Powering the Future: The Business Case for Switching to Renewables

Plans by the new Coalition Government to abolish Australia's carbon tax put it on a collision course with its Labor predecessor, which opposes the move unless it leads to an emissions trading scheme. Into the fray comes new research from centres at the University of New South Wales. This modelling of investment and operating cost scenarios demonstrates how, by 2030, power generated from renewable energy sources would be a cheaper option than even “clean” gas and coal. The researchers aim to inform a process of decarbonising the electricity industries, but financial market analysts are sceptical that an entrenched reliance on fossil fuels will change without a series of ultra-extreme events.