Batteries can be part of the fight against climate change - if we do these five things

At the COP23 climate meeting, electric shuttles moved delegates across town, showcasing sustainable energy and green technology. But for farmer Zhang Tuling, green technology means dusty air and stunted crops.

It takes nine years for an electric car to be greener than a diesel car, on average.

Mr Zhang lives near a large mine in northern China that extracts a key ingredient for batteries: natural graphite. He can testify to the hidden social and environmental toll of lithium-ion batteries - the very devices that enable renewable energy storage solutions, electric vehicles and mobile power.

The battery market is anticipated to be worth $100 billion by 2025. By 2040, batteries storing solar power for businesses and households will account for 57% of the world’s energy storage capacity.

Read the World Economic Forum story - “Batteries can be part of the fight against climate change - if we do these five things.”

(Privately owned and individually operated vehicles are the issue and the human community will have little or no impact on reducing its impact of climate change, at least from a transport point of view, until were can rid ourselves of the infrastructure that ensures the sustenance of a privately owned and individually operated transport system - we need a publicly owned and operated transport system that answers our private needs - Robert McLean)

Clean energy scorecard puts Australia 15th in the world

Australia ranks equal 15th overall in a new World Bank scorecard on sustainable energy. 

We are tied with five other countries in the tail-end group of wealthy OECD countries – behind Canada and the United States and just one place ahead of China.

Called the Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE), the initiative provides benchmarks to evaluate clean energy progress, and insights and policy guidance for Australia and other countries.

RISE rates country performance in three areas - renewable energy, energy efficiency, and access to modern energy (excluding advanced countries), using 27 indicators and 80 sub-indicators. These include things like legal frameworks, building codes, and government incentives and policies. The results of the individual indicators are turned into an overall score.

The majority of wealthy countries score well in the scorecard. But when you drill down into the individual areas, the story becomes more complex. 

The report notes that “about half the countries with more appropriate policy environments for sustainable energy are emerging economies,” for example.

Read the thoughts of a Senior Industry Fellow, from RMIT University, Alan Pears, on The Conversation - “Clean energy scorecard puts Australia 15th in the world.”

Elon Musk: 'We need a revolt against the fossil fuel industry'

‘We need to fight the propaganda of the
 fossil fuel industry,’ says Elon Musk.

Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk has accused Tesla’s chief executive of bowing to the “unrelenting and enormous” lobbying power of the fossil fuel industry, warning that a global “revolt” may be needed to accelerate the transition to more sustainable energy and transport systems.

Speaking at the World Energy Innovation Forum at the Tesla Factory in California on Wednesday, Musk claimed that traditional vehicles and energy sources will continue to hold a competitive edge against greener alternatives due to the vast amounts of subsidies they receive.

The solution to this energy dilemma, Musk says, is to introduce a price on carbon by defining a tax rate on greenhouse gas emissions or the carbon content of fossil fuels.

Read The Guardian story - “Elon Musk: 'We need a revolt against the fossil fuel industry'.”

Young professor hoped cut the 'emissions twaddle' about climate change

Prof Sir David MacKay
- his aim was cut the
"emissions of twaddle"
about climate change.

Professor Sir David MacKay, who has died aged 48, was a Cambridge University physicist who set out to cut the "emissions of twaddle" by applying the laws of physics and mathematics to the debate on sustainable energy.

His book, Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air (2009), provided a user-friendly guide to how much energy we consume in our daily lives, the lifestyle changes that would substantially reduce that total, and which kinds of technology would make a difference.

Amusingly written, it was acclaimed as a breath of fresh air in the often self-righteous and highly charged atmosphere surrounding the debate about climate change, and led to his appointment in 2009 for a five-year term as chief scientific adviser to the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Read David Mackay’s obituary in today’s Melbourne Age -“Scientists cut the 'emissions of twaddle' about climate change.”

Great news on wind power for Canberra

Mark Diesendorf illustrates conclusively that renewable energy can power life in Australia.

The University of New South Wales Dr Diesendorf is known for promoting and encouraging the use of renewable energy, particularly in industry, and has worked with and researched thoroughly the idea of integrating wind power into electricity grids.

He would be delighted to read the story in The Canberra Times of March 12 this year headed: “Wind energy to power 80,000 Canberra homes”.

Dr Diesnedorf, who late last year published the book: “Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate Change” is an enthusiast of any energy that is not reliant on fossil fuels.

The ACT Government plans for see nearly a quarter of the city’s energy needs answered from renewable sources by 2020.