Victoria left to go it alone on gas ban to new homes

afr.com:

Victoria will go it alone on its ban of natural gas in new homes from next year, with other state governments rejecting the move on Monday.

As experts continued to debate whether the ban will push up Victoria’s carbon emissions because of an increase in brown coal generation, some states said they would use gas connections to blend in hydrogen as part of plans to reduce emissions.

But this will only have a limited potential, as current gas infrastructure can only cope with a 13 per cent blend of hydrogen in natural gas.

NSW Premier Chris Minns on Monday: “I don’t need another complication or another policy change, when the challenges ahead of us are so serious.” Nick Moir

NSW Premier Chris Minns shot down the prospect of following Victoria’s gas ban in new homes from next year, saying it was “another complication” his government did not need.

“We’re facing a situation where we need gas for industry. We’ve also got baseload power that’s coming off in the next few years and not enough renewables coming into the system,” Mr Minns told Sydney radio station 2GB.

“So, I don’t need another complication or another policy change, when the challenges ahead of us are so serious.”

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas also ruled out a gas ban for the moment.

Instead, he said SA would pursue ways of stepping up decarbonisation of the gas network through its hydrogen policies, in part through trials under way with Australian Gas Networks where hydrogen was being blended in with natural gas in a trial plant in the southern Adelaide suburb of Tonsley Park.

“We think there’s potential for that to be expanded,” Mr Malinauskas said.

“Decarbonisation of the gas network is another way of achieving the right outcome in terms of climate