Climate change: Ben Fordham slams politicians blaming Ukraine conflict for rising electricity prices

According to journalist and radio host Ben Fordham, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is to blame for rising electricity prices in Australia.

The 2GB broadcaster said on Tuesday the conflict was causing fuel shortages across Europe, but Australia didn’t have to be affected because “we have the coal and gas the world desperately needs.”

Fordham instead suggested that Australia switched to green energy too soon and a phasing out of traditional power generation before alternative supplies were secured, which could be the real reason why our electricity bills were going up.

Europe has been hit hard by international sanctions on the supply of Russian fuel, but for Australia, which has some of the world’s largest reserves of high-quality coal, the dependence is negligible.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, in 2021 Europe bought 32 percent of Russia’s coal exports, China bought 24 percent, Japan and South Korea bought 18 percent and 11 percent went to Southeast Asia and Oceania.

But despite Australia’s abundance of coal and just one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, coal-fired power plants are being decommissioned to help the nation move toward “net zero” emissions, according to the CSIRO.

Blaming the war in Ukraine is a huge cop,” Fordham said.

“Our energy ministers have demonized traditional fossil fuels. They destroyed coal. They threw out gas. And now we’re all getting ready for another electric shock.’

“Companies go bankrupt. Retirees will freeze. And anyone who asks questions is portrayed as a caveman.’

It was revealed at the Australian Financial Review’s Energy Climate Summit this week that household electricity bills could rise by “at least 35 percent” by 2023, adding $700 to a $2,000 annual bill.

Jeff Dimery, CEO of Alinta Energy, said the accelerated coal transition put pressure on wholesale prices as energy companies have to replace their generation assets.

“What cost me $1 billion to buy is going to cost me $8 billion to replace. So let’s talk about that and still explain to me how energy prices are falling, I don’t get it,” he said.

Coal exports to countries that emit far more emissions than Australia continue to be a driving force behind the country’s economy.

In 2020, Australia was the world’s second largest coal exporter, worth $9 billion to Japan and South Korea, $2.5 billion to China, $2 billion to Taiwan and $2.7 billion to the rest of the world. the world.

But at home, five of the country’s largest coal-fired power plants will go offline by 2030.

These account for about 45 gigawatts of electricity generation, while the total new renewable projects currently planned will generate only half of this at about 22 gigawatts, said Daniel Westerman, the boss of the Australian energy market operator.

Brett Redman, chief executive of NSW grid owner Transgrid, said the scale of new projects needed to support a transition to renewable energy was “unprecedented”.

“The government’s ambition is to reach our national emissions reduction target within eight years, we have much less time to deliver the critical transmission infrastructure that will connect renewables to the grid,” he said.

Worley Energy CEO Chris Ashton said the amount of investment needed to reach “net zero” by 2050 could be “from $100 to $120 trillion.”

“That’s an order of magnitude more than the supply chain is capable of today,” he said.

The Labor government’s election promise to cut electricity bills by $275 seems increasingly difficult.

“Our leaders have gone too fast. They tried to jump off the boat before we reached the quay,’ said Fordham.