Blogotariat

We have identified two sensible strategies that would allow NSW to reduce residential gas consumption and achieve a net reduction in electricity demand.

The post How Australia’s most populous state can quit household gas, while also cutting electricity demand appeared first on Renew Economy.

Let’s be honest, most people don’t think twice about portable toilets or what happens after they flush. But in 2006, an Aussie bloke in hi-vis changed all that. His name was Kenny Smyth, and his mission? Keeping the world turning one portable dunny at a time.

The arrival of big batteries - including the two biggest in Australia to date - has changed the game on the country's biggest isolated grid, particularly on prices.

The post Rise of the “big orange blob”: Australia’s biggest batteries change the game in its largest isolated grid appeared first on Renew Economy.

US President Donald Trump has said that he has asked ‘about seven’ countries to join a coalition to police the Strait of Hormuz.

In a Sunday interview, he warned that NATO faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to assist in securing the vital waterway currently blocked by Iran, which normally allows for 20 percent of the world’s oil to be shipped from the Persian Gulf.

Little shocks me these days, but when I heard President Trump’s remark this weekend that after “totally demolishing” much of Iran’s Kharg Island, the United States “may hit it a few more times just for fun,” I was taken aback.

War is not fun.

Trump’s ‘Just for Fun’ War Talk Shows a Dangerous Trivialization

The latest Quarterly Essay has just come out, including my response to Sean Kelly’s The Good Fight which asks the question: What does Labor stand for? My somewhat despondent answer “Labor stands for itself. For the moment, that seems to be enough.”

Reading Sean Kelly’s The Good Fight, I was struck by an observation attributed to John Howard: “in the 1960s, he said, 40 per cent reliably voted Labor, 40 per cent Liberal, with 20 per cent in the centre. The proportion of swing voters, he said, had doubled since then.”

Andrew Forrest’s 2 gigawatt wind plans to help decarbonise his Pilbara iron ore operations have rejoined the queue for federal environmental approval, following a “substantial redesign."

The post Huge Fortescue wind farm seeks federal green tick after halving proposed turbine numbers appeared first on Renew Economy.

Renewables retailer seals "foundational" offtake deal with a project that is helping to lay the foundations for a new breed of solar and battery hybrid projects.

The post “Brilliant economics”: Offtake deal seals delivery of Australia’s biggest solar-battery hybrid project appeared first on Renew Economy.

Australian gas prices have held at $10Gj over the past few days. I have been relatively confident that the East Coast gas export cartel will not repeat the Ukraine War price shock at home, knowing, as it does, that the public won’t stand for it again. However, I have a bad feeling every time our

The post Mad King must put Australians first for gas appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Last week, I presented detailed data on how the sharp reduction in net overseas migration (NOM) in Canada, which turned negative last year, has suppressed rents. After experiencing explosive rental growth in 2022 and 2023 amid record NOM, Canada has experienced 17 consecutive monthly declines in rents: Canadian rents are now tracking at a 33-month

The post The evidence is clear: immigration drives rental growth appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Chinese property is OK post-LNY but the year has started poorly. The secondary market is still awash. EV sales have dropped post-incentives. But watch this space. If there is one winner globally from the American Madman’s war, this is it. Broader car sales are similar. Consumer depression continues. Coal isn’t growing, but its sovereign value

The post The Chinese Titanic just hit a second iceberg appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Australia’s largest real estate group, Ray White, has issued a stern warning that proposed changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax (CGT) discount would trigger a major shock to the rental market. Ray White managing director Dan White and chief economist Nerida Conisbee told 10,500 members that the federal government is considering reducing

The post Property lobby rallies against CGT changes appeared first on MacroBusiness.

When the war in the Middle East first broke out, I warned that Australia faced a triple energy threat of higher petrol/diesel prices, higher gas prices, and higher electricity prices. Vivek Dhar, Head of Commodities and Sustainable Economics at CBA, published a detailed analysis warning of similar risks, arguing that Australia’s energy system is facing

The post Australia’s energy winter of discontent appeared first on MacroBusiness.