Picture: Getty Images
Emission Control: Last year’s fossil fuel subsidies could have paid for an EV charging station every 50km around Australia
Energy
share
- In the FY 21/22, the Federal Government handed out $11.6 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry
- The Climate Council has found five ‘better’ ways the government could be spending the money
- These include things like funding another 15 Kidston Pumped Hydro Projects or 72,500 EV charging stations
Emission Control is Stockhead’s fortnightly take on all the big news surrounding developments in renewable energy.
Ahead of the 2022 Federal Budget, the Climate Council has released a paper calculating what it says are five better bets the Australian Government could be investing in, rather than subsidising the fossil fuel industry.
In the 21/22 financial year, the Australian Federal Government handed out $11.6 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry but for the same amount of money, the Climate Council has found the money could be spent on better nation building, clean energy solutions.
For example, for $11.6 billion the Australian Government could install 1.5 million rooftop solar systems for low-income families to help alleviate cost of living pressures – assuming each system costs around $7,500.
In fact, the Climate Council says 1.5 million solar PV systems could cover all public housing homes in Australia more than three times over.
Or, for $11.6 billion, Australia could fund another 15 Kidston Pumped Hydro Projects, which cost $777 million – providing 22 gigawatt hours of reliable energy, the equivalent of powering the entirety of South Australia for eight hours, every day.
Another better bet, the council says, is using the money to fund around 15,500 electric buses, which would replace all the diesel buses in Sydney (currently 8,000), Melbourne (4,000) and Brisbane (1,200) – or fund a whopping 72,500 public electric vehicle charging stations for Australians.
Currently, Australia has only 1,653 charging sites in comparison to Norway’s 17,000 – supporting 48,000 vehicles.
According to the Climate Council, that is one charger for every 50km.
Australia would need just over 17,500 to cover its roughly 877,000km of roads every 50km but with 72,500 chargers, that would mean one charger for every 12km of road in the country.
Ideas that ease cost of living and propel us towards zero emissions
Nicki Hutley, leading economist at the Climate Council, says it is utterly absurd the Australian government wastes $22,000 every single minute in subsidies for the fossil fuel industry – which is posting record profits at the same time as many Australian families are struggling to make ends meet.
“The Albanese Government has said it’s serious about easing cost of living pressures for Australians in its upcoming ‘bread and butter’ budget… well, here’s a very good place for them to start,” she explains.
“Imagine if we could install solar panels on every public housing building in the country, or if we could electrify three major Australian cities’ entire bus fleets.
“This really brings home the sheer scale that the polluting fossil fuel industry is getting in tax breaks and benefits. It’s crazy.
“There are any number of positive initiatives the Federal Government could invest taxpayers’ money in that don’t worsen climate change.
“We have a few ideas and guess what – they are all designed to ease the cost of living and propel us towards zero emissions.
“These are, by far, a better bet.”
Here’s how ASX renewable energy stocks are tracking:
| CODE | COMPANY | PRICE | % WEEK | % MONTH | % YEAR | MARKET CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AST | AusNet Services Ltd | 0 | -100% | -100% | -100% | $9,919,608,019 |
| AVL | Aust Vanadium Ltd | 0.039 | 5% | -9% | 77% | $155,154,470 |
| BSX | Blackstone Ltd | 0.18 | 3% | -8% | -60% | $85,180,541 |
| DEL | Delorean Corporation | 0.066 | -6% | -31% | -66% | $14,237,580 |
| ECT | Env Clean Tech Ltd. | 0.0185 | 9% | -3% | 54% | $31,750,656 |
| FMG | Fortescue Metals Grp | 17.6 | 5% | 7% | 24% | $54,189,782,557 |
| PV1 | Provaris Energy Ltd | 0.054 | -7% | -25% | -33% | $29,607,145 |
| GNX | Genex Power Ltd | 0.215 | -4% | -4% | -2% | $297,813,085 |
| HXG | Hexagon Energy | 0.017 | 6% | 6% | -78% | $8,719,570 |
| HZR | Hazer Group Limited | 0.57 | -3% | -16% | -40% | $97,152,934 |
| IFT | Infratil Limited | 7.55 | -3% | -13% | -6% | $5,475,066,531 |
| IRD | Iron Road Ltd | 0.16 | 3% | 14% | -9% | $127,977,809 |
| LIO | Lion Energy Limited | 0.034 | 13% | -13% | -15% | $14,487,748 |
| MEZ | Meridian Energy | 4.26 | 0% | -7% | -10% | $5,383,682,433 |
| MPR | Mpower Group Limited | 0.022 | 0% | 0% | -68% | $6,461,472 |
