Australia says nuclear isn’t part of its energy mix. Here’s why
Nuclear energy has never been part of Australia’s energy mix as it has abundant renewables, according to Australia’s minister for climate change and energy.
“I’m not here to tell other countries what to do. Nuclear plays a role in various countries’ mix, but in Australia, it never has,” Chris Bowen told CNBC on the sidelines of the G20 energy ministers meeting in Goa, India.
related investing news
“Wherever you look, there’s issues from our point of view with nuclear energy,” he said, outlining problems that can come from adopting nuclear energy.
Apart from being extremely expensive, it generates large amounts of waste and is an inflexible energy source, he told CNBC’s Sri Jegarajah on Saturday.
Furthermore, Australia will be starting from “worse than scratch” since it never had a nuclear industry in the first place, he said.
Liddell Power Station, one of Australia’s oldest coal-fired power plants, was shut down on 28 April, 2023, after 52 years in operation.
Roni Bintang | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Australia is also on its way to reducing reliance on coal and increasing its dependence on gas instead.
“Gas plays an important role in firming the grid as coal fired power leaves the grid … We have negative prices a lot during the day in Australia, and yet coal fired power stations are churning away,” he said, highlighting that gas fired power stations are more flexible and can be turned on and off.
The country shut down one of its oldest coal plants in April, and will be halting operations of another in 2025.
“They’re not going to be replaced with coal fired power, it’s just not going to happen,” Bowen said. “It’s not economic, it’s not in the future and the emissions are bad.”
Renewable energy is the way to go
To keep the lights on, Australia will have to “double down” on its investments in renewable energy, storage and transmission, the Australian minister said.
“We have such abundant renewables … Vladimir Putin can’t turn off the sun or the wind, [but] he can turn off the gas pipeline,” Bowen said referring to the Russian president, who has cut off gas supplies to Europe in retaliation against Western sanctions imposed as a result of the unprovoked war in Ukraine.
“For those countries that are blessed with abundant renewables, harnessing those renewables, increasing their share of our energy mix, and then exporting as much as possible in due course, is vital for national security as well.”
Australia’s renewable energy sector has made steady improvements in the last few years.
Renewable energy accounted for 35.9% of the country’s total electric generation in 2022, more than double from what it was in 2017 at 16.9%, according to a report by the country’s Clean Energy Council.
A greater push toward renewables has reduced coal demand. Share of coal generation fell from 59.1% in 2021 to 54.6% in 2022, but gas production increased by 1.2% in 2022 compared to the year before, the report said.
Wind turbines seen on hills surrounding Lake George, located near the Australian capital city of Canberra on May 30, 2023.
David Gray | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Bowen said Australia needs more investments in order to reach its net-zero goals, and this can be done if each sector is looked at individually.
“Sector by sector plans are important for Australia because each sector is so different,” he said. “We need the … government’s view of how this decarbonization is likely to happen, so we know where to focus our investments.”
He said what the government can do is limited, and investments from Australian businesses are very much needed.
“I’ve been struck by the level of support and engagement from Australian businesses — big and small, and from international investors.”
Asked what Australia aims to bring to the table at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in November, Bowen said “this COP needs to be a step forward in the world’s ambitions.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. And we’ll be at the table engaging with countries of goodwill to try and get the best possible outcome,” he added.
James Murdoch, a Tesla board member and friend of CEO Elon Musk, has confirmed that he sold about $13 million in stock today as the stock (TSLA) crashed.
There has been a lot of insider trading at Tesla lately, and by trading, we mean selling – cause no insider is ever buying at Tesla.
We recently reported on Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother, and Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Taneja Vaibhav recently selling ahead of a recent drop in the company’s stock price.
Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, also sold $33 million worth of Tesla shares last week and over $100 million in the last 3 months.
Now, it’s James Murdoch’s turn. The Tesla board member just confirmed, through a required SEC filing, that he sold 54,776 Tesla shares for just over $13 million today:
He sold as Tesla’s stock crashed 15% today. It is now down more than 50% from its all-time high just a few months ago.
Murdoch was appointed to Tesla’s board in 2017.
He is better known as the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.
Murdoch was one of the Tesla board directors who was forced to return almost $1 billion in cash and stock options to Tesla as part of a settlement for over-compensation.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla insiders are unloading, and those are just the ones we know about. Public companies only have to report insider trading for board directors and listed top executives.
