My first car was an electric blue Citroen Dyane. I called her Hermione. She had a 602cc engine and, with a following wind, could almost get up to the speed limit on the motorway. She sipped petrol but struggled with hills. Hermione went to the great scrapyard in the sky many years ago and now, like so many of us, I drive a big wagon which guzzles the gas and gets the family from A to B. I’d love to switch to a renewable energy option. I’ve looked enviously at my friend’s shiny new Tesla, but I always thought that an electric vehicle was out of my price range.
Turns out there might be another way.
The Good Car Company is a start-up founded by three sustainability entrepreneurs, Anthony Broese van Groenou, Anton Vikstrom and Sam Whitehead, who are passionate about decarbonising transport.
You don’t see many electric cars around Australia, but there are probably more than you realise. Luxury models, such as the Tesla and the Rivian, get most of the attention here. Outside Australia, however, many of the big manufacturers — Hyundai, Daihatsu, BMW, Nissan, Mini, –are offering electric and hybrid models. Better still, there is a growing market for second hand electric cars. The great thing about buying second hand electric is that there are very few parts to go wrong: compared to a petrol engine, an electric car is cheap and easy to maintain and ages with grace. Which is why the Good Car Company is collaborating with communities around Australia to deliver Electric Vehicle – aka ‘EV’ – Bulk-Buy’s.
Why go electric?
If you’ve never considered an EV, here are some of the benefits:
Lower fuel costs, less maintenance and lower cost of life
Zero particulates and no fumes on cold mornings
Avoid service stations, holiday price gouging & oil wars
Great driving experience, fully automatic with hill start assist.
They are now offering 2017-19 40kWh Nissan Leaf, 2015-17 30kWh Nissan Leaf and 2014-17 24kWh Nissan Leaf. The Good Car Company offers all vehicles below normal rates, with savings in shipping and compliance, passed onto to you. And they also pass through any savings achieved at auction to make getting an EV that much easier. This offer includes standard upgrades including Japanese to English head-unit (stereo and controls), dash instruments and an Australian charging cable. Plus, of course, full support and warranty.
The bulk-buy of affordable electric cars will help the transformation of transport to a low carbon emission future.
Catherine Willis and her husband John attended one of our first Solar My House parties (pre-Covid), and were immediately inspired to make changes. They were keen to install solar panels but, with a roof due for an overhaul, it wasn’t the right time for them. So they decided to put solar panels on their childrens’ roofs instead.
Putting solar panels on their childrens’ houses has had a range of positive effects: by reducing their electricity bills for the life of the system — hopefully at least 25 years — it’s a way of supporting them, financially, on an ongoing basis. It’s also been a conversation starter, both for the family and for their friends, who now see the panels and hear about how they work. And personally, it has made Catherine and John feel like they are making a difference.
After the Solar My House party Catherine also immediately contacted Diamond Energy (via the Zero Emissions Solutions website) to enquire about how it worked. The changeover was, she says, seamless.
It’s not hard and it’s also not expensive. I thought it would be more expensive with renewables, but it turns out it’s not.
Now she’s a big fan, and wholeheartedly supports switching to renewable energy. She recommends Diamond Energy, both for their customer service and for their environmental credentials.
I don’t really worry about myself. I just worry about the grandkids, and what world we’re leaving. We do what we can. …When we switched to renewables with Diamond straight away we felt much better.
Thank you, Catherine! What a great gift to your children. You can find out how solar panels make great sense by attending one of our free Solar my House webinars. Come with us on the journey to zero emissions!
What do Australia’s fire, emergency, climate and defence experts think? We heard from a panel of experts at the launch of the National Bushfire and Climate Summit, by the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action and The Climate Council.
Ursula Hogben summarises the key points:
Why have the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action come together?
“I have grandchildren and I’m very focused as they are going to inherit a world that will be significantly unliveable.” explained Greg Mullins, former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner
Is it just Australia? An international perspective
Ken Pimlott, Former Head of CalFire, joined to discuss the situation in California. “Firefighters in California are seeing climate change first hand. They’re all saying the same thing – clearly there are changes to our weather patterns. The lengthening fire seasons, often year round, challenge our ability to share fire-fighting resources across the world.”
