SwitchedOn Australia

The Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy wants the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, to fund more suburb wide community electrification projects. Climate Council councillor Greg Bourne says it’s an important move – community involvement in energy projects is vital for the energy transition. Bourne has worked at the nexus of climate change, energy business and policy for over 30 years, and was the inaugural chair of ARENA. In a previous life he headed BP Australasia. He’s still “horribly optimistic” about the renewable energy transition, despite global political challenges and the rise of climate change denialism. But he wants the government to deliver smart metres and prioritise the mandatory disclosure of home energy prices and energy efficiency as part of their Federal election strategy.

Rosemary Grundy has done a detailed analysis of how long it will take to get a return on her investment in renewables. From the day she moved into her new house in December 2021, she’s diligently recorded how much she saves from not using fossil fuels, and how much she pays for electricity, and calculated that she’ll break even on her solar panels, batteries, and two electric vehicles in just under 9 years. Rosemary is now developing a break-even calculator to help other householders work out when they’ll break even on their renewable investments, and is on a mission to show Australians who have the financial capacity, that making the transition to renewables is not only good for the climate, it makes financial sense.

Deputy Chair of Zero Emissions Noosa, Mark Purcell, is on a mission to get 50,000 households to electrify and install batteries. He's electrified three homes, and now wants to spread the word to other householders about electrification and decarbonisation. He’s calculated that if he can get 50,000 households to electrify and install batteries one less gas peaker plant will be needed during critical hours of peak demand. But although he's fully committed to household electrification and decarbonisation, Mark didn’t start his own electrification journey for sustainability reasons.

Two years ago Brody Kenrick embarked on a journey to not just make his late 60s house carbon neutral, but carbon negative. He wanted to make sure his own house had zero carbon emissions and also displace emissions from the grid. Since upgrading his own home Kenrick has also decarbonised his son’s preschool, his parents’ house, and his in-laws. They all now make big savings on their energy bills. While he admits being a trained electrical engineer and tech savvy has been an advantage, and he and his wife were fortunate to have the upfront capital, Kenrick says many of the energy upgrades they did can be achieved by other people. He hopes his house will be a ‘proof of concept’ for others who want to electrify and decarbonise.

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.

When it comes to electrification everyone’s situation is different, and whilst many people are curious about home electrification, others are disinterested or hesitant – it’s seen as too complex, too costly, and too hard to find someone you can trust to do the work. Which is why the Victorian Government announced plans to roll-out ‘one-stop-shops’ that will help householders get accurate information, connect them with accredited installers and products, and apply for government rebates and incentives. Last year the Victorian government relaunched the State Electricity Commission, with a renewables reboot. As well as ramping up renewable generation and storage, the SEC has been tasked with supporting the switch to all-electric households. The partnerships manager at the SEC, Jess Christiansen, discusses how the roll-out of ‘one-stop-shops’ is progressing.

Amandine Denis-Ryan, CEO of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, talks about Australia's ongoing reliance on fossil gas despite the need for a green transition. She stresses the urgency of developing a nationwide electrification plan and critiques the government's focus on gas usage extending beyond 2050. The conversation reveals how misinformation from the gas industry hinders progress and emphasizes the need for improved energy policies that promote electrification for both economic benefits and sustainable living for all Australians.

Alastair Matcott, from Green Energy Trading, worked on an advocacy project that provided free energy audits and free renewable energy upgrades for private renters and investors. But it failed because they were completely stonewalled by every real estate company and industry body they encountered. It’s left Alastair thinking the only way to deal with the split incentive between landlords and tenants is to mandate minimum energy standards for rental homes.

It’s estimated the healthcare industry contributes around 7% of Australia’s carbon emissions, with hospitals being the biggest carbon emitters in the sector. Hospitals run 24/7 energy-intensive operations for heating, cooling, lighting and to power all that medical equipment. A new campaign led by health care workers and medical groups is calling on the federal government to kick start what will be a marathon to electrify Australia’s 700 odd public hospitals. They’re proposing the government fund a feasibility study to retrofit and electrify nine of Australia’s existing public hospitals. Ursula Alquier is the Healthy Hospitals Campaigner for Health Futures, the not-for-profit social enterprise behind the proposal.

With around a third of our homes now sporting a solar array, Australia leads the world by far in solar installations. Recent research has looked at what makes people install solar and found some very surprising factors. Postcodes with higher rates of unemployed have higher rates of rooftop solar, for instance, and the more solar panels you see in your neighbourhood, the more likely you are to install them yourself. Kaveh Khalilpour is one of the report’s researchers and an Associate Professor in Engineering at the University of Technology in Sydney.