For the latter, Tesla purposefully only lists 3 people: Elon, Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s CFO, and Tom Zhu, whose role at Tesla has bit quite fluid in recent years.
Therefore, we don’t know about the dozens of other top executives potentially selling their shares right now amid a giant correction.
It’s really suspicious because there are clear top leaders at Tesla who are often on Tesla’s earnings calls, and they are not even listed, like Lars Moravy, for example.
But it’s par for the course at Tesla, which has some of the worst corporate governance I have ever seen. It’s truly shameful.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
Mercedes’ new electric people mover is coming soon: Here’s a sneak peek at the luxe EV van
The next generation of Mercedes-Benz luxury vans is almost here. Mercedes’ first luxury electric van, based on its new VAN.EA platform, is now in Arjeplog, Sweden, for winter testing. The new platform will serve as the base for upcoming VIP private vans, high-end limousines, luxury all-arounders, and much more.
What we know about Mercedes’ new luxury electric van
Mercedes is already a leading van maker, both for business and private use. Starting next year, all electric Mercedes’ vans will launch on its new Van Electric Architecture (VAN.EA).
After unveiling the platform almost two years ago, Mathias Geisen, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said “VAN.EA clearly underscores our aspiration to ‘Lead in Electric.” He explained that the purpose-built EV architecture supports both mid and large vans.
With a modular design, Mercedes can easily swap out sections to create a different design. The platform consists of three blocks, or modules.
The first block has the electric powertrain while the middle module determines the van’s dimensions. At the rear, the final module can add another electric motor, giving it AWD capabilities.
With 4MATIC AWD, Mercedes claims the new architecture significantly expands driving range and ensures the vans “meet the highest standards regardless of weather conditions.”
Although final specs will be revealed closer to launch, the electric vans will be based on an 800V platform, suggesting relatively fast charging speeds.
The luxury vans will also be loaded with Mercedes’ new operating system (MB.OS), it’s powerful new in-vehicle software that powers all functions like infotainment, autonomous driving, and more.
After the electric van began testing on public roads late last year, Mercedes said it was headed to Sweden for winter testing before its official debut next year.
Mercedes plans to launch several versions for private and business use. The VAN.EA-P is designed for those looking for a mobile office, family activity vehicle, etc., while the VAN.EA-C is for commercial use, such as courier, express, and parcel delivery vehicles. It can even support larger vehicles like campers or RVs.
Mercedes aims for 20% of van sales to be electric by the end of next year. By 2030, the luxury brand wants half of all van sales to be EV.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Environment
BlackRock’s Fink says Trump deportations will have severe impact on agriculture, construction
HOUSTON — BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Monday that President Donald Trump‘s deportation policy will have a severe impact on the agriculture and construction sectors, which could lead to elevated inflation in the near term.
“I think that over the next six to nine months, we’re going to see a little more elevated inflation,” Fink said the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference. “I do believe deportations and the speed at which it is happening is going to have severe impacts on the agricultural sector and the construction sector.”
Fink said CEOs in the agriculture sector have told him that about 70% of the men and women who work in the industry were not born in the U.S. This raises the question of whether the U.S. will have enough labor to harvest the crops when spring arrives, Fink said.
“With the whole idea that we’re going to have to use private capital to build out this economy — are we going to have enough workers,” Fink asked. “I’ve even told members of the Trump team that we’re going to run out of electricians as we build out AI data centers — we just don’t have enough,” the CEO said.
This potential labor shortage will contribute to inflation, Fink said. Over the longer term, however, the U.S. could see “big deflation because of the advancement of AI and robots and how that’s going to reshape the economy,” the CEO said.
The deflationary pressure that the U.S. experienced over the past two decades was due in part to the importation of cheaper goods from overseas though this hurt U.S. workers, Fink said. The shift to rising nationalism around the world will have an impact on prices, he said.
“When I go to Washington, they talk about these policies,” Fink said. “I ask at what cost are you willing to tolerate that. “Yes, we may have opportunities to create better and more robust jobs, but then the offside of that will be, it will probably create a little more elevated inflation in the short run.”
Trump’s deportation policy is occurring at the same time the president is imposing tariffs on major U.S. trade partners. The president has slapped 20% tariffs on China. He has paused tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods that are compliant with the deal that governs trade in North America. But Trump is threatening what he calls “reciprocal tariffs” in April.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports11 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway