Australia’s energy sector grapples with extreme weather and increased demand as it moves swiftly towards renewable expansion, requiring urgent upgrades in transmission and resilience measures to meet 2035 emissions targets. Australia’s energy system is confronting a simultaneous surge in demand and an intensification of climate risk that together are reshaping investment, operations and policy across the National Electricity Market. According to GridBeyond’s Global Energy Trends 2026: Australia Regional Outlook, 2025 was marked by extreme weather that exposed vulnerabilities across generation, transmission and distribution. Cyclone Alfred and widespread flooding in Queensland and New South Wales produced major outages and communications failures,…

Aspen Power has raised $200 million from Deutsche Bank to expand its portfolio of distributed solar and battery storage projects across the United States, signalling strong institutional support for the accelerating clean energy transition. Aspen Power has closed a $200 million capital raise provided by Deutsche Bank to accelerate development of distributed solar and battery storage projects across the United States, according to ESG Today. The New York-based platform, founded in 2020, says the proceeds will bolster its ability to originate, develop and deliver distributed generation projects for commercial, community and multifamily customers. The company claims it has financed more…

Egypt has signed a USD 1.8 billion renewable energy and storage agreement with Scatec and Sungrow, boosting its 2030 target for 42% renewables and enhancing local manufacturing, but faces challenges requiring further international support. Egypt has signed a package of renewable energy and storage agreements worth about USD 1.8 billion with Norway’s Scatec and China’s Sungrow, a deal the government says will accelerate clean power deployment and deepen local manufacturing capacity as it pursues a target of sourcing 42 percent of electricity from renewables by 2030. According to a cabinet statement and state television, the largest element is a Scatec‑led…

The Finnish iron and steel sector is experiencing a seismic shift from traditional blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces and hydrogen-based routes, compelling investors and owners to recalibrate valuation strategies, investment narratives, and financial due diligence to align with decarbonisation goals. The Finnish iron and steel industry is at the centre of a generational shift: established capacity and engineering excellence are being recalibrated around a rapid transition to fossil-free production. According to SSAB, the sector is replacing blast furnaces with electric arc furnace-based mini-mills and experimenting with hydrogen-based routes to iron, moves that promise materially lower CO2 footprints but also…

The federal government releases a discussion paper proposing to reduce the emissions threshold for regulated participation, potentially expanding coverage to more commercial and institutional buildings to accelerate Canada’s decarbonisation agenda. A federal discussion paper released on Dec. 19 proposes lowering the threshold for mandatory participation in Canada’s industrial carbon market, a change that could pull larger commercial and institutional facilities, and a broader range of building-sector suppliers, into regulated pricing systems. According to the discussion paper published by Environment and Climate Change Canada, officials are seeking feedback on four approaches to revising the “stringency standards” that underpin the federal benchmark…

DHL Group announces a significant expansion of its net-zero strategy, moving beyond pilot projects to large-scale, contract-backed initiatives across air, sea, land, and logistics infrastructure, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. DHL Group has sharply stepped up industrial-scale decarbonisation across air, sea, road and logistics infrastructure as it pursues a target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to reporting by MHD Supply Chain and company statements. The logistics group moved beyond pilot projects in 2025 to roll out large, contract-backed interventions across its global network. In air freight, DHL signed a three-year agreement with Phillips 66 to purchase…

India faces a strategic crossroad as its dependence on imported rare earths and critical materials hampers its clean energy and industrial ambitions. Increasing e-waste recovery and advancing circular economy strategies may be key to securing a resilient supply chain and accelerating the nation’s manufacturing transformation. India’s manufacturing and energy ambitions are entering a decisive phase, but the raw-materials question at the heart of that transition is becoming a strategic constraint. From electric vehicles and grid-scale storage to wind turbines, power electronics and defence systems, the performance of next‑generation industrial equipment is tightly coupled to a small set of high‑value materials:…

As the International Maritime Organization delays finalising its Net-Zero Framework, China accelerates investments in clean fuels and innovative vessel technology, positioning itself to dominate the emerging low-carbon shipping era amidst global regulatory uncertainties. Later this year member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will resume negotiations on whether to finalise the Net‑Zero Framework that sets a binding international pathway for shipping to reach net‑zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by around mid‑century. The framework promises regulatory certainty that could accelerate investments in low‑ and zero‑carbon fuels, bunkering infrastructure and zero‑emission vessel design, areas in which China, as the world’s largest…

China has introduced a comprehensive policy to fast-track the adoption of industrial green microgrids, aiming for local renewable energy use and technological integration to drive decarbonisation and energy resilience across the manufacturing sector. China has moved to formalise and accelerate the roll-out of industrial “green” microgrids with a new, cross‑departmental policy framework designed to keep more renewable electricity on‑site, speed adoption of low‑carbon technologies and address barriers that have kept the sector largely at pilot scale. According to the lead guidelines issued jointly by the State Council and five central departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT),…

Refining industry increasingly turns to biomass-derived hydrogen to cut carbon emissions, with Asia leading rapid adoption and technological innovations enabling integration with existing infrastructure. Refineries are increasingly turning to biomass-based hydrogen as a pragmatic pathway to cut carbon intensity while preserving the high-hydrogen demand of modern hydroprocessing units. According to the report by Fact.MR, technologies that convert agricultural residues, forestry biomass and energy crops into high‑purity hydrogen are gaining traction because they can be integrated with existing refinery hydrogen networks and support production of lower‑carbon fuels such as renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. Gasification remains the dominant route, prized…