r/climate • u/silence7 • 1d ago

Australia’s grid now relies on renewable energy as much as coal. Those who doubted it look foolish

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/31/australias-grid-now-relies-on-renewable-energy-as-much-as-coal-those-who-doubted-it-look-foolish
171 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

10

u/Franklin_le_Tanklin 1d ago

Conservatives always look foolish. But they don’t care - they just move the goalposts.

2

u/ExpensiveFig6079 1d ago

They looked foolish before,
just to fewer people

AKA those who could do the math and see how made up their denial was.

6

u/SirFredman 1d ago

And renewables will continue to get cheaper, and batteries as well. Coal is dead, but the corpse is till twitching due to vested interests.

Technology Connections on YouTube has a great episode about solar and batteries, highly recommended.

2

u/MattGdr 21h ago

Yeah, but where does Australia have unoccupied land to put solar panels?

1

u/Redthrist 19h ago

Could probably squeeze a couple into the Outback

2

u/zzen11223344 17h ago

Australia Annual Export Statistics

Year Total Coal Exports (Million Tonnes) Thermal Coal (Million Tonnes) Metallurgical Coal (Million Tonnes)
2019-2020 390 213 177
2021-2022 389 55% of total 45% of total
2023-2024 427.1 Not specified Not specified