Sydney bakes as heatwave sets in, with no end in sight beyond New Year's Eve

Roads are melting, beaches are full to bursting and air conditioners are getting a serious end-of-year workout as residents in Sydney and across the state swelter through heatwave conditions, with no end in sight until 2019.

Swimmers jump off the rocks at Neilson Park to beat the heat.CREDIT:

The "severe" to "extreme" heatwave that settled in Sydney on Thursday is set to continue "for the foreseeable future", the weather bureau warned, even with a possible storm on the way for New Year's Eve.

Read the story from The Sydney Morning Herald by Jenny Noyes - “Sydney bakes as heatwave sets in, with no end in sight beyond New Year's Eve.”

New power generation: Home battery sharing could build virtual public utilities

It was one of the disasters of recent energy policy: the boom in sales of air conditioners without taking into account the impact their mass sale would have in forcing up power prices for all.

The mass adoption of battery storage systems
poses risks for those who don't install them.

Those without air conditioners have had thousands of dollars added to their electricity bill to pay for the network upgrades to cope with air conditioners, since much of the extra "poles and wires" are used only a few hours a year, when the weather is very hot or very cold.

Now, mass adoption of battery storage systems poses the same risk for those who don't install them. Their adoption will allow households to slash their use of the grid which will leave fewer users faced with higher bills to maintain the network.

Read Brian Robins story in today’s Melbourne Age - “New power generation: Home battery sharing could build virtual public utilities.”

Our bid to cool our homes, and workplaces, worsens the initial problem

F

Air conditioners are nearly as plentiful
 in India as people.

rom Paris to Karachi, Seattle to Tokyo, 2015 has brought countries across the globe record-breaking temperatures. In addition to leading to wildfires, droughts, and thousands of premature deaths, it also has brought increasing demand for electricity to run air conditioning, leading to disruptive blackouts and reduced energy for other uses.

Currently one in five people on the planet lack access to electricity. To ensure affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (UN Sustainable Development Goal 7) it is critical to expand renewables and other climate-friendly energy. The good news is that half of all new energy generated last year was from renewables.

Read the Huffington Post blog - “Giving the Cold Shoulder to Wasteful Air Conditioners”.