Sunday, November 15, 2026
Saturday, November 14, 2026
Aluminium smelters go all in on renewables
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| (Image source: Tomago Aluminium) Tomago Aluminium has operating for more than 40 years. It produces 37% of Australia’s primary aluminium. |
From Renew Economy
The global head of aluminium at Rio Tinto says the “economic reality” of coal-based electricity in Australia has priced the fossil fuel out of the equation when it comes to powering aluminium smelters into the future, leaving them with “no chance to compete” in global markets except with a mix of renewables.
Jérôme Pécresse, Rio Tinto’s chief executive of aluminium and lithium, told Renew Economy this week that the increase in the price of coal-fired electricity has been “so significant,” it leaves no possibility of renewing current coal power contracts for its Australian smelters.
In Australia, Rio Tinto holds a roughly 52 per cent share in the nation’s largest aluminium smelter – and its largest single user of electricity – Tomago, in the New South Wales Hunter region, where a constant load of 950 megawatts is powered by NSW’s still coal-dominated grid.
In Queensland, it holds the majority stake in Australia’s second-largest aluminium smelter, Boyne, which consumes roughly 10 per cent of the state’s electricity, largely sourced from the nearby Gladstone Power Station, a 1.6 gigawatt (GW) coal plant that is penciled in for potential retirement in 2029.
And in Tasmania, Rio Tinto owns, outright, the Bell Bay aluminium smelter, which has been in operation on the island state since 1955, when it became the first aluminium smelter in the Southern Hemisphere.
In the past year, all three of these smelters have signed up to major deals with federal and state governments that extend billions of dollars in tax-payer funded support to Rio Tinto to help make the transition from fossil fuels to renewables – a move Pécresse says is a matter of survival.
“The decision to move to renewable is first and foremost a decision based on economics because that was, I think, and I continue to believe, the only way to define the future where the smelters can compete,” he told Renew Economy in an interview on Wednesday.
“The economic reality of the evolution of the price of coal-based electricity in Australia, which is itself based on the evolution of the price of coal, is that when we look at both Boyne and Tomago, and we look at the possibility of renewing the current contract with coal-based electricity, the increase of the price of electricity was so significant that the smelters would have had no chance to compete in the global markets and hence to survive.”
In the case of Boyne, the federal Labor and Queensland LNP governments in March agreed to invest $1 billion each over 10 years – from 2030 to 2040 – to support the long-term future of the aluminium smelter, which directly employs around 1,000 people.
For its part in the deal, Rio Tinto has committed to underwriting $7.5 billion of new wind, solar and battery storage development in the once coal dominated Gladstone region, which it will contract to supply the smelter’s energy needs through new and existing power purchase agreements (PPAs).
For Tomago Aluminium, the federal and NSW Labor governments agreed in August to underwrite a $2.5 billion package to the smelter – which employs more than 1,000 people – secure long-term wind and solar contracts.
The $2.5 billion “bailout” – as it has been described by most media – will be provided in equal portions by the federal and state governments and will reduce the cost of the power supply by around $35/MWh, meeting the difference between the asking price of new renewables and what Rio Tinto is prepared to pay to keep Tomago open.
Bell Bay, meanwhile, secured its own deal in October – a $200 million joint support package from the Tasmanian and federal governments, backed by a five-year power deal with state utility Hydro Tasmania.
The publicly funded deals have prompted criticism from some quarters, including from the conservative side of politics with federal Nationals leader Matt Canavan arguing loudly and often that only coal can keep smelters alive, and that it is the shift to renewables that is causing their economic demise.
Notably, this is not how the Queensland LNP government sees it, having agreed to support the Boyne smelter’s shift to renewables alongside federal Labor, even despite its fondness for old coal and its penchant for “calling in” previously approved projects, including some that are contracted to Rio.
Most notably, though, coal is not part of the future plan for Rio Tinto or its shareholders. The question is no longer whether coal can continue to power Australian smelters, but whether Australia can build enough firm renewables fast enough to keep its existing smelters alive and kicking.
“The reality [is] we looked at the quote we would get for extending the [coal-fired power] contract, it’s not working,” says Pécresse. “So that’s why we ended up with a solution which is slightly different in New South Wales and Queensland, but which are all based on basically renewable electricity.
“In Boyne, as you know, we are kind of assembling the solution ourselves by of taking solar, wind, and battery PPAs. In New South Wales, we are taking one single PPA from Snowy Hydro, but in both cases we are … with the government support … moving the smelter [to] the right side of the cost curve.
