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While the Australian government lags behind on climate change action, consumers, local councils and energy companies lead the way to clean energy

The Turnbull government has been an utter disappointment on so many things but nowhere as much as on the biggest issue of our time: climate change.

Unable to shrug off the legacy of the climate-denying Abbott government, it has been bullied out of any climate change ambition by science-denying fringe elements on the right.

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A report out today says the movement to divest from fossil fuels is gaining traction, with the dollar value of funds avoiding fossil fuel investments doubling over the past year.

Australia's electricity network needs reform to reduce carbon emissions. Michelle McFarlane/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s preliminary report on the National Electricity Market (NEM), released on Friday, sets the scene for a comprehensive review of the electricity network.

The report identifies that energy and emissions reduction policy must be brought together. There is no doubt that the electricity sector will be central to any emissions-reduction efforts in Australia.

However, the report also appears to see the rise of renewable energy in the electricity system as a disturbance rather than an opportunity.

The report discusses how the NEM should be reformed in response to a changing mix of generators – coal, gas and renewables. But it does not proactively seek to discuss the role of the NEM in achieving the emissions reductions and renewable energy targets of federal and state governments.

Transition doesn’t have to break the grid

The new National Transmission Network Development Plan 2016 by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) shows what such a proactive approach might look like. It shows that transmission investment within and across state borders will be crucial for Australia’s energy transformation.

International examples can provide insights into what these strategic investment solutions could be. The Finkel report mentions, for instance, the proactive designation and connection of wind zones in Texas. Other examples are the facilitation of offshore network development in the UK, and the German north-south interconnectors.

A similar mechanism could allow the NEM to access renewable energy resources in new areas, as well as upgrade existing networks to increase renewable uptake. As the AEMO plan shows, these types of measures can “smooth the impact of variable renewable energy” and “improve system resilience”.

Efficiency, reliability and reduced emissions

The Finkel report queries whether the National Electricity Objective (NEO) needs to be amended to achieve the integration of energy and emissions-reduction policy. The current objective is:

…to promote efficient investment in, and efficient operation and use of, electricity services for the long-term interests of consumers of electricity with respect to – price, quality, safety, reliability and security of supply of electricity; and the reliability, safety and security of the national electricity system.

The objective sets the parameters for developing electricity market rules and limits the scope of regulatory decision-making.

It reflects the purpose of the NEM at the time it was introduced. The NEM was initially introduced as a market-based governance framework to achieve the public service of electricity as efficiently and reliably as possible.

The report states that we need to find solutions to address the so-called “energy trilemma”. Energy policy needs to strike a balance between “security, affordability and environmental objectives”.

While the first two of these objectives are covered in the electricity objective, the last – environmental objective - is not. The NEO should reflect these changed consumer expectations.

In the age of climate change, we expect our electricity system to be reliable, affordable and green. A rephrasing of the NEO would allow for more innovative approaches to proactively develop market rules to facilitate renewable energy.

Expanding the objective would also see Australia in good company. Both the UK and German regulatory objectives contain express links to emissions reductions (UK) or environmental compatibility and renewable energy (Germany).

Putting the puzzle pieces together

The report argues for a “whole-of-system approach” to developing the energy system. The report discusses especially to what degree states and other institutions in energy markets need to work together to achieve this.

However, we also need national oversight to develop the grid. More advanced energy transition experiences in Europe show such a refocus of market reform.

Coordinated planning across the NEM will be crucial to achieve this whole-of-system perspective. While the market operator, AEMO, has a limited planning role in the NEM – identifying opportunities for network investment – there is currently no mechanism to encourage planning for the reliability and security of the whole of the NEM. Network businesses invest to ensure the reliability within their networks – contained within state borders.

Germany provides an example of how a whole-of-system approach could be achieved. German law compels the different network businesses to cooperatively develop a national grid development plan based on scenario frameworks and overseen and approved by the Federal Network Agency. Similar cooperative mechanisms could be introduced in the NEM regulatory framework.

What about climate adaptation?

The report mentions two examples of the challenges climate change might pose to the network, the black-out in South Australia and the drought in Tasmania. In both cases, a natural event combined with an interconnector (transmitters between states) fault triggered a challenge to energy security. Not mentioned in the report are the 2009 bushfires in Victoria, when a significant number of devastating fires were caused by failed electrical assets.

