Australia could fall apart under climate change. But there’s a way to avoid it
Four years ago in December 2015, every member of the United Nations met in Paris and agreed to hold global temperature increases to 2°C, and as close as possible to 1.5°C. The bad news is that four years on the best that we can hope for is holding global increases to around 1.75°C. We can only do that if the world moves decisively towards zero net emissions by the middle of the century.
French consortium develops hybrid storage and co-generation system
The Smart Energy Hub can operate in electrolysis mode to store renewable energy as hydrogen, or in fuel cell mode to produce electricity and heat from previously produced hydrogen or methane. Its developers are the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and start-up Sylfen.
Solar Homes battery rebate expands to another 80 postcodes
The Victorian government has extended its solar battery rebate from the initial 24 to 104 postcodes. Meanwhile, the demand for solar panel rebates has slightly slowed down.
Homing in on the keys to DER integration
Australia’s rooftop PV has become the country’s biggest potential energy resource. To harness it requires that millions of household and commercial generators cede control of their hard-won, sunny patch. A new research entity has been launched to understand energy consumers’ passions and motivators, and facilitate a fair and equitable social contract — no pressure!
Freedom from blackouts: first Q.Home case study
Hybrid home battery/inverter systems were the hot ticket at All Energy Australia last month. Those that provide back-up capacity will change the lives of people living in blackout-prone areas.
When are solar panels acceptable on historic buildings?
A study from Sweden seeks to consider how PV could be sympathetically installed on historic buildings. The researchers propose a target-based approach for assessing panel visibility.
Meet the Aussie startup delivering solar minigrids to remote communities from a ping-pong table
Meet Afnan Hannan, CEO and co-founder of Okra Solar, an Aussie startup looking to eradicate energy poverty using solar