Less than one year after the Australian government agreed to ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change, a new report has warned that Australia risks falling short of its own national emissions targets without significantly ramping up the electricity sector’s shift to renewable energy.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has released a more bleak outlook for potential gas shortfalls in Australia’s domestic market, but said they could be much worse if renewable energy projects are delayed or one of Australia’s ageing coal units fails.

Queensland’s Western Downs solar boom continued this week, with the approval of a 250 MW solar farm west of Toowoomba.

Australia’s love of rooftop solar looks to be extending to battery storage, according to the results of a new poll – and for the all same reasons: that it will reduce their household’s reliance on increasingly expensive grid electricity, and cut soaring power bills.