Australia has again underlined its strategic role in global energy supply with the release of the latest edition of the Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources (AECR) report by Geoscience Australia. This comprehensive review captures the state of the nation’s energy-commodity resources and their role in a world rapidly shifting toward lower-carbon pathways.
While much of the global energy discourse emphasises renewables, the AECR 2025 edition reveals that Australia’s strength continues to lie in the depth of its non-renewable energy stocks – and the emerging low-carbon technologies that are set to shape its next chapter.
The new edition of the publication assesses data up to the end of 2023, set against a backdrop of accelerating decarbonisation, technological innovation, evolving energy-demand and trade patterns.
For decades, the country’s fossil-fuel and nuclear-adjacent resources have powered not just domestic prosperity but fed global growth. The AECR shows that in 2023, Australia’s energy exports were more than seven times its imports – and that some 80 per cent of the energy the country produces will be exported overseas.
The report makes it clear there this is no time for complacency in Australia’s transition. The document highlights that the nation is embracing new opportunities in carbon-capture and storage (CCS) and the hydrogen economy, particularly throughout 2024.
Although the total energy-resource base shows a modest decline, productivity is increasing.
Impressively, Australia is generating greater economic value from every unit of energy it consumes. At the same time, new growth pathways are emerging – from the accelerating momentum of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to government-backed incentives driving the hydrogen sector.
And while traditional resources like oil and coal face gradual decline, a wave of clean-energy projects and innovations is creating new opportunities to strengthen Australia’s energy security.
The AECR 2025 digital publication is available for download via the Geoscience Australia website.