By Alice Klein.
Coal mining in Hunter Valley, Australia.
Peter Harrison is a photographer.
Mike Cannon-Brookes, the third-richest person in Australia, has launched an audacious bid to buy the country's biggest electricity company and shut its coal-fired power plants. Can he pull off a bold approach to decarbonisation?
Australia has the highest carbon emissions per capita from burning coal for power generation. The country's government is very attached to fossil fuels. Scott Morrison brought a lump of coal to parliament before becoming the current prime minister. Don't be afraid, it won't hurt you.
Cannon-Brookes has been a critic of the government's climate policies. He is trying to take matters into his own hands by using his net worth.
Join us for a mind-blowing festival of ideas and experiences. New Scientist Live is going hybrid, with a live in-person event in Manchester, UK, that you can also enjoy from the comfort of your own home, from 12 to 14 March 2022. Find out more.On February 19th, he made an A$8 billion bid in partnership with a Canadian asset management firm to buy AGL, which owns three of Australia's 16 coal plants. They will replace the coal plants with renewable assets like solar, wind and battery infrastructure by the year 2030.
AGL said the bid was too low. Cannon-Brookes told ABC that negotiations are still going on.
It will be the beginning of the largest decarbonisation project in the world if the takeover goes ahead. Australia's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, AGL, produces more emissions each year than Sweden.
Is a software maker capable of running an electricity company? Climate Energy Finance believes that Cannon-Brookes's tech background could be useful since smart software is being used to deliver renewable energy more efficiently.
Mike Cannon-Brookes is one of the most successful investors in renewable energy in the world, so it's perfect synergy, he says.
Cannon-Brookes has experience with renewable energy. He and Andrew Forrest, Australia's second richest person, funded a project called Sun Cable that will deliver electricity from a giant solar farm in northern Australia to Singapore through a submarine cable.
He convinced Musk to build a giant battery for storing wind energy in South Australia after making a bet with him.
Australia would continue to drag its feet on transitioning to clean energy without these mega-rich individuals stepping in.
Morrison told the media that coal plants should stay open as long as possible so that electricity prices don't rise.
Cannon-Brookes told ABC that electricity prices would fall under his plan because renewable energy is cheaper than coal power.
If his AGL grab succeeds, it could lead to similar takeovers of coal plants in other parts of the world. The Asian Development Bank recently announced a plan to buy and shut down coal plants in South-East Asia and replace them with renewable energy.
Cannon-Brookes told ABC that the economics, science, and gumption are what we need to make it happen.
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