Are Australia’s coal and gas generators fit for purpose to power Australia through next summer’s heatwaves? The evidence of last summer suggests they cannot be relied upon, with a new report showing how coal plants melted in the heat in Queensland on a day of record demand.

The federal government push to unlock more of Australia’s unconventional gas resources, and build massive pipelines to transport it, has been called out as a “false solution” to a non-existent problem, in a new report by the University of Melbourne’s Climate and Energy College.

How cheap is solar? Cheap enough, says the head of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, to drive the transformation of our grid to zero emissions. Cheap enough, he says, to inspire some people to install air conditioners on their verandah to cool the air outside the house, as well as inside.

An analysis of the big electricity price surges during the February heatwave in New South Wales suggests that rooftop solar on homes and businesses across the state likely reduced the market price of wholesale electricity by nearly $1 billion over three days.