All of these kinds of extreme weather events can be linked to climate change. The need to adapt to more frequent and more severe weather events should be an essential part of a review into the security and reliability of the electricity sector.

While this is a preliminary report only, it picks up on many pertinent issues. This short analysis covers only some of the issues raised in the report. The prelimiary report is now open to public submissions. This provides an outstanding opportunity to consider and shape the future of the electricity network.

Anne Kallies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

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UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon welcomes new total revealing concern over coal, oil and gas investments has entered financial mainstream

The value of investment funds committed to selling off fossil fuel assets has jumped to $5.2tn, doubling in just over a year.

The new total, published on Monday, was welcomed by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who said: “It’s clear the transition to a clean energy future is inevitable, beneficial and well underway, and that investors have a key role to play.”

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Methane warms planet 20 times as much as similar CO2 volumes but lack of monitoring means scientists can’t be sure of sources

Emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane have surged in the past decade, threatening to thwart global attempts to combat climate change.

Scientists have been surprised by the surge, which began just over 10 years ago in 2007 and then was boosted even further in 2014 and 2015. Concentrations of methane in the atmosphere over those two years alone rose by more than 20 parts per billion, bringing the total to 1,830ppb.

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Climate Home: IEA says global coal use is flatlining as China continues to restructure its economy

The volume of coal used across the world fell for the second year running in 2015 and is set to stay below peak levels in 2016, reported the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The influential thinktank – an autonomous Paris-based organisation – has downgraded its medium-term coal market forecast for the fifth year in a row and expects demand to plateau until 2021, but not fall fast enough to align with the international goal of holding global warming below 2C.

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Edinburgh University researchers say windfarm energy prevented 36m tonnes of harmful coal and gas emissions in six years

Wind power plays a key role in curbing greenhouse emissions from other energy sources such as coal and gas, a new study has shown.

Energy from windfarms in the UK prevented almost 36m tonnes of harmful carbon emissions in six years, equivalent to taking 2.3m cars off the road, the analysis found.

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The scale and pace of change now taking place in West Antarctica is captured in a new, long-term satellite record that tracks the thinning of the region's huge glaciers.

Great British cod supper is under threat as cold-water fish are replaced by warm-water species, says researcher

It is the meal most associated with the UK, along with slurping tea and moaning about the weather. But the great British fish supper could be on the way out, replaced by more continental variations such as squid and chips, as seas continue to warm, the British Ecological Society will be told this week.

Britons may have to adopt a more continental diet when it comes to fish, as climate change sees cold-water fish such as cod gradually replaced by squid and other warm-water species, according to research led by Dr John Pinnegar of Cefas, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.

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Airedale, West Yorkshire All of these birds – none weighing more than an ounce, and the smallest of them barely tipping the scales against a 10p piece – have a crisp, spruce look

At this time of year, it can sometimes seem as though the bare trees have been decked out with toy birds. The broad-spreading alder across the river is tinged purple-pink (the fuchsia-coloured catkins persist deep into the winter) and the branches are busy with tinkling finches: green siskins, bright motley goldfinches, chaffinches in pink and soft greys.

I pause on the riverbank as a detachment of long-tailed tits, perhaps a dozen or so, makes its shuttling way through the willows. For a few moments I’m surrounded by them, a cloud of them; beneath the familiar hubbub of zinging tsees and tsirrups, I can hear their soft chut, chut contact-calls. Dinkiest of all are the two tiny goldcrests that pick over a low-hanging ash branch while working through a programme of deft variations on the theme “upside-down”.

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AEMO report sets out pressing challenges facing Australian electricity networks in future, looks to past for solutions.

Australia remains one of world's most expensive places to develop renewables, when it should be one of the cheapest.

AEMO's latest report reinforces Alan Finkel's assessment that Australia's grid is not fit for 21st century, and needs rapid change. Its chairman compares fossil fuel plants to petrol cars, and struggles to accept the pace of technology change. You won't find a fuel cap on an electric car.

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Scientists say they are concerned at the rapid rate at which methane is gathering in the atmosphere.

Squid may end up on the British plate in place of old favourites such as cod as UK waters warm up.

WA's first co-located solar PV power plant has cleared its final hurdle to realisation and will begin construction next month.