In the sustainable studio on 4 April 2018:
• Heinz Dahl, sustainability consultant and wind energy expert
• Charlie van Dongen, electronic electrical engineer, principal of CTO Australia
• Bill Yates, community mobiliser in Victoria’s south-west
• Excerpt of TEDtalk by Naomi Klein, Canadian author

Listen to The Sustainable Hour no. 210 on 94.7 The Pulse:

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Today’s program starts with an inspirational speech by renowned Canadian author and social change activist Naomi Klein in which she implores people to ‘dare to dream’ for a better world to lead to three people who are doing just that.

Charlie van Dongen whose company has developed an energy storage battery which they feel will revolutionise this technology.

Heinz Dahl is a veteran of the renewable energy industry who has a great passion for getting manufacturing back to Geelong, and finally Bill Yates who dares to dream of a coastal reserve free of race horses

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The big picture: Permission to dream

Naomi Klein encourages us to look at the “glaring connections” between issues and build a movement with imagination and organizing, based on core values

The Vatican brought Naomi Klein in to speak shortly after publication of Laudato Si’. She continues to connect climate change to the total interconnection and the culture of caretaking that Pope Francis advocates.

Below is a link to her TEDTalk and a movement vision around linked issues, agreeing on our common yes.
A few memorable quotes:

• Leaping without a direction looks a lot like jumping up and down.
• Movements don’t care about credit. They want good ideas to spread far and wide.
• Crises test us, can cause us to grow up fast.
• First we need to picture the world we are fighting for.

What is our dream for Australia? How do we imagine the future?

For instance: Could we green the desert, solve the problem with transport emissions with installing bike paths everywhere, and using driverless share-EVs and drones, 3D-printed goods, holograms and videoconferencing…as we build better connected communities with stronger values and better caretaking?

Naomi Klein delivered this speech on 20 September 2017 under the title ‘How shocking events can spark positive change.’

Map out common “yeses”

TED.com wrote as an introduction to the video:

“How can people today — who are facing “non-stop shocks” like record-breaking storms and militarized police — use these crises “to catalyze a kind of evolutionary leap” towards a more just, equitable, and habitable world?

In a recent TED Talk, available online this week, author and activist Naomi Klein laid out what she sees as two crucial ingredients for making that push forward—imagination and organizing. She said that “it’s in the interplay between the two where revolutionary power lies.”

She pointed to successes seen in The New Deal, which brought about key safety net gains. But we can do better, she argued.
One obstacle is the dominant structure of movements based largely on a sort of silo-fication of issues. While these movements are making strides forward and calling for bold changes, “what we’re still missing is that coherent picture of the world we’re fighting for,” she said.

She pointed to the sort of big picture view captured by The Leap Manifesto, shaped by a broad range of movement leaders, which recognized the confluence of their issues to map out common “yeses” about what a more just Canada could be.

“The shocking events that fill us with dread today can transform us, and they can transform the world for the better,” she concludes. “But first we need to picture the world that we’re fighting for. And we have to dream it up together. Right now, every alarm in our house is going off simultaneously. It’s time to listen. It’s time to leap.

» Watch Naomi Klein’s talk

Renewable energy gets cheaper by the hour

Over the last 12 months, there has been a 20 per cent reduction in the cost of solar plants, when you look at the actual cost of putting a solar panel in. Onshore wind has got a 12 per cent decrease. And the most amazing is the energy storage systems, in particular batteries: In the last 12 month, batteries have had a cost reduction of over 80 per cent. Now that is phenomenal.

We need to diversify ourselves out of the fossil fuel industry – that’s because of the finite resources of the fossils – and create an environment whereby we have a secure long-term energy supply system. And this is where the renewable energy systems come in place.

» One Step Off The Grid – 12 April 2018:
Home battery storage has trebled – but should you be installing it?
“Battery storage uptake by Australian households is starting to take off. But is it a financial no-brainer? New analysis from SunWiz says … it’s complicated. If you care about return on investment, there’s some things you should know.”

