University rankings are no better than the indicators they use. Inclusion of a huge number of non-traditional journals upends rankings, shown in this article. We should care about quality and relevance/impact, not about total number of papers produced.
theconversation.com/chinas-univers…

Sam Mostyn GG. What a great appointment! 🎉

Vegetation trimming around Canberra power lines: why does Evoenergy require home owners to use an arborist from their list to do the trimming in backyards? Do they have legal authority to compel, as they imply in letters? Often surely easy enough to do safely from the ground.

Combet: Government should be 'a significant equity partner' in new green industries, to de-risk. International investors are key to build up zero carbon industries, esp Japan and Korea.

Combet: Australia's energy transition is on the same scale as postwar reconstruction. Emphasis on green investment opportunities in central Qld, and elsewhere. 'The race is on... Australia has compelling advantages'. Worker transition & catalyzing investment key task for the NZA

At the National Press Club: Greg Combet on the Net Zero Authority and the energy transition broadly.

National Folk Festival, fun as every year. Here, The Audreys. #cbr

Daniel Kahneman, Who Plumbed the Psychology of Economics, Dies at 90 nytimes.com/2024/03/27/bus…

Republicans coming for professors at public universities nytimes.com/2024/03/23/us/…

ANU-Tsinghua Australia-China decarbonisation roundtable, on steel and renewables value chains.

In Beijing and online, morning of 8 May.
Register: app.glueup.cn/event/australi…
PM or email for in person attendance.

Supported by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations

Should Australia mimick the US IRA for green industrial policy? Here's my input to the Economic Society of Australia's economists survey on green industrial policy.
theconversation.com/economists-say…

Australia's foreign interference laws in action. Surely this is not the intent of the law. NYT article. nytimes.com/2024/03/16/wor…

Billionaire Musk and how he goes about free speech. nytimes.com/2024/03/13/tec…

🚨BREAKING🚨

UK emissions in 2023 fell to lowest since 1879, new Carbon Brief reveals

💷Emissions now 53% below 1990, as GDP up 82%
❤️‍🔥Drop in 2023 largely unrelated to policy
⛰️Coal now lowest since 1730s (!)
🚗Transport is largest sector, then buildings
⚡️Power now likely…

Rooftop solar will keep growing and so it should be. Lots of unused roof space right next to daytime power demand at commercial and industrial complexes. And then the car parks. It's ceap energy. No problem if some of it is curtailed on sunny days.
reneweconomy.com.au/australia-nucl…

Many Integrated Assessment Models paint incongruous picture of future coal: higher than historical coal reliance in baseline, cheap CCS, expensive renewables -> coal persistence or even resurgence. Outdated assumptions.
Coal Transitions 2 paper out in ERL
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.108…

Our next Energy Essentials short course still has some places available. Get up to speed on energy transition in three half-days online, 12-14 March. Top ANU researchers lead the classes.
iceds.anu.edu.au/energy-change-…
ANU Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions

It’s great to be at #ASEAN50AUS Climate and Clean Energy Transition Forum, including this excellent session on clean energy technology,services and skills chaired by Prof Frank Jotzo ANU Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions ANU Crawford School of Public Policy The Lowy Institute

Minister Husic opens the climate & clean energy day at the special ASEAN summit in Melbourne. I'll chair the session on technology and services for the transition.

Today we published our estimate of CO2 emissions in 2023. The bad news is that they rose again, by 1.1%.

The good news is that there are lots of causes for optimism if you look underneath the headline numbers.

A quick 🧵

iea.org/reports/co2-em…