A recent report from Rewiring Aotearoa has shown the rising cost of petrol and gas in New Zealand now means electric homes and EVs are more affordable than fossil fuel alternatives. Even accounting for higher upfront costs, and the interest you pay if you need to borrow to buy these appliances, the report shows a combination of EVs and electric appliances are cheaper over the lifetime of the machines. The average home that uses gas and petrol vehicles could save around NZ$1500 per year at curren...
Apr 21, 2024•42 min
The federal government recognises electrification and energy efficiency can save householders money, make our houses more comfortable to live in, and reduce emissions. But some energy experts say their National Energy Performance Strategy (NEPS) lacks the details on regulatory reform, financial support, and urgency, that can make it happen. They want less planning, and more doing. Senator Jennifer McAllister, the Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, discusses the NEPS and what the g...
Apr 14, 2024•36 min
While suspicion and resistance to big renewable developments is growing in some regional areas, local community energy projects around the country not only provide additional renewable energy to the grid, they enable communities to feel involved and directly benefit from the renewable energy transition. Whereas large scale renewable projects are invariably focused on industry needs, community projects are more likely to win hearts and minds for the energy transition because they focus on the nee...
Apr 08, 2024•34 min
Australia is currently seeing a massive increase in hot water heat pump installations, largely fuelled by government incentives and rebates. But concerns are growing that Australia is at risk of being flooded by cheap, unreliable products, installed by inexperienced operators, and we could become a dumping ground for heat pumps that do little to reduce climate change, or the cost of living. That's because we don't yet have minimum energy performance standards for hot water heat pumps. Chris Tayl...
Mar 28, 2024•41 min
Even those of us who want to electrify our homes and cars can’t always do so because of the high upfront cost of buying efficient electric machines. Rewiring Australia has come up with a plan to help every Australian household – regardless of income – fully electrify. They're recommending the Federal Government provide low-cost Government loans for all Australian residences to install solar panels, batteries, efficient electric appliances, and an EV, which could save households up to $5,000 annu...
Mar 24, 2024•33 min
In the Northern Territory remote First Nations communities have to battle power outages, a reliance on diesel, and mandatory prepaid metres for their electricity that are regularly disconnected when residents don't have the money to top up their power cards. Without access to functional, reliable and affordable power, the basics for a healthy home and community just don't exist. Now, a small, grassroots, indigenous led community development and capacity building organisation, Original Power, is ...
Mar 18, 2024•55 min
Embedded networks allow for the bulk purchase of energy – electricity, gas, or water - from an energy retailer usually at a discount. The number of embedded networks are growing rapidly and being installed in apartment blocks, caravan parks, retirement villages, and also for commercial tenants in shopping centres. But Professor of Law at Macquarie University, Cathy Sherry, says many owners and tenants are getting locked into an embedded network and forced to pay well above ordinary retail rates ...
Mar 11, 2024•38 min
Australia has around 3.7 million solar rooftop systems but only a small fraction of them, about 180,000, also have a battery. Electricity networks have been reducing the feed-in tariffs they pay solar owners in recent years and will soon start charging solar owners for feeding their excess solar into the grid during the day. But they'll pay owners to feed-in during the evening when demand for power is greater. Independent sustainable energy advisor, Norman Koslowski, from Sky High Energy Control...
Mar 03, 2024•33 min
Sarah Aubrey lived in her federation house in the inner west of Sydney for 12 years before she embarked on her electrification journey. By then she was fed up with being cold in winter and paying ever increasing energy bills. So she ditched the gas, went fully electric and efficient, and now uses a quarter of the electricity she used to. Find more information about electrification and home energy efficiency switchedon.reneweconomy.com.au
Feb 25, 2024•40 min
Urgent, courageous action is needed to better integrate consumer energy assets into our electricity system if we want to underpin Australia’s future economic prosperity with lower electricity and transport costs, and eliminate our dependency on gas. A new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has for the first time analysed the full range of benefits that flow from householders and businesses installing consumer energy resources, also called distributed ener...
Feb 18, 2024•45 min
Every time a sparkie walks out of a house, chances are they leave it more energy efficient than when they walked in. But Australia has a shortage of electricians. And we will need 35,000 more sparkies than the 170,000 we already have by 2030, and another 80,000 on top of that by 2050 if we are going to electrify everything. It's a scary prospect but one that Michael Wright, the National Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union is optimistic about. Find more information about electrification and ...
Feb 08, 2024•36 min
Former conservative energy minister Josh Frydenberg kyboshed Lord Howe Island’s plans to build a wind turbine which would help reduce its reliance on dirty, expensive diesel electricity generation. But the world heritage island community kept pursuing plans for renewables and now generates nearly 70% of their electricity from solar and battery storage. Stuart Watson, community solar and EV pioneer, and solar yachting sailor, sailed out to the island to check on the solar panels he’s installed on...
