SwitchedOn Australia RenewEconomy

In last year’s federal budget the Government allocated $1 billion to a Household Energy Upgrades program to help homeowners fast track their transition to cleaner, cheaper energy. Grace Tam is the Head of Consumer finance at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the CEFC, the agency responsible for rolling out the program. She discusses the importance of green finance for householders, and how difficult it was to get Australia’s banks, mutuals, and other lenders to offer truly green finance that can turbo charge household decarbonisation and electrification. Also, why lenders should provide access to service providers and information, not just ‘green discounts’.

Brendan Lang runs an electrification business in Melbourne that helps householders and businesses transition from gas-fuelled appliances to efficient electric ones. He’s a passionate environmentalist who has swapped his Amarok ute for a Tesla model Y. Brendan discusses why he opted for a Tesla, and provides some practical advice on the best forms of heating, when you need 3 phase power or should rewire your house, how to find a good electrician, and why peer to peer training for electricians is so important.

For more information on electrification and energy efficiency https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au

In the absence of bipartisan support for solutions to the climate crisis, local community groups and individuals are taking it upon themselves to help drive the transition to a clean energy economy. ClearSky Solar is just one community initiative that is helping businesses divest from fossil fuels by supporting investments in clean energy and sustainable projects. They do this by linking community investors to local solar projects that need financing. Clearsky has helped finance solar installations on car washes, breweries, retail outlets, hotels, utilities companies, supermarkets, and bakeries. In just ten years they have raised $26 million, installed 95 solar projects, and generated 20 mega watts of rooftop solar energy. Dr Christina Kirsch is a director at ClearSky Solar.

For more information on electrification and energy efficiency https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au

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.

Australia’s Energy Market Operator predicts that in the future over 30 per cent of Australia’s electricity generation and flexible demand services will come from VPPs. And many energy retailers are literally banking on consumers signing up to one. VPPs are seen as one way to coordinate and manage all the numerous small-scale, decentralized energy resources like solar panels, EVs, and home batteries. But not everyone thinks that’s going to happen. Tim Washington is the co-founder and CEO of one of Australia’s largest electric vehicle charging services, Jetcharge. And he doesn’t think many Australians will need to join a VPP when they have an electric vehicle with bidirectional charging that will not only be able to charge from their solar, it will send energy back to the grid or into our homes. He predicts this will make electricity free, for many of us.

For more information about electrification and energy efficiency https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au

Most energy retailers make money by accessing the wholesale energy market, whacking on a big mark up, and then selling power to consumers. The more energy we use, the more money they make. But Amber Electric is not playing the usual retailer game. They give consumers direct access to the wholesale energy market. Co-founder and Co-CEO of Amber Electric, Dan Adams, outlines how Amber is disrupting the energy retail industry, why the massive energy resources consumers are installing won’t be fully optimised without first building consumer trust, and why retailers must be more transparent and give customers full control of their energy assets.

For more information on electrification and energy efficiency https://switchedon.reneweconomy.com.au