Energy Research

UNSW researchers have made a breakthrough for renewable energy production, demonstrating for the first time the ability to produce electricity from radiant infrared heat sources. The emerging technology could be powering our home appliances while we sleep within five years.

A start-up in regional NSW will be the first Australian company to produce at scale a new type of solar cell that works under artificial light to power devices like keyboards and headphones.

While newly built homes in Australia are better at keeping cold air out, there is a chance leaks may still be adding to your power bill.

Like much of the country, WA is embracing rooftop solar with breathtaking gusto. But the state's position as the world's biggest island grid is posing a unique problem with authorities asking the question — how much solar is too much solar?

Green hydrogen might be more efficient than petrol but it doesn't rate against a battery-driven vehicle, and funding it is proving to be difficult with iron ore prices falling.

Traralgon residents fear the Coalition's proposal to build a nuclear plant nearby will drive down property prices, but some also see it as a chance for an economic boost when the coal power station closes.

Energy experts — and even Greenpeace — underestimated solar power's rapid global growth. Now many believe solar is set to become the world's biggest power source within the next decade. But it is falling prices — rather than environmental benefits — that might be driving that change.

A survey of more than 1,000 people in NSW found that 39 per cent of respondents that had their energy disconnected were from middle income households.

Since the Menzies era, the Liberal Party's mantra has been built on a free market and small government. But Peter Dutton's nuclear power plans mean the opposition's ambitions have turned the party's ideology on its head.

The government knows it can't compete with China to make cheaper solar panels. But it's placing a billion-dollar bet that it can outcompete the manufacturing giant on technology to transform Australia's tiny solar industry. 

Peter Dutton's plan to build a nuclear power plant in Collie has drawn mixed reactions in the west, but it won't happen before 2050.

Energy reporter Daniel Mercer says smart meters will significantly change the way power companies charge consumers.

The Coalition insists it supports the global Paris Agreement but it wants to dump Australia's short-term emissions reduction target. Is that allowed under the rules?

As the shift away from fossil fuels gathers pace, the Coalition has turned to an emissions-free technology with a long and contentious history — nuclear fission. These are the numbers you should keep in mind when thinking about its place in Australia's energy transition.

Whether your priority is to make life in your rental property less of Survivor-style experience, keep energy costs down, or just to be cosier, winter can be a season of challenge.  

From a more efficient furnace to increased recycling, a South Australian glass plant is moving to cut its energy use to provide savings for itself and potential benefits to other users. And it's qualified for a new efficiency scheme.

A group of intrepid UNSW students are hard at work on a project that could solve the world's energy problems, but, as a joke among scientists goes, the technology always seems to be 30 years away.

Away from the sunburnt beaches, hot dusty gums, and red deserts, news for Australia's ski fields hasn't been good for years. But new research shows while the snow season is getting shorter, there's hope to turn things around.

An investigation into the house explosion in Sydney's west on Saturday is looking at whether a gas leak was to blame, as an expert says leaks can be difficult to detect but can cause major damage. 

An ABC investigation has found some residential customers are being charged based on their single biggest point of usage across the entire month without being told or able to opt out.