gas
Hydraulic fracturing has solved one problem (peak fuel) but sharpened another (climate change). Policymakers can no longer rely on increasing scarcity to restrain demand and CO2 emissions.
With the recent approval of the $34 billion Ichthys project, Australia is set to become the world's top LNG exporter by around 2017. But the window of opportunity for such giant projects looks to be closing.
A phase-out of Australia's outdated gas network provides a big long-term productivity opportunity. And we can start right away by not connecting any new or post-renovation buildings.
Energy conscious householders with gas-boosted solar hot water systems may be surprised to learn they use huge amounts of fossil fuel. Another surprise: there's a much greener alternative on the market.
A new US study has compared the the level of subsidies given to the oil and gas industries, nuclear and renewables. Guess who's been missing out!
What happens when the Queensland government outsources the decision-making on its energy supply questions? Good news for Xstrata and AGL, bad news for renewables.
Australia has a multitude of options for near-zero emission electricity, but current ETS policy won't lead to business investment at a sufficient scale.