What does Australia need to do? – from the experts
“Governments have been listening to scientists on COVID 19. We need to do that with climate science as well.” Professor Lesley Hughes, Macquarie University
“We need to reach out to our Indigenous brothers and sisters. They’re part of the solution to dealing with bushfires and climate change.” – Greg Mullins
“We must urgently reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. If some real action isn’t taken right now then it’s going to be beyond everyone’s capacity to respond.” – Naomi Brown, former CEO of Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council.
“New renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, a green economic stimulus will create far more jobs, and get Australia’s economy back on track.” – Professor Lesley Hughes
“We don’t need any new gas. The Australian Energy Market Operator agrees. It says we can have 75% renewable energy now. We need to invest in renewable energy backed by storage. There is no sense to discussing gas, except due to vested interests in gas.” – Amanda McKenzie, Climate Council CEO
What are business and governments doing?
Big business is showing significant concern about climate change, including divesting from thermal coal, investing in renewable energy and reducing their carbon footprint. The RE 100 group are influential companies over the world that are committed to 100% renewable power. Australia’s Paris target is “woefully inadequate… The target is not enough and we are falling to meet that target.” – Lesley Hughes
The Australian States are, in some ways, making up for Federal failures. Most States have net zero emissions targets by 2050, and have renewable energy targets for the next 5 and ten years to achieve the goals. Local Governments are also declaring climate emergencies and targets and making changes.
Defence Departments around the world are aware of issues and risks. “Climate change is creating multiple flash points where conflict could occur in the future” says former Head of Defence Preparedness, Cheryl Durrant. Ms Durrant described preparations by the UK, New Zealand and other countries, however said that her experience working in government, as “The past 10 years have been a barren field for action on climate change.”
What next?
Amanda McKenzie discussed that we need energy to run our economy. New renewables are cheaper than new fossil fuels, we need a green economic stimulus to create more jobs. The renovation grant could be going to a green stimulus to rebuild our economy based on renewable energy. This would provide jobs in energy generation, electric transport, heavy industry and other sustainable areas. Beyond Zero Emissions and the World Wildlife Fund have released reports showing the new jobs that can be created if the economic stimulus is directed to renewable energy and sustainable industry.
Professor Lesley Hughes emphasised that one outcome from the pandemic is showing that Governments can listen to medical and health scientists, we need to do the same with climate scientists. We need to listen and take early action.
“We need to stop talking about climate change as just an environmental problem. Yes it is an enormous environmental problem, it is also a security problem, economic problem, health problem, it is affecting everything about our lives.”
Our Governments need to take a far more holistic approach. We understand the science, we know what is causing climate change, we don’t need any new technology, we have everything we need now, to take action.
This post is part of the ‘Reporting On..’ series, where ZESN volunteers share research and report back on forums they have attended. To get the latest reports and updates delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to our blog here.
Electric vehicles. They’re expensive and we don’t have the infrastructure. Right?
Wrong.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are coming down in price, and they’re much cheaper to run than petrol cars. They don’t need special equipment to charge and, as a bi-directional mobile battery, they could play a key role in the renewable energy revolution. Which is why Zero Emissions Solutions has formed a working group to research EVs, looking at the pros and cons, the market, and affordable options for going electric.
In the first in a series of posts about electric vehicles, Ursula Hogben, one of the founding members of Zero Emissions Solutions, gives us the highlights of a webinar held by the Coalition For Conservation Electric Vehicles and Sustainable Mobility panel on 12 May 2020.
As it’s getting colder, we’re spending more time inside and our energy bills are going up. The perfect time to make some changes to reduce our energy consumption.
The Australian Energy Foundation recently ran a helpful webinar with a special focus on the top 2 energy vampires: Heating & cooling your house (40%) and hot water (23%). AEF’s top tips range from do-it-yourself fixes to investing in big-ticket items – such as reverse-cycle air conditioning for heating and heat pumps for hot water.
In our last post we covered the easy behavioural changes that you can use straight away. Now, some ways to make a big difference – to your bill and your carbon emissions.
Heating & Cooling
How to heat your house?
Reverse-cycle split-system air conditioning is now the most efficient and cheapest system to use. If you’ve got solar on your roof or are buying your power from a renewable electricity retailer, you can feel even better about your environmental footprint. Gas heaters are now second place with a bleak future: gas prices are going up and, as a fossil fuel, gas produces carbon emissions.
