---
title: AGL blowing coal smoke and bleeding cash
description: AGL has posted a more than $2 billion loss as the rise of renewable energy shakes up the market and plunders the profit margins of coal power producers
---

[The Canopy](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy)

# [AGL blowing coal smoke and bleeding cash](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/agl-blowing-coal-smoke-and-bleeding-cash)

 Written by [Greenpeace Australia Pacific](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/author/greenpeace-australia-pacific) | Thursday, 12 August 2021

In today’s news, Australia’s biggest climate polluter, AGL, has posted a more than $2 billion loss as the rise of renewable energy shakes up the market and plunders the profit margins of coal power producers. And the reality may be finally sinking in at AGL with the embattled company’s CEO calling for a plan for the shutdown of the Australia’s coal-fired power stations

And regional authorities in Sicily have recorded temperatures of 48.8 degrees Celsius, which if confirmed would be a new Italian and European record. 

[AGL lost $2 billion this year, as its refusal to go renewable costs it dearly](https://www.businessinsider.com.au/agl-coal-plants-transition-shares)

One of the country’s largest energy providers has backed itself into a corner, as it continues to bleed cash.

# [AGL CEO calls for coal power shutdown plan](https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/agl-ceo-calls-for-coal-power-shutdown-plan-20210812-p58i74)

The head of embattled AGL Energy has called for a co-ordinated long-term plan for the shutdown of the country’s coal-fired power stations to avoid price shocks for consumers and blackouts on the journey to net zero emissions.

[‘Energy chaos’: Wind and solar industry facing roadblocks in Australia](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.brisbanetimes.com.au%2Fenvironment%2Fclimate-change%2Fenergy-chaos-wind-and-solar-industry-facing-roadblocks-in-australia-20210812-p58i6j.html&uId=5a778e7a00aa2026a265262c&cId=5a71496272d9dc241933e61d&contextId=61157e28964f820d919b1ed2&dId=2nxJqPpm_PbvQ1h4UcngTODshcg&op=open&sentiment=N&isHosted=false&id=3628643&name=Coal%20(Print%20and%20Online)&type=search&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5icmlzYmFuZXRpbWVzLmNvbS5hdSJ9.Q8Ey-mPNLMwLmFbh44eEcZ0Fhfq1qwkEYqP28x62XOaAoUdJdxVqRmR40OYw1PV5rKtaXnk0t55qzLKAWeN7vA&s=mail-digest)

Australia’s charge into large-scale wind and solar is faltering, with investment in new projects drying up and construction jobs in the industry diving.

# [If we don’t have a climate policy, the world will give us one](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Fnational%2Fif-we-don-t-have-a-climate-policy-the-world-will-give-us-one-20210812-p58i0z.html&uId=5a778e7a00aa2026a265262c&cId=5a71496272d9dc241933e61d&contextId=61157e28964f820d919b1ed2&dId=Q-l2WskBuyleKRdXQrF2R0RD13Y&op=open&sentiment=N&isHosted=false&id=4170765&name=Net%20Zero%20Emissions&type=search&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1In0.dLrErlrnr5ygrw6r9BmLnD1I0aNYVH93_YJo5EofLTHngNTsac5xMwvusd5MeI2-ZEAd-GcYmYdqdbniemYuyQ&s=mail-digest)

This week’s IPCC report identified just how quickly climate change was moving and brought home a crushing reality: that however bad we think COVID is, the ravages of climate change will be much worse. But that doesn’t mean the climate question elicited anything approaching a new political response.

[Punch in the guts: the major crisis causing anxiety among Australians](https://au.news.yahoo.com/took-me-by-surprise-how-aussies-are-managing-climate-anxiety-061956313.html)

Climate anxiety has been felt by many this week after a UN report found the world is facing longer droughts, and more severe floods and bushfires.

[Italy may have recorded Europe's hottest temperature ever with Sicily's 48.8C scorcher](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-12/sicily-record-heat-48-8-degees-celsius-europe/100370738)

Regional authorities in Sicily have recorded temperatures of 48.8 degrees Celsius, which if confirmed would be a new Italian and European record. 

# [Collar camera captures world-first day in life of a dingo on Queensland's K'gari Fraser Island](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-13/collar-camera-captures-day-in-the-life-of-fraser-sland-dingo/100372088)

# It's never-before-seen footage in the perspective of a dingo, as the wild animal hunts prey and an insight into how it traverses hundreds of kilometres of the sandy landscape of K'gari (Fraser Island). 

[View full post](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/agl-blowing-coal-smoke-and-bleeding-cash)

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