Dec 18, 2023•23 min
The Climateworks Centre has modelled ways for Australia's leaky homes to become 'climate ready' using thermal upgrades and electrification, which would enable us to avoid building an oversized energy grid. Gill Armstrong, the Project Impact Manager for the Climateworks project discusses what it will take to kick-start the renovation wave. Find more information about electrification and home energy efficiency https://switchedon.reneweconomy.com.au
Dec 10, 2023•25 min
Lucinda Flynn is a home energy efficiency assessor working in Melbourne who has conducted hundreds of energy assessments that have saved householders thousands of dollars. She explains why your reverse cycle air conditioner feels blowy, why old homes can be easier to make energy efficient than new builds, and tips for retrofitting an energy upgrade on a budget. Find more information about electrification and home energy efficiency https://switchedon.reneweconomy.com.au
Nov 26, 2023•34 min
The anticipated exponential increase in battery electric vehicles and battery storage systems over the next decade means lithium-ion battery recycling will become imperative if we're to get to net zero. Gavin Collis from the CSIRO discusses the future of Australia's battery recycling industry.
Nov 19, 2023•35 min
Ireland is developing one of the most sophisticated residential energy efficiency ecosystems in the world, built on a foundation of serious government funding, pilot projects & trials, grants, mandatory efficiency standards, financing, and one-stop-shops. Josephine Maguire from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland discusses the program and why taking the time to learn what matters to householders is key to its success.
Nov 12, 2023•36 min
When Katherine McConnell started her finance company Brighte, her mission was to get more solar panels on rooftops – to make more houses sustainable - by offering zero interest loans. Brighte has since evolved and grown into a one stop shop helping to finance and install solar, batteries, heating, cooling, heat pumps, EVs, and induction cooktops.
Oct 29, 2023•52 min
Sage Briscoe, Director of Federal Policy for Rewiring America, discusses the landmark US $500 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which is designed to help electrify American households, revolutionise how they interact with energy, modernise the electricity grid, and reshape American manufacturing.
Oct 23, 2023•36 min
Gordon Noble from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney, discusses why we can't rely on government grants to electrify and green retrofit our homes - we need accessible finance from lenders.
Oct 15, 2023•28 min
Chef and kitchen consultant Luke Burgess on why induction stoves are so efficient and why he thinks they are unlikely to be superseded any time soon.
Oct 08, 2023•33 min
Half of Australia's lighting is still inefficient 'tubes and bulbs'. Harry Verhaar from Signify, the largest lighting company in Australia, discusses how efficient LED lighting is one of the easiest, ready-to-implement technologies that can help transition to a low carbon economy.
Sep 24, 2023•39 min
Rob Murray-Leach from the Energy Efficiency Council discusses how we can get to net zero faster, easier and cheaper if households adopt energy efficiency measures like insulation and efficient electric appliances.
Sep 17, 2023•43 min
Dr Hedda Ransan-Cooper from the ANU discusses her focus group research that shows many people don't trust private companies with vested profit interests when it comes to energy technology and electrification. But they trust other householders on the same energy transition journey.
Sep 10, 2023•39 min
Rather than a ‘hub and spoke model’ where all our power generation is centralised, and the home is just a consumer, we hear how the all-electric home of the future could become 'intelligent.' Raghu Belur, the Chief Product Officer for Enphase, a high tech clean energy company based in California, provides a vision of what it can do.
Sep 03, 2023•34 min
Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University and lead author on transport for the IPCC, Peter Newman, says electric transport not only provides an opportunity to produce healthier, net zero vehicles, it enables us to rethink and build healthier, better cities.
Aug 27, 2023•47 min
For the last 14 years Mayor R. Rex Parris has led Lancaster's transition to net zero. Lancaster has built solar farms, made it compulsory for new homes to have solar panels, challenged the power of the energy utilities, put solar on all public buildings, etc. Now they're overseeing the development of green hydrogen, and hoping to bypass the control of the electricity companies.
Aug 20, 2023•39 min
Independent energy consultant and founder of the My Efficient Electric Home Facebook page, Tim Forcey, discusses why people would never consciously choose gas for their new home if they knew how dangerous, hazardous and expensive it is.
Aug 13, 2023•28 min
Alison Reeve from the Grattan Institute discuses how banning new gas connections now will mean dealing with a bounded problem, not a growing one, and enable householders, policymakers and the gas industry to plan for an all-electric future.
Aug 06, 2023•41 min
Stephanie Unwin, the CEO of Horizon Power, discusses how 400 residential and business customers had just one year to electrify after the local gas distribution company made a business decision to cut the gas off to the town of Esperance.
Aug 06, 2023•28 min
One-stop shops like Mac Trade Services are seen as one method to help households navigate the process of electrifying their homes. Merrily Hunter, the company's CEO, discuses the crucial role of trades and best practice.
Jul 30, 2023•32 min