Properly insulating your house can cut your heating/cooling bills by 40-50%! If your house was insulated before 2010, you should re-visit the roof space and see if you need to upgrade to better materials. Insulating your walls is expensive and only recommended as part of a reno project – you can do one room at a time.
The average old Aussie home has cracks and gaps that amount to the equivalent of a football-sized hole in your wall! Get cracking and start fixing those cracks. Some ideas to get you started:
Seal door gaps with products from your favourite hardware store or a door snake
Close off your air vents – could be as simple as a piece of cardboard and duct tape
Use ‘No more gaps’ products to fill in the gap between your floorboards and skirting
Buy a ‘chimney sheep’ to seal your unused chimney
Need inspiration? Just follow the step-by-step videos “Green It Yourself” with Lish, Queen of Green.
And windows?
10-20% of heat escapes through windows, unless they have double-glazing. Some easy fixes:
Thick curtains that touch the floor with pelmets at the top.
Do-it-yourself double glazing: Put adhesive film on your window (check out Lish again) or even cheaper, use bubble wrap.
Hot Water
If your existing hot water system (gas or electric) bites the dust, replace it with a heat pump. Heat pumps can use up to 80% less energy than a standard electric tank. Start doing your research when your existing electric tank is about 8 to 9 years old (check age on the compliance plate on your tank) – they last about 10 years. Know exactly what you are going to buy when the old tank stops working.
I have discovered a secret weapon in my quest to persuade people to make the switch to renewable energy. It’s called GADGETS!
We’ve had solar panels for nearly ten years now. 18 months ago we bought a Tesla 2 battery for $11,500 (which, as I now realise, was quite a bargain since prices have gone up this year). The installer, who did a great job, showed me how the app tells you exactly how much electricity you are consuming at any moment, and where that electricity is coming from.
I didn’t realise at the time how powerful that insight could be. Three pictures
A sunny day in North Balgowlah
A sunny day in November 2019
The big yellow mountain is solar energy, collected from our rooftop panels. The jagged line is our household energy consumption. (You can see that I made a cup of tea just before 8 a.m., and I ran the dishwasher and the washing machine in the morning.) Below the horizontal axis shows how the battery works: when the sun comes up excess solar energy feeds into the battery. It’s full by noon, so the grey area is excess energy flowing back to the grid (and earning a feed-in tariff). And you can see that, on this day, the battery powered the house right through till sunrise, so we were 100% self-powered. ☺
Solar Offset
Of course, the sun doesn’t always shine
But this screen shot shows that across 2019 we offset our usage — 8166 kWh — with 5473 kWh solar power from our roof. So a 67% reduction in our electricity bill and a 67% reduction in our carbon emissions. The retail price in NSW per kWh is 33c. So *furrows brow, doing sums* that’s $1806.09 in savings in 2019. Nice.
What’s happening here?
This is a screenshot from March 2020 showing where our power is coming from. We’re in the middle of a powercut. The Tesla battery automatically takes over, so that the house can be independent of the grid, using power from the solar panels and, if needed, from the battery. WFH with no grid? No problem.
We love checking on the app to see how much we are saving. But above all, this funky little app, with its visual representation of real time household electricity usage, is an amazing communications tool. Household power bills aren’t sexy but gadgets totally are. Therefore, my husband, even though he is not involved in environmental campaigning, gets a real kick out of showing his friends how we are helping ourselves to free energy (and helping the environment at the same time).
Do you have a battery? Do you have a story to tell about your journey towards zero emissions? Let us know by [best way to connect]
The Australian Energy Foundation ran a great webinar this week on “Energy Efficiency”. Guess what the top two energy vampires are in the average Aussie home?
Heating & cooling your house (40% of electricity usage)
Water heating (23%)
Home appliances such as TV and computers (14%).
The good news is that a few simple behavioural changes can already save you money and reduce your emissions. And won’t cost you a cent.
Top tips:
In winter, set your heating to a maximum of 18-20 degrees. Every degree more increases your energy usage by 10%. Fun Fact: As it gets colder going from summer into winter, our blood thickens and we can better tolerate the cold. So maybe start with 21 degrees and work your way down to 18 degrees by August.
Heat the person, not the house. Think double layers, warm socks, boots (ugg boots working from home!). And you may even want to invest in some low-cost electric blankets or heat pads.
