A hot energy topic with little coordinated analysis, green hydrogen has finally attracted the number crunchers of BloombergNEF.

The Australian federal government said last week that it will curtail funding for the five-year Energy Transition Hub research initiative.

Renewable energy developers and investors have told Australian industry body the Smart Energy Council ‘they’re done. The sovereign risk in Australia is too great,’ according to the organization’s government relations manager, Wayne Smith. With prospects, employment and energy prices in jeopardy, the trade organization has vowed to petition policymakers for a bankable plan.

With fire-extinguishing rain on the east coast, coronavirus flagged an urgent threat and PM Scott Morrison drumming up support for technology and free-market forces to beat climate change, it all made for a weekend to shake the resolve of some Australians to act on their carbon emissions. Understanding the psychology of how we perceive risk and commit to action can help us focus and keep fighting the fight.

A minor concern it may be, compared to the tragic loss of life, livelihoods and biodiversity caused by the bushfires still ravaging parts of Australia, but reduced output by PV systems due to smoke haze is an unwelcome bi-product of blazes that have burned at a scale and ferocity never seen before.

As the world responds to the climate crisis and ramps up investment in solar energy, the industry is still struggling to address sustainability. A new Arup Group report on Australia looks at how the country can apply circular economy principles to current and future PV waste management.

The cataclysmic bushfire season ravaging the nation is a reminder of the risk climate change poses to Australia’s economic and social prosperity. An international roadmap to freedom from fossil fuels by 2050 produced by the U.S.’ Stanford University says Australia needs another 280 GW of solar and tens of billions of dollars of investment to turn down the heat.

Australian startup Power Ledger wants to scale up its offerings for much larger communities, as it has already verified its technologies in projects around the world. The Australian Energy Market Commission last week proposed a similar agenda.

With sun the common component of solar energy production and agriculture, a new company in northern New South Wales is set to combine the benefits of sowing PV and forage crops in the same soil.

With hundreds of billions of dollars in assets and funds under management, Macquarie Group is seeking to amplify its considerable influence, bringing investment and reporting to bear on accelerating climate mitigation and adaptation.