Electric cars would save lives and cut costs, but Australians 'risk being left behind’

Deaths from air pollution would be prevented and the Morrison government would meet its pledge to make electricity more reliable and affordable if more Australians drove electric cars, but a lack of political will is holding back the benefits.

It is widely acknowledged that electric vehicles improve
 air quality, help address climate change, boost public
 health and are cheaper to run than conventional vehicles.

That is the widespread view expressed to a Senate probe into electric vehicles in Australia. Electric car maker Tesla, headed by controversial entrepreneur Elon Musk, is among those who assert that "government leadership" is the main barrier to increasing electric vehicle uptake in Australia, while the government’s own infrastructure adviser warned that Australians "risk being left behind" in the global transition.

Read the story from The Age by Nicole Hasham - “Electric cars would save lives and cut costs, but Australians 'risk being left behind’.”

Clean & Reliable Power: Roadmap to a Renewable Future

The Climate Council has released a roadmap outlining how Australia can cut its rising greenhouse gas pollution levels, while continuing the transition to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy and storage technology.

The ‘Clean & Reliable Power: Roadmap To A Renewable Future’ report features 12 key policy principles for any national energy and climate policy framework, including calls for the rollout of a minimum 50-70% renewable energy target across Australia by 2030.

The ‘Roadmap To A Renewable Future’ framework recommends Australia continues to transition away from its ageing, polluting and inefficient coal and gas fleet and encourage investment in a new clean power supply. The report calls for pollution targets which can be ratcheted up along with transparent tracking and reporting of carbon pollution levels.

Read the Climate Council story by Andrew Stock - “Clean & Reliable Power: Roadmap to a Renewable Future.”

Chief scientist Alan Finkel hits back at electric car doubters

Affordable electric vehicles that can drive up to 600 kilometres on a single charge will help bring a motoring revolution to Australia, predicts Chief Scientist Alan Finkel, in an intervention that defies naysayers of the technology.

In praise of the transport revolution: Chief Scientist Alan Finkel with an electric car. 

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Dr Finkel said the onus was on the federal government to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, but predicted electric cars “will be a significant element” of policies considered.

Read Nicole Hasham’s story in The Age - “Chief scientist Alan Finkel hits back at electric car doubters.”

(I repeat, personally owned privately operated cars, electric or otherwise, should not be considered a part of what is needed in an energy restrained future as a method of moving people about. We need, rather, a sophisticated public transit system, which we can build just as soon as we break our addiction to the profit motive and privatisation - Robert McLean) 

Think twice before going 'off the grid'

Australia is currently experiencing soaring power costs that are dramatically intersecting with the increasing availability of affordable and efficient renewable energy, such as solar panels and battery storage units.

The Solar Settlement, a sustainable housing community project in Freiburg, Germany. 

So why wouldn’t it seem attractive, even liberating, to take your home and yourself “off the grid”?

You could draw your electricity from your roof via an inexhaustible sun, while saving dollars and escaping gouging corporate providers. At the same time, you’d be doing your bit for the environment.

Perhaps, as a step further, you could take a small community of like-minded people with you.

Certainly, Australians are embracing solar.

Read the Pursuit piece by Gary Tippett from the University of Melbourne “Think twice before going 'off the grid'.”

The solar panel and battery revolution: how will your state measure up?

A new roadmap for Australia’s electricity networks outlines a national plan to keep the lights on, make sure bills are affordable, and decarbonise our electricity industry by mid-century.

Some states are poised for a 500% growth
in rooftop solar panels by 2030. 

The plan, by CSIRO and Energy Networks Australia, sets out measures that could save households A$414 a year on average, by generating their own electricity through “distributed” technologies such as solar panels and batteries. It envisages that Australia could save a total of A$101 billion by 2050, while also bringing net greenhouse emissions to zero.

As described in an earlier draft report last December, Australia’s electricity networks can be transformed to give millions of customers more choice and control over their energy, while also meeting Australia’s international climate change commitments.

The roadmap calls for a coordinated approach, but how will that play out in practice?

Read the piece on The Conversation by the Chief economist with CSIRO energy, Paul Graham - ”The solar panel and battery revolution: how will your state measure up?”

Morocco’s clean energy, clear advantage: lessons on energy access

Clean energy lessons from Morocco.

Africa has tremendous energy resources, yet 600 million people across the continent lack energy access. We take a look at clean energy in Morocco for lessons on reducing energy poverty in Africa.

Providing reliable, affordable, and sustainable access to energy has become a core focus of the international development community and is the seventh goal of the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

‘Roughly 1.2 billion people, or 17 percent of the global population, are energy poor’

Roughly 1.2 billion people, or 17 percent of the global population, are energy poor, meaning that they have no access to electricity. Meanwhile, more than 2.7 billion people, primarily in developing Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, rely on fuelwood and other traditional biomass sources for cooking.

Morocco’s experience with solar power offers key lessons for policymakers elsewhere in Africa who are seeking a robust pathway for addressing energy access challenges.

Read the WorldWatch Institute story - “Morocco’s clean energy, clear advantage: lessons on energy access.”

Print flexible solar cells

Conventional silicon solar cells account for
 more than 90% of global production,
yet making them uses energy equivalent
 to about 10% of their lifetime output.

The future of solar energy depends on a union of new and old technologies. If photovoltaic (PV) devices that turn light into electricity could be mass produced with printing presses, as if they were newspapers or banknotes, they could be affordable and ubiquitous.

Conventional, silicon-based, solar panels are rigid and bulky. Small, thin and flexible PV devices on films are already being made that are lightweight and translucent. These use little material and can generate electricity in low light, even indoors. Integrating them into phones and watches, as well as walls and windows, would transform the world's energy generation, reduce pollution and mitigate climate change.

Yet flexible solar panels face several hurdles. Some are based on harmful substances such as heavy metals, and their manufacture uses hazardous solvents. Others are quick to degrade and inefficient at converting light into electricity. Printers used in the publishing, computing and electronics industries struggle to print PV materials that need to be built with nanometre precision over many square metres. For all these reasons, printable solar cells are yet to find a foothold in electricity markets.

Read the Nature story - “Print flexible solar cells.”

Making renewable energy available to low-income people

S

witching to higher cost renewable energy isn't always an option for people on low incomes — but that doesn't mean they wouldn't like to use more green power in their homes.

Listen as Fran Kelly, the Breakfast host on Radio National discusses “Making renewable energy more affordable.”