Energy Insiders: Australia’s diesel dependence is not normal

A podcast episode has highlighted Australia's unusually high dependence on diesel, featuring analysis from Amandine Denis-Ryan of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The episode also covered the Safeguard Mechanism, green steel technology, and other energy policy matters. The framing suggests this diesel reliance is abnormal and problematic, though specific figures and context for the diesel dependency claim are not detailed in the available excerpt.

Where this fits

Australia's diesel dependence is a reliability and sovereignty problem that the energy transition is not addressing. Diesel props up grid stability when renewables fail to deliver, and when industrial processes cannot yet run on electricity. A renewables-only transition assumes rapid electrification of heavy transport and mining, but the article's premise, that Australia's diesel use is abnormally high, signals that the transition is not moving fast enough or far enough to replace that fuel. The real alternative to diesel in heavy industry and grid firming is not a faster sprint to electrification; it is firm, dispatchable power. Nuclear can replace both diesel and gas while running 24/7 at high capacity factor, but remains prohibited by law.

What it means

Australia is locking in medium-term diesel dependence while betting on electrification that has not yet materialized. This creates a dual exposure: to fossil fuel price volatility and supply chain risk (diesel markets are global and vulnerable to geopolitical shock), and to the slower-than-hoped pace of technology rollout in sectors like mining and transport. The grid and industry will burn diesel as long as firm alternatives, whether gas or nuclear, are the only options. Until Australia legalizes nuclear or accepts that its energy transition will rest on gas firming for decades, diesel will remain a structural feature, not a temporary crutch.