“And it has the additional benefit that these smelters … will be able to claim a lower carbon content, and that’s important as well because there is a higher and higher proportion of customers who … no longer want high carbon aluminium, and among those there is … a fraction that can pay a premium.
“So it’s going to allow us to have a better cost structure and to have a product which is going to be better positioned in the market.”
And while governments stumping up money to support the energy transition of global mining giants is an approach that has come under criticism from even the pro-renewables side of the equation, Pécresse says Rio Tinto is giving back, by underwriting new renewables and investing in innovative technologies that support industrial electrification.
A case in point is the Arena-backed trial of a 30 MW and 360 megawatt-hour (MWh) “hot bricks” heat battery at the site of Rio Tinto’s Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland, where it will soak up cheap daytime renewables, convert the energy into high-temperature heat, and deliver it as steam at up to 1,000°C.
“In Queensland, we are more involved because what we are doing in Boyne … triggers $7.5 billion of renewable investments … which in turn are going to benefit the energy system in Queensland.
“So we have had a lot of discussions with the Queensland government on that, and they are clearly seeing the benefits … for the smelters, but also for the broader energy system.
“So I think it’s a positive role we play, which is recognised. … For example, we have to make sure that these renewable projects get connected to the grid in due time, so there is, I would say, a joint effort on that front, which I find quite effective.”
And in comparison to those other great energy sinks, data centres – which are facing their own scramble for renewables – Pécresse says there are some comparisons to be drawn, and some competing interests, but also a number of key differences.
“Smelter and data centres are very massive users of power. Clearly, data centers can can afford a much higher price per megawatt-hour for the power they use, but smelters create many more jobs,” he told Renew Economy.
“So I think that’s a kind of competition on which every government, I think, has to position itself on what they want the most. But the answer to that question from the Australian government has been quite clear.
“Clearly one of the lessons that is emerging from the Australian reshaping of our smelters portfolio is that smelters will play a bigger and bigger role in the energy markets in which they operate,” he adds.
“We used to see smelters as a kind of passive off-taker of one energy contract. Now it’s no longer that.
“When you think about a smelter like Boyne, it will have to manage and optimise the complex energy solution: off-taking from the different PPAs, loading the batteries, using the batteries to feed the smelter, using the batteries to source from the network, or to sell into the network.
“In almost every contract we have in the (Asia Pacific) region, we are providing services to the grid in terms of how can we flex a little bit during a little while the energy consumption of the smelter for peak management without losing too much production.
“I would say, smelters have to face the reality that they are a big player in the energy market where they operate, build the capability that goes with it, and stretch the envelope of the services they can provide – and obviously get remunerated for it, which brings down the cost of electricity.
“So there is a win-win solution somewhere in Australia, but not only in Australia, that’s kind of developing.”
See also: Sustainable smelting at Tomago Aluminium
Emissions set to dip 0.5% this year
There are three pieces of good news:
From Carbon Brief
- Total emissions will most likely fall this year, even though it's not a recession or COVID year.
- The growth in fossil fuel emissions fell from 1.7% p.a. in the decade 2006-2015 to 0.3% per year in 2016-2025. Progress, but not enough. However, I am confident that fossil fuel emissions will actually fall over this next decade as transport is electrified and renewables continue to gain market share.
- China's emissions are likely to fall 0.9% this year, after two years of low growth. China is responsible for 32% of global emissions. I believe China's emissions have prolly peaked, though they won't start falling fast for another few years.
However, this is still not fast enough. We need to cut emissions by 3% per annum to avoid passing the 2 degree above pre-industrial temperatures threshold.
I also suspect emissions won't rise next year, because it will be a recession/low growth year for most of the world.
From Carbon Brief
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels and cement are projected to fall by around 0.4% in 2026 to 38.2bn tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2), according to new figures from the Global Carbon Project.
The 21st edition of the annual “global carbon budget” report, published today, says that this small decline is largely due to a 1.9% drop in emissions from oil and the energy shock triggered by the Iran conflict and the closure of the strait of Hormuz.
Emissions from coal continue to increase slightly.
The Global Carbon Project’s projections for fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions in 2026 are preliminary, with a range that spans a fall of -1.5% to a rise of +0.6%.
This means a small increase in emissions can not be ruled out.
Emissions from land-use change, such as deforestation, are projected to rise in 2026.
