Each fortnight, the team at ELS publish a news digest covering energy and sustainability. We read for our own pleasure but to save you time we identify a handful of pertinent articles from Australia and around the globe and add our own commentary. It used to be an internal memo but we kept being asked to share it, so here it is. It’s been a bit over a fortnight since our last update but these articles are sure to get you back in the swing!
Climate change has been in everyone’s mind over this past fortnight as NSW continues to experience the wrath of mother nature. Although it surprises us that there are still some that debate the ongoing threat of climate change, the articles for this week indicate that a large number of stakeholders (individuals, corporations and the governments) do accept the threat and are taking action. Bleak and smoky present, but a bright future ahead!
This is how you do climate: NSW unveils plans for a renewable energy short-cut
NSW, the state that is notorious for being the most coal-dependent state in Australia, has shifted gears and is on a path to a bright clean energy future. The NSW government has recently unveiled its new electricity strategy and it looks like they are moving in the right direction. What makes this new strategy a hit in our eyes is the fact that it takes a balanced approach involving energy efficiency, firmed renewable and new technologies such as batteries, to help secure a reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity future for the state. This new outlook was inevitable for the state that sources a staggering 80% of its local generation from its black coal generators (the consequences of which the state has been facing over the last fortnight), 4 of which are due to retire over the next 15 years.
One aspect of the strategy that we are particularly excited is the prominent role of energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is the second priority under the energy hierarchy, and it does not surprise us that the state is looking to capitalise on this low hanging fruit, while it simultaneously works towards unlocking its huge RE potential. You can read all about the key role of energy efficiency here.
Finally, we would like to draw your attention to another interesting article written by one of the brilliant minds of the electricity space Ric Brazzale. The article expands on the demand reduction side of things relating to the new energy strategy, and the integration of the EES with a demand reduction scheme to form the Energy Security Safeguard. You can find this article here and we cannot recommend it enough!
Sending one less 'unnecessary' email a day could save 16,000 tonnes of carbon a year, study finds
When was the last time you sent a redundant email? We’re all guilty of this to a certain extent, especially as emails have now become a common aspect of our daily lives, both work and personal. A recent study, however, sheds new light on the wider implications of these emails, and the results are quite alarming. Every email we send uses electricity at various stages, such as for transmission, storage and display, and therefore has its own carbon footprint. For a typical email, this equates to 4g of CO2 emissions, a number which skyrockets to an average of 50g of CO2 emissions if the same email contains a picture attachment. For many, these numbers may seem insignificant when looked at independently, and carbon emissions are unlikely to be the first thing on our minds when we hit that send button, but to put this into perspective, emails are responsible for as much CO2 globally as seven million extra cars. This just goes to show the carbon impact of our everyday actions and we sincerely hope that research and articles such as these will raise awareness and trigger a much-needed behavioural change in the society. We will certainly be making an effort to eliminate the ‘unnecessary’ emails at ELS and hope that you will do the same!
Musk’s Cybertruck stuns and divides Tesla fans, same price as Model 3
This past week has proven to be an emotional roller coaster for EV enthusiasts around the globe as Tesla finally unveiled their latest creation, the now infamous ‘Tesla Cybertruck’. The much-awaited event left many fans shocked and confused when the Cybertruck’s “armour glass” windows shattered during a demonstration of their durability. The whole fiasco was equally damaging to Wall Street as reports showed that the event led to Tesla’s share price plummeting by 6.1%, slashing Musk’s personal net worth by 768 million USD in a single day. Despite all the criticism, however, orders seem to be pouring for the all-electric battery-powered light commercial vehicle, reaching an estimated 250,000 orders within 1 week of its release.
While the world patiently waits until 2021 before the truck will go into production, some unwelcome news is resurfacing for Australian EV owners. In ELS’s second News Wrap-Up, Mike pointed out that the introduction of an equitable user-pays road system should be a point of discussion. Well, this is not what he was imagining when he said that but, IPA has once again proposed the introduction of a new road user charge specifically for EV owners, in the wake of drastic drops in revenue from the primary road user charge, fuel excise. Read all about this here.
'Exponential' rise in potent greenhouse gas could prompt climate model rethink
While carbon-based pollutants get all the headlines for their role in climate change, another gaseous pollutant- Nitrous oxide (N2O)- is shaping up to become an equally challenging threat. At a time when the human race is in a race against time to combat the climate crisis, an increase in N2O emissions, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than CO2, is forcing experts to revaluate the currently established climate models. Most countries report their N2O emissions using the methodology of the IPCC, which assumes a linear relationship between the amount of nitrogen fertiliser used and the resultant nitrous oxide emissions. However, using atmospheric data and nitrous oxide concentrations from over 50 stations around the world, scientists have now realised that this relationship may, in fact, be exponential, and not linear as previously believed. Nitrogen fertiliser used in agriculture remains the most prominent source of anthropogenic N2O emissions and this goes to show that while tackling CO2 emissions remains critical, climate change is becoming an increasingly difficult wicked problem to solve as new complications such as an expanding population and global food insecurity enter the equation.
Macquarie Group commits to 100% renewable electricity by 2025
A few weeks ago, we mentioned our delight when large and influential corporations take the much-needed initiative in joining the fight against climate change, and this is just one more of those exciting examples. Since the launch of RE100 at Climate Week NYC 2014, the initiative has expanded across North America, Europe, India, and China, and we are now seeing rapid growth in countries such as Australia and Japan. The latest entry into this long list of socially responsible enterprises is none other than Australia’s very own investment bank, Macquarie Group. With this move, Macquarie bank has become the sixth Australian bank to sign up to the RE100 initiative, following in the footsteps of the big 4 banks and Bank Australia. This seems to be a developing trend that we are noticing lately where more and more corporations are beginning to recognise both the need to and the benefit of rebranding themselves as ‘green’ enterprises. With both individuals and corporations doing their part to reduce emission, we feel it really is about time the Federal Government came the “party”.