Australia is fully charged and on the cusp of an energy storage boom

New report shows that energy storage solutions, like batteries and solar thermal, are rapidly decreasing in cost.
» Fully Charged: Renewables and storage powering Australia

By professor Andrew Stock, Climate Councillor

On a large scale, a mix of these technologies – each suited to different functions – will be integral to the flexibility, reliability and affordability of our national energy grid, as we move towards a higher proportion of renewable power generation.
For the average Australian, the cost of adding solar and batteries to your home has never been lower, with further reductions in cost likely over the next few years.

Five fast facts on renewables and storage in Australia

1. Plummeting costs are opening up access to what were once considered the ‘technologies of tomorrow’.
Lithium-ion batteries, such as the wind-powered Tesla-Neoen big battery (SA), have fallen in cost by 80% since 2010, with costs expected to halve again by 2025; while pumped hydro powered by renewables, is currently the cheapest form of large-scale energy storage available, and accounts for over 96% of the world’s energy storage capacity.

2. Australians are jumping on board.
Household battery uptake is growing in Australia, with 6,750 installations in 2016, tripling to 20,000 in 2017, and with January 2018 our biggest month ever for home solar installations (1). This is further backed by strong public support, with 74% of respondents to a recent Climate Council poll indicating that they expect household batteries to become commonplace in the next decade (2).
Our new report outlines the what and the how of energy storage technologies, and the valuable role they can play in adding stability and reliability to Australia’s electricity grid. Read and share it today.

3. These technologies create new jobs.
In the US, the energy storage industry directly employs 90,000 people. Investing in storage would potentially add thousands of extra jobs to the additional 28,000 that would be created if Australia aimed for 50% renewables by 2030.

4. They’re an essential weapon in the battle against climate change.
The electricity sector in Australia is a major source of pollution, largely due to our reliance on old coal power stations. To effectively tackle climate change we need a 50% renewable energy target by 2030, and zero emissions well before 2050.

5. A diverse mix of energy solutions means a more resilient network.
Australia’s old fossil fuelled power stations are becoming increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events, and more than half of Australia’s coal fleet will be over 40 years old by 2030. Having a variety of storage technologies will greatly improve the flexibility and resilience of our power system.
Renewable energy and storage technologies are already in operation in Australia and around the world. Find out how – read and share our report today.
Yet the proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG) continues to miss the mark on slashing Australia’s greenhouse gas pollution and improving energy reliability, following the release of the Federal Government’s discussion paper today. Read our response here.
Renewable and storage technologies, in their many forms, are efficient, reliable, flexible, and increasingly cost effective. What we need are credible Federal Government policies that support their uptake.
Our reliable renewable energy future is within reach.

Professor Andrew Stock
Climate Councillor

P.S. But what do ‘ancillary services’, ‘depth of discharge’ and ‘baseload power’ all mean? Skill up on your storage vocabulary with our glossary, p53 of our report.

P.P.S. Want us to push for renewable energy innovation? Chip in so we can do even more reports, videos and briefings with key decision makers. We’ll consider your donation a vote in favour!

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(1) Australia’s solar power boom could almost double capacity in a year, analysts say, The Guardian, 12 Feb 18
(2) ReachTel poll, Climate Council, February 2018

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Acknowledgement

We at The Sustainable Hour would like to pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which we are broadcasting, the Wathaurong People, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and future.

The traditional owners lived in harmony with the environment and with the climate for hundreds of generations. It is not clear – yet – that as European settlers we have demonstrated that we can live in harmony for hundreds of generations, but it is clear that we can learn from the indigenous, traditional owners of this land.

When we talk about the future, it means extending our respect to those children not yet born, the generations of the future – remembering the old saying that…

The decisions currently being made around Australia to ignore climate change are being made by those who won’t be around by the time the worst effects hit home. How utterly disgusting, disrespectful and unfair is that?

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