This is primarily driven by peat fires and forest degradation in south-east Asia and is linked to the development of a strong El Niño event this year.
As a result, total CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and land use are projected to reach a record high of 43.3GtCO2 in 2026 – marginally above 42.8GtCO2 in 2025 [ + 1.1%].
Research published alongside the report by the same team in Nature Climate Change finds that the growth in solar, wind and electric vehicles (EVs) now offsets around two-thirds of the emissions that would otherwise come from rising energy demand.
However, the deployment of these technologies is not yet enough to push global emissions into a sustained decline, according to the study.
The 2026 global carbon budget report also estimates that:
- Fossil emissions are projected to fall in China (-0.9%), the US (-1.3%) and the EU (-1.5%) in 2026, but rise by 4.4% in India.
- Oil emissions are projected to fall in every major region, with the largest drop in China (-4.6%).
- Land-use emissions averaged 4.9GtCO2 per year over 2016-25, around 21% lower than the decade before.
- Total CO2 emissions (fossil and land-use) grew by an average 0.3% per year over the past decade (2016-25), compared with 1.7% per year over the decade before.
- The remaining carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5C is 150GtCO2, or less than four years of current emissions.
- The land sink in 2025 was the highest on record, rebounding after being weakened during the 2023-24 El Niño. The current El Niño is expected to weaken the land sink in 2027.
- The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is set to reach 427.7 parts per million (ppm) in 2026, 54% above pre-industrial levels.
(For more on previous editions of the Global Carbon Project’s annual report, see Carbon Brief’s coverage in 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022.)
Fibre supplement reduces knee pain
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| Image credits: ZME Science |
From ZME Science
A daily dose of dietary fiber did something that six weeks of physiotherapy couldn’t. It improved handgrip strength in people with knee arthritis. It also eased knee pain and changed how participants responded to painful sensations, hinting at a strange connection between our gut and joints.
In a six-week clinical trial, researchers at the University of Nottingham tested whether a prebiotic fiber called inulin could help people with knee osteoarthritis. The supplement reduced pain, but its effects differed from those of physiotherapy in ways that caught the researchers’ attention.
Managing knee arthritis involves more than strengthening the muscles around the joint. Sometimes, a simple supplement consumed through the digestive system could affect muscle strength and pain sensitivity.
“This exciting preliminary research highlights how diet and physiotherapy can act in different ways to have benefits for people with arthritis,” said Lucy Donaldson, director of research at Arthritis UK, who wasn’t involved in the trial study.Why scientists looked beyond the knee for arthritis relief
Knee osteoarthritis develops when cartilage and other tissues within the joint gradually break down. Cartilage normally cushions the ends of bones, allowing them to move smoothly against each other.
As these tissues deteriorate, people can experience persistent pain, stiffness, swelling, and difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
Exercise and physical therapy help strengthen the muscles supporting the knee and maintain mobility. However, following an exercise routine can be challenging when movement itself is painful. Painkillers, despite the relief, come with their own problems.
Moreover, the severity of arthritis pain does not always match the amount of damage visible in the joint because the nervous system also influences how strongly people experience pain.
This has encouraged researchers to investigate the gut microbiome, the vast community of microorganisms living in our digestive system. These microbes help regulate inflammation and produce chemicals that can influence pain.
The Nottingham researchers particularly wanted to know whether changing the activity of gut bacteria could offer another way to manage osteoarthritis symptoms.Putting 20 grams of fiber to the test
The team conducted a randomized controlled trial called INSPIRE. Of the 136 adults with knee osteoarthritis who were randomized, 117 completed the six-week trial. Participants had an average age of approximately 68 years, and 58 percent were women.
The researchers divided them into four groups. One received 20 grams [that's 3 tablespoons] of inulin daily, another followed a digitally supported physiotherapy exercise program, a third received both treatments, and the fourth took maltodextrin, a starch used as a placebo.
Inulin is a naturally occurring dietary fiber found in foods such as chicory root, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, and garlic. Unlike ordinary digestible carbohydrates, inulin passes through the small intestine largely intact. When it reaches the large intestine, beneficial bacteria ferment it, producing compounds called short-chain fatty acids.
One of these compounds, butyrate, helps maintain the intestinal lining and can influence inflammation and biological pathways involved in pain. This makes inulin a prebiotic. Rather than introducing new bacteria into the digestive system, it provides food for bacteria already living there.
Over six weeks, the researchers assessed participants’ knee pain, sensitivity to painful pressure, grip strength, and physical performance, including their ability to rise from a chair and move around.
