Climate Wars. Iran war speeds transition to renewable energy

Despite the avalanche of fossil propaganda, decarbonization is happening, and the Iran War will only accelerate it. Michael West reports.

“World energy markets have changed forever. You can’t put the Genie back in the bottle.” Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says Australia’s energy security is being compromised by the war against Iran and rapid decarbonisation is the answer.

He should know. As a major iron ore exporter, the rising price of diesel fuel is hitting Fortescue’s profitability hard. A giant excavator consumes one million liters of diesel per year.

“Fossil fuels carry volatility, political costs and risk for the mothers and fathers who rely on them.

“If you don’t have energy security, you don’t have a free country, you don’t have an independent company.

“Australia can stay in the open, or we can quickly decarbonise and move to a safe, predictable and lower-cost renewable energy system, and the best part – Australia itself – is made here.

“Technology is already here, Fortescue proves this. The only question is how quickly we all choose to deploy it.”

Forrest does this; Spending from $900 million to $1.2 billion to do so this year.

But the cheap, clean solution to energy independence is being counterbalanced by powerful forces. The now skyrocketing profits of fossil fuel companies mean increasingly relentless lobbying to pressure politicians and the media.

Fuel crisis. Industry lobbying runs counter to national interests

Even after two decades of climate wars, we are bombarded more than ever by fossil-fueled bots and paid influencers on social media; The mainstream media continues to be taken over by the fossil industry. Four out of five political parties (Labour, Liberal Party, National Party and One Nation) are funded by fossil donations.

Follow the money!

It’s a simple matter of following the money. Although the technology is already in place to largely decarbonize mining and transportation (yes, trucking) and half the power grid’s energy is provided by renewables, noise from the fossil lobby still keeps the public jury on the transition.

Despite the indisputable logic and irrefutable evidence that renewable energy has Australia in the twilight of the carbon economy, the “when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine” brigade is puffing louder than ever – completely ignoring the progress in battery storage technology.

During the summer months, renewable energy was included in more than half of the grid for the first time, according to the National Electricity Market (MOISTURE) reports. It has fluctuated between 40-50% in recent weeks. The wind, solar and hydropower sector was at 50.5% on Friday and 44.8% on Sunday.

It’s happening whether the horse and carriage brigade likes it or not.

Andrew Forrest is investing billions of dollars to prove his claim. This isn’t Pauline or Matt Canavan; He is a businessman who puts his money where his mouth is. Like others. While it’s true that Gina Rinehart, who finances the climate denial industry, is also big on iron ore, let’s follow the money again.

Forrest’s main income comes from iron ore. Yes, she has gas interests, but by comparison Gina has iron ore, gas and coal. He is ‘speaking from his own book’ when talking about renewable energies.

Forrest thinks he could fully decarbonise the huge iron ore mines in the Pilbara by 2030, just four years from now. He even says that this can be done faster and that there is urgency due to increasing fuel costs due to the Iran War.

BHP and Rio Tinto have been lukewarm on decarbonisation. Both are moving towards electric trucks, although their goals are slow and low. They would be faster if the government followed common sense and decided to withdraw its $10 billion a year diesel subsidy.

Energy analyst Tim Buckley. LinkedIn

BHP and Rio, the biggest beneficiaries of the diesel discount, don’t seem to need it, given their astronomical profits. It’s also unlikely that Gina Rinehart will suddenly embrace the ‘small government’ narrative and call for an end to corporate freebies.

Cleantech is power

But mining magnates’ big clients in China have no such ambitions for cleantech. As energy analyst Tim Buckley puts it, “The carnage wrought by the US-Iran conflict has exposed the fragility and concentration of global fossil fuel supply chains.”

“…China is sticking to its own script, staying out of the fray and branding itself as a stable alternative to an unpredictable America.

weaponizing clean tech supremacy as the ultimate tool of green soft power.

Buckley says China has spent years pursuing its goal of ‘self-sufficiency’ and getting its economy going. Since 2023, it has spent more than US$220 billion on building cleantech manufacturing, grids and energy infrastructure abroad, and “a further US$120 billion to secure critical minerals, strategic metals and upstream processing.”

This laid the foundations for a fully integrated global supply chain ranging from mines to electric vehicles, produced “at a speed and scale that no one thought possible even a few years ago.”

He says Iran will only accelerate renewables because China is still dependent on oil, much of which depends on Iran itself.

Putting aside the frenzied noise of climate skeptics, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine accelerated the transition thanks to basic supply and demand. Corporate greed has driven oil and gas prices sky-high, making renewable energy a more attractive proposition both wholesale and retail.

Namely, the transition in the electric grid and the proliferation of EVs and home solar in the last five years. And for those crying ‘but subsidies, subsidies’, let’s start by removing over $10 billion annually in diesel fuel rebates.

Our biggest fossil fuel subsidy is the diesel fuel rebate. What is fraud?

Michael West was founded Michael West Media Focusing on public interest journalism in 2016, particularly the increasing power of corporations over democracy. West was previously a journalist and editor for Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and was even once a stockbroker.