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Australia 2023
…Australia has significantly raised its climate ambitions, with the 2022 Climate Change Act doubling the target for emissions reductions by 2030 and setting the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. To match these increased ambitions, Australia is seeking to update its existing strategies, starting with the preparation of a new emissions reduction plan for 2050. Emission reductions and energy efficiency improvement rates need to double by 2030, and further steps will be required to achieve the government’s clean electricity target. Such efforts would support both climate and energy security goals.To support its clean energy transition, Australia…
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Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Australia 2018 Review
…market has become tight, leading to higher prices in that market. Australia’s power system finds itself exposed to concerns over reliability, particularly amid extreme weather events. While its carbon intensity is in decline, it is still the highest among IEA countries. For natural gas to play a role as a transition fuel to a low-carbon economy, resource development, additional pipeline capacity and market integration are critical. The government is implementing reforms to foster reliability and security of supply, prompted by the South Australia system wide blackout of September 2016 and the Finkel Review. However, a consistent energy and…
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Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Australia 2012 Review
Energy Policy Review Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Australia 2012 Review Australia enjoys the benefit of abundant and diverse energy resources; it is the world’s ninth-largest energy producer and is one of only three net energy exporters in the OECD. Its substantial conventional energy resource base includes coal, natural gas, oil and uranium. The country also enjoys extensive wind, solar and geothermal resources as well as large biomass and ocean energy potential. The energy sector is a significant contributor to the Australian economy. Exports have more than tripled over the past decade, and surging economic and social expansion…
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Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Australia 2005
Energy Policy Review Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Australia 2005 This International Energy Agency review of energy policies and programmes systematically examines Australia's general energy policy including energy policy as it relates to the environment, energy demand, and energy end-use efficiency as well as energy policy concerning oil, coal, natural gas, renewables, electricity, and nuclear power. It also reviews research and development activities and presents key statistics. It finds that environmental sustainability is Australia's greatest energy challenge, and it makes a series of recommendations on that and other issues.
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Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Australia 2001
…Australia has been at the forefront of energy market liberalisation. Following liberalisation by individual states in the early 1990s, the competitive National Electricity Market was established in 1998. The NEM integrates markets across the eastern and south-eastern states. The benefits have been considerable: strong competition, significant price reductions and consumer choice. Gas market reform has been under way since 1997 and is beginning to yield the first benefits. More work is needed to complete the reform process. In the power market, this includes open access for all consumers and providing efficient price signals for interconnection.
The Australian government spends… -
Fuel economy in Australia
…LDVs in Australia is 15% higher than the global average.The fuel economy of all LDV segments has improved since 2005. Notably, fuel consumption decreased on average by 3.6% per year between 2015 and 2017 for small SUVs/pick-up trucks, followed by 2.7% for medium cars, and 2.5% for large SUVs/pick-up trucks. However, improvements have since stalled for small SUVs/pick-up trucks and medium cars, with fuel consumption increasing on average by 0.6% per year and 1.4%, repsectively between 2017 and 2019. Overall, average fuel consumption of LDVs in Australia has…
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Case Study: The National Energy Analytics Research (NEAR) Programme in Australia
…market development. Context The Australian Energy Market has been changing rapidly over the last few decades, with new technologies, consumer choices and climate-driven policies leading to massive changes in energy use patterns and new pressures on managing the electricity grid. However during this time, lack of granular and transparent data on energy use and how it is changing has limited effective forecasting, policy and management of these changes, resulting in unnecessary costs and market disruption. The need for improved energy data and analysis in Australia was emphasised following a significant investment in energy transmission and distribution infrastructure, which could…
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Australia Climate Resilience Policy Indicator
…country and all seasons, and in the past two decades the warming rate was more than 0.042°C per year (+0.011°C above the world average), increasing the number of cooling degree days (CDDs) and reducing heating degree days (HDDs). Australia’s warmest year on record was 2019, and the seven years from 2013 to 2019 were among the top nine warmest ones. This long-term warming trend means that most years are now warmer than almost any in the 20th century.Rising temperatures are also accompanied by an increase in the number of extremely warm days, which totalled 43…
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Australia's legislation on oil security
…The Australian Government’s response to national oil supply emergencies is primarily governed by the Liquid Fuels Emergency Act 1984 (LFE Act). Compared to primary legislation addressing national oil supply emergencies in other IEA Member countries, the LFE Act is more general in nature. The LFE Act provides the Commonwealth Energy Minister (the Minister) with powers in a national liquid fuel emergency to issue directions, and the Liquid Fuel Emergency Guidelines 2019 (Guidelines) set out the parameters of these powers and what a decision-maker must do or consider when exercising a power in an emergency situation.Under the Australian Constitution…
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Paving the way to recovery with utility-funded energy efficiency
…utility business models and incentives to enable them to fully value and pay for energy efficiency as a cost-effective resource to the energy system. The most prevalent type of utility-funded programmes are energy efficiency obligations – referred to in North America as “energy efficiency resource standards”. These programmes place a binding target on energy utilities (often distributors or suppliers), most often to meet a defined level of energy savings over a specified period of time. They include programmes with tradable “white certificates” such as those in Australia, France and Italy.Several other jurisdictions have competitive tendering schemes or auc...