| NEW | NEW Energy Solar | 0.965 | 1% | 4% | 25% | $309,367,406 |
| PGY | Pilot Energy Ltd | 0.018 | 3% | 6% | -66% | $11,005,881 |
| PH2 | Pure Hydrogen Corp | 0.275 | 10% | -10% | 28% | $95,291,065 |
| PRL | Province Resources | 0.085 | 5% | -11% | -41% | $100,426,917 |
| PRM | Prominence Energy | 0.002 | 0% | 0% | -86% | $4,849,218 |
| QEM | QEM Limited | 0.225 | 0% | -6% | 50% | $28,146,055 |
| RFX | Redflow Limited | 0.037 | -8% | -16% | -39% | $65,964,461 |
| SKI | Spark Infrastructure | 0 | -100% | -100% | -100% | $5,036,718,784 |
| VUL | Vulcan Energy | 7.62 | 4% | -4% | -30% | $1,092,214,994 |
| CXL | Calix Limited | 6.04 | 3% | -5% | 26% | $976,129,232 |
| KPO | Kalina Power Limited | 0.018 | -10% | -10% | -42% | $27,273,524 |
| RNE | Renu Energy Ltd | 0.038 | -10% | -19% | -19% | $13,853,508 |
| NRZ | Neurizer Ltd | 0.12 | -8% | -14% | 4% | $126,235,941 |
| LIT | Lithium Australia | 0.057 | 4% | -11% | -48% | $69,519,663 |
| TNG | TNG Limited | 0.08 | -2% | -30% | -2% | $111,073,458 |
| SRJ | SRJ Technologies | 0.43 | 0% | 0% | 25% | $34,125,795 |
| NMT | Neometals Ltd | 1.11 | -3% | -20% | 41% | $613,104,624 |
| MR1 | Montem Resources | 0.04 | 0% | 0% | -11% | $12,620,500 |
| FGR | First Graphene Ltd | 0.11 | 0% | -12% | -39% | $63,361,476 |
| EGR | Ecograf Limited | 0.34 | 3% | -23% | -47% | $153,113,376 |
| EDE | Eden Inv Ltd | 0.006 | -33% | -25% | -71% | $16,267,368 |
| CWY | Cleanaway Waste Ltd | 2.82 | 5% | -1% | 4% | $6,271,594,957 |
| CPV | Clearvue Technologie | 0.205 | -9% | -15% | -32% | $43,468,271 |
| CNQ | Clean Teq Water | 0.52 | 6% | -11% | -15% | $23,226,410 |
| M8S | M8 Sustainable | 0.007 | 17% | 0% | -72% | $2,936,360 |
| EOL | Energy One Limited | 4.8 | -1% | -11% | -16% | $140,477,914 |
| LNR | Lanthanein Resources | 0.043 | 10% | -26% | 153% | $41,401,500 |
| FHE | Frontier Energy Ltd | 0.38 | 6% | -3% | 192% | $87,165,409 |
| LPE | Locality Planning | 0.059 | 5% | 4% | -67% | $10,364,455 |
Who’s got news out?
Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL)
BGL is testing the market for an ESG friendly gold product, with its Leinster gold mine of the same name expected to be one of the lowest carbon emitters of any when it enters production in the second half of 2023.
While the biggest sources of gold demand are jewellery and investment, the latter of which tends to drive price, it is a major component in electronics like laptops and mobile phones where equipment producers are growing more concerned about the sustainability of their supply chains.
Bellevue signed an Early Works Agreement with Energy Developments, a Tier-1 provider of sustainable distributed energy, for an off-grid hybrid power station to be built at its Bellevue Gold Project in Western Australia.
The station would run the mine at an average penetration of 80% renewables, with the gas turbines to have ‘engines off’ capabilities, meaning the operation could run at times at 100% renewables.
And while green premiums do not yet exist, CEO Darren Stralow Stralow believes BGL can help create that market.
In an interview with Stockhead’s Josh Chiat, he says the company is trying to be a market leader in terms of challenging the rest of the industry to come forward and present something different about their products.
“It’s all well and good to have the product just go into a bucket and be sold the same as everybody else.
“When you have an opportunity to have a differentiated product that actually does have some social benefits attached to it, it’s a really good test case to see whether the world values green traits as a value add.”
Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG)
FMG’s Fortescue Future Industries has entered a global strategic collaboration with energy infrastructure developer Tree Energy Solutions (TES) which aims to accelerate the development of a world leading green hydrogen and green energy import facility in Germany.
The investment of €130 million (US$127 million) will be funded by FFI’s un-utilised capital commitment and provides FFI with a pathway for access to critical infrastructure to execute its strategy.
TES is developing a portfolio of terminals globally that will enable transportation of green energy.
The first phase of this partnership is to jointly develop and invest in the supply of 300,000t of green hydrogen with final locations being currently agreed, and a financial investment decision targeted in 2023.
The first delivery of green hydrogen into TES’ terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Germany is anticipated to take place in 2026 and initial collaboration projects will be focused on Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
