Market forces a stronger driver of renewables investment than subsidies

Market forces rather than subsidies are now driving investment in renewable energy, says an official analysis that also shows wind and solar penetration will reach a level the former Abbott government legislated to prevent.

The regulator said 2018 was the year that commercial
factors overtook subsidies as the main driver of renewables investment.

However, the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) report says the strength of future renewables investment remains "uncertain", and analysts warn the boom will inevitably end, stymieing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

Read the story from The Age by Nicole Hasham - “Market forces a stronger driver of renewables investment than subsidies.”

Big Australian banks invest $7bn more in fossil fuels than renewables, says report

Australia’s big four banks invested three times as much in global fossil fuels as they did in clean energy in 2016, despite pledging to help Australia transition to a low carbon economy.

Australian banks continued to fund coalmines in
2016 despite committing to support the Paris
climate agreement pledge to keep global
warming below 2C.

The banks provided a combined $10bn to projects around the world that expanded non-renewable energy, according to finance group Market Forces.

ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank were the worst offenders, investing over $3bn each in fossil fuels. In the same period, ANZ only lent $225m to renewables, giving it a 14:1 ratio.

Overall the banks invested $7bn more in fossil fuels than clean energy.

Read Naaman Zhou’s story on The Guardian - “Big Australian banks invest $7bn more in fossil fuels than renewables, says report.”

'Market forces' won't resolve climate change

In discussions about climate change, there's a certain constituency of economists and business leaders who say the market will fix the problem. If we let technology work its wonders, they say, eventually clean energy will prove sufficiently cheap and plentiful enough to make burning fossil fuels a thing of the past.

“We need a carbon tax, or we are going to keep using cheap fossil fuels until they kill us all.”

There's just one problem: The market won't. We have enormous remaining supplies of oil, gas, and coal because the technology of exploration and extraction has advanced along with solar and wind technology. We're nowhere near Peak Oil or Peak Gas—despite what some people were predicting a few years ago—and prices continue to plummet.

Read the Co-Exist story “We Can't Rely On Market Forces Alone To Fix Climate Change.”