Daniel Mercer

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

When all the hype and the fury is stripped away, the decision to extend the life of the gigantic North West Shelf gas plant boils down to one thing. "It's really all about Browse," says RISC Advisory boss Martin Wilkes in relation to the huge gas field off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Browse is one of the country's biggest untapped resources projects, with gas reserves large enough to meet the equivalent of Australia's entire domestic demand for almost 20 years.

3 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

In Sydney's south west, Anneliese Alexander's home has long been solar powered. She and her husband installed solar panels not long after buying the place about 13 years ago. Since then, they've expanded the system to 13 kilowatts of capacity — enough to charge their two electric vehicles as well as the house much of the time. Her motivations for getting solar were always straightforward. "At that time, it was for two reasons," said Ms Alexander, who works at a social services provider.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

One of the most striking aspects of Australia's energy transition has been the leading role played by households… which have adopted solar and batteries with gusto. On the back of the adoption, efforts are being made by energy regulators and retailers to harness all of this clean tech… supposedly for the benefit of the grid and consumers everywhere. But there are worries that some companies are seeking to exploit the investment by households for their own profits.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

Peter Anderson likes to joke that he has an aversion to paying power bills. It's what drove him to install solar panels at his home in Sydney in 2019. And it's what convinced him to go one step further and get a battery in 2022. "The funny thing about it was that our solar installer, when I first spoke to her, she's like, 'Oh, you don't need a battery,'" Mr Anderson recalls with a laugh.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Alex Lim |Daniel Mercer |Tim Leslie

The end of coal and rise of renewables is shaping tomorrow's power grid today. It poses challenges for nuclear power. Turning on the lights is something we do without thinking, but have you ever thought about what makes it possible?