Use less hot water by limiting your showers to 4 minutes. Yes, eventually you will convince your teenagers that this is important. Or at least install water-efficient showerheads that reduce the flow of water from 12-15 litres/minute to 6-9 litres.
Use the cold-setting on your washing machine. Modern machines will do a great job.
Switch off all your appliances at the powerpoint when not in use. Too time-consuming? Invest in power strips (plug in several appliances) and a remote control to switch them all off at once when you call it a night.
Make sure your fridge and freezer are running at the optimal temperature: 3 to 4 degrees and -15 to -18 respectively.
Use smaller appliances in the kitchen. For example, heat up food in the microwave rather than turning on the energy-hungry oven.
These are the lowest hanging fruit in the energy efficiency world. If you want to bring out the big guns to reduce your energy consumption, the Australian Energy Foundation website has info about best practice for heating & cooling (split air con) and hot water (heat pump). Both require an initial investment and are best considered when you have to replace an existing system or are renovating or building from scratch.
You can view a recording of the AEF webinar or check out the presentation. Both are available online until 30 June.
This is a space for telling stories and sharing information about our zero emissions journey. To get the latest stories delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to our blog here.
Welcome to Zero Emissions Solutions Inc news. Behind the headlines, behind the government policies and reports, behind the technical nuts-and-bolts, there are real stories to tell which connect us all.
It seems only right to begin at the beginning, and tell the story of how Zero Emissions Solutions was founded and launched.
What was our goal? It was back in May 2019, after the Federal Election returned a majority Liberal National Party government, against all projections from three years of opinion polls. A group of locals, deeply concerned about the growing climate crisis, sat around a table in our local café with concerns. Before that day we’d been full of hope that the next Australian Government might be one which took action on climate change, but now that seemed less likely. However our community had elected a pro-climate Federal MP and we wanted to help our community to reduce emissions together.
What did we do next? Our talk quickly turned to – What we could do now? What practical actions could make a difference? That’s when our ideas began to flow. Taking inspiration from the Beyond Zero Emissions network, seven of us – Dof, Susie, Ursula, Ann-Charlott, Kirsty, Tina and Anna – decided to using our experience in science, technology, business, design, law, psychology and community impact – to join the network with a zero carbon community for our area. So Zero Emissions Solutions North was incorporated: a volunteer community group of people from all walks of life united by a common goal: taking swift, practical action on climate change.
What have we done so far? We spent months of research, consultation and brainstorming to solve questions like – what actions make the biggest impact on reducing emissions? what gets in the way for people considering taking those actions? We met renewable energy companies, rooftop solar installers, industry experts and more.
We then created a suite of programs to deliver reliable, unbiased advice on no-cost and low-cost ways households, businesses and schools can switch to renewable energy and become ‘heroes for zero’. We’ve met many amazing people in our community who have joined our core team – including Chris, Jenni, Mona, Fay, Louise, Kate, Alan, Louisa, Tania, Linda, Lesley, Harriet, Milo, Narween and Marieken. We’ve learnt a huge amount, adapted to COVID-19, and helped our community save money and save thousands of tons of carbon emissions from the atmosphere – equivalent to a small forest of trees!
Since launch in 2019 we’ve: 1. held over 70 free events with over 1,500 bookings, helping homes and businesses install rooftop solar and switch to renewable energy, electric transport, electric appliances and more. 2. created over 30 free guides, case studies and videos on our website 3. launched the Zero Emissions Schools Mosman network for all Mosman LGA schools 4. won 3 Council Grants, 1 Federal Grant, and a Council Sustainability and Climate Award 5. created the Mosman Sustainable Living Guide which Council provided to the LGA’s 30,000 residents. We’re developing further LGA specific Guides with other Councils 6. built zero emissions communities online with our Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn; and 7. installed 13.3kW rooftop solar for local mental health charity Pioneer Clubhouse in Balgowlah.
Above all, we’ve discovered that like-minded friends and taking action are great antidotes to despair.
L-R: Linda Robertson, Chris Lee, Susie Morgan, Tina Jackson, Anna Josephson, Ursula Hogben, Kirsty Gold, Ann-Charlott Paduch, Harriet Cunningham and Lesley Treleaven, (and a shout out to Dof Dickinson who couldn’t be here.)