They also examined biological markers, including short-chain fatty acids and a gut hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).Fiber and physiotherapy helped in different ways
Both inulin and physiotherapy reduced knee pain. For instance, compared with placebo, inulin was associated with a 1.11-point reduction in pain on a 10-point scale, while physiotherapy produced a 1.55-point reduction. Both differences were statistically significant, although the study did not establish that one treatment was superior.
However, inulin also improved grip strength by an average of 4.62 kilograms compared with placebo and reduced sensitivity to pressure and repeated painful stimulation, benefits not observed with physiotherapy alone.
“This study raises the exciting possibility that a simple dietary change — adding a fiber supplement to your breakfast or yogurt — could meaningfully reduce pain and improve physical function,” Afroditi Kouraki, lead researcher and a research fellow, said.
Physiotherapy, meanwhile, improved performance in tests measuring how quickly participants could stand, walk, and sit down, and how many times they could rise from a chair in 30 seconds. Inulin did not produce these improvements.
The combination also reduced pain, but researchers could not establish whether using both treatments together offered an extra benefit.
Another difference emerged in treatment adherence. Only 3.6 percent of participants in groups without physiotherapy dropped out, compared with 21 percent of those assigned to groups involving physiotherapy.
Taking a daily supplement may be easier for some patients to maintain than following a structured exercise program.
“Our findings suggest that targeting gut health with a prebiotic supplement is a safe, well-tolerated, and effective way to reduce pain in people with knee osteoarthritis. The very low dropout rate compared to the exercise group is also encouraging from a public health perspective — people were able to fit this supplement easily into their daily lives,” Kouraki added.A gut hormone gives an unexpected clue
Participants receiving inulin showed increased levels of butyrate and GLP-1, a hormone produced in the gut that helps regulate blood sugar and appetite. [This suggests that eating inulin won't just fill you up; it will also reduce your appetite via GLP-1.]
GLP-1 is widely known because diabetes and weight loss medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy act on its biological pathway. However, inulin is not a GLP-1 drug. Instead, it may influence the body’s natural hormone production through changes in gut microbial activity.
The researchers found an association between higher GLP-1 levels and better grip strength, suggesting a possible connection between gut bacteria, hormone signaling, and muscle performance.
“The link we observed between GLP-1 and grip strength is particularly intriguing and points to a broader gut-muscle-pain axis that warrants further investigation. This could have implications not just for osteoarthritis, but for understanding how gut health influences aging and physical resilience more broadly,” Ana Valdes, one of the study authors, and a professor of Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology, said.Could fiber become another tool against arthritis pain?
Overall, fiber could be a relatively inexpensive and accessible addition to existing arthritis treatments.
However, the trial was relatively small and lasted only six weeks. It remains unclear whether the improvements persist over time, which patients benefit most, or precisely how gut bacteria influence pain and muscle strength.
Although inulin was generally well tolerated, 23 of the 50 participants who completed an inulin-containing treatment reported minor digestive problems, including gas and bloating. [Gas and bloating is a common result of eating more fibre when you are not used to it. Start with small amounts and gradually increase them.] These symptoms did not cause anyone to withdraw.
Since more participants dropped out of the physiotherapy groups, the researchers changed how new participants were assigned, introducing some uncertainty into the results.
Larger, longer trials will be needed to confirm the benefits and determine whether changes in butyrate and GLP-1 actually drive the improvements.
The study is published in the journal Nutrients.
I will try inulin, as I am trying to lose weight and I also have sore knees. I'll let you know the results in 6 weeks! I'm sure inulin is harmless, but as ever talk it over with your doctor.
EVs saving 1.2 million barrels of oil a day
From T & E (Transport & Environment)
COP31: EVs are saving the world five times more oil than in 2021.
BEVs now displace 1.2 million barrels of oil a day, compared to 215,000 in 2021. Five years on from COP26 [Glasgow], where leaders pledged to end the era of fossil fuel vehicles by 2040, oil savings from EVs globally are up fivefold.
As electrification takes centre stage at this year’s COP, new T&E analysis shows that current policies put battery electric cars on track to displace roughly 5.8 million barrels of oil a day by 2034. BEVs represent just 4.2% of the global fleet, but now account for 25% of all new car sales worldwide – up 6.6% from five years ago.
Battery electric trucks are at 1% but in some countries exceed 50% of new sales.
Electric buses now make up 5% of the global fleet
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