social democracy." 👇🏽 theshot.net.au/uncategorize...

Ever noticed how, in many countries, there's 3 or 4 mobile phone towers on each hilltop ... and in Australia there's just one? That's because we legislated that towers are a public facility, and whoever builds one has to offer access to it to others, on just terms. Is not low Earth orbit similar?

Good article by Adam Morton. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Temperature Check is back - by @readfearn.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

And there you have it. A leaked letter shows an astro-turf, pro-Israel group pressured Bendigo Writers Festival + LaTrobe uni. The group claimed the inclusion of a Palestinian author was "antisemitic" and that organisers should "implement immediate measures". www.deepcutnews.com/p/exclusive-...

And I tell you why this is important. Because that recent anti-semitism report from from Jillian Segal? The one where she wanted the govt to police funding to universities on the basis of their control of "antisemitism"? It's already happening. bsky.app/profile/ronn...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 96.9% RE Last 206 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

July Update: 🔌💡

If the oxygen production weren't almost entirely balanced by respiration, not only would O2 keep increasing in the atmosphere (until you had spontaneous burn-off of vegetation, probably) but it would convert all the CO2 in the atmosphere into O2 and organic C, and trigger a Snowball. ...

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 96.7% RE Last 205 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

Thread: Each week I run a simulation of Australia’s main electricity grid using rescaled generation data to show that it can get very close to 100% renewable electricity with 24GW/120GWh of storage (5 hrs at av demand) Results: Last week: 99.1% RE Last 204 weeks: 98.5% RE (1/5)

What's better than a subsidy-free renewable project? How about 2 subsidy-free wind farms that have returned over $6.5m to ACT electricity consumers since early 2023 /1