MasterChef’s Green Gas Is Not Good, M’Kay?

MasterChef season 16 is under fire for greenwashing. The ABC ran a bit of a hit piece, well, not really a hit piece – well, kind of – attacking MasterChef’s green gas. “Why MasterChef is being criticised over a sponsorship deal” – we’ll get to that soon. Note, MasterChef is filmed in Australia’s most left-leaning state of Victoria where traditional flame-top cooking is under threat. As of January 2024, the Victorian government has banned all gas connections to new homes and government buildings. It doesn’t matter if you like cooking with gas, the Government will not allow you.

This year’s season of MasterChef is sponsored by a whole bunch of companies, but one that stands out, and one that the ABC chose to focus its piece on, is Renewable Gas – Australian Gas Networks (AGN), an Australian energy company that operates gas transmission pipelines across many parts of Australia. Specifically, they’re promoting the use of hydrogen, the universe’s most abundant element, which can be produced from water using electricity, and when burned, it only produces water vapour and heat, so it’s a perfectly clean product. The ABC made sure to include this picture, though, warning that hydrogen gas is highly flammable, but isn’t all cooking gas flammable? If it wasn’t, then surely you couldn’t use it to cook!

The MasterChef contestants are also using biomethane, which is captured from decomposing waste products, and can be used interchangeably with natural gas.

But despite the green credentials of the gas products being used, Victoria’s Allan Government are not having a bar of it. Gas is bad, m’kay? How can we trust a fossil fuel company? The gas ban forges ahead! “Allan government steps up war on gas”, “Victoria bans gas rebates and incentives for homes as shift to all-electric gathers pace”. Basically, the Victorian Government have made it illegal for companies to offer cash incentives or rebates to households that install new gas appliances, or connect to the gas network, it doesn’t matter how green the gas is that you plan to use.

It’s funny, if a whole bunch of solar panels are creating hydrogen from water using electrolysis, then from a pragmatic approach, shouldn’t we allow it? Why is the Victorian Government taking a hard line on this and just outlawing gas completely? It’s like they don’t even want people to have a chance to use a green gas option. Presumably in the future, gas production technology will become better, but if the government don’t allow infrastructure to be installed into new homes, well they’ve just destroyed a realistic option, they’ve burnt a metaphorical bridge. It’s like they don’t want to admit that there’s a possibility here. “Green hydrogen push as industry claims gas ban ‘doesn’t make sense’”. Look, I don’t work for a gas company, and I’m indifferent when it comes to using gas – I could take it or leave it – but surely if you can make a green option, allow it for crying out loud!

So why are they kicking up a stink over this MasterChef green gas promotion? What is their reasoning? Is it just a power trip?

The sponsorship deal is being slammed by the Grattan Institute think tank. Alison Reeve, the Climate Change and Energy Deputy Program Director, said that, “It was disappointing that the show was choosing to promote low-emission gas. MasterChef is a pretty high-profile show, so I understand why the gas industry would be eager to get their point of view onto it. It's sort of disappointing that MasterChef haven't realised what the direction of travel here is and realise what the reality is for households, and taken the opportunity to showcase something like induction cooking, which is going to be a much bigger part of people's futures. It's cleaner and cheaper for people. This is a tactic utilised by the gas industry to keep pushing the use of its infrastructure, including gas pipes. This is really a process of trying to protect those assets for as long as they possibly can. They're trying to hang on as long as possible. To make hydrogen cheap, you need to make electricity very, very, very cheap, because electricity is used to make hydrogen. And the thing is, that when electricity gets really cheap, sure your hydrogen gets cheaper, but that means the case for moving to electricity becomes even more compelling.”

Just one more thing regarding the new MasterChef season. It was about one of the judges – renowned chef Jamie Oliver. When the guest judge walked into the room for the first time, he was met with screaming contestants, as well as some who were crying. It was completely over the top. It was as if he had somehow saved their lives. I’ve never like gushing over celebrities.

Anyway, you get the idea – Green gas is not good for cooking, m’kay?

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Allégro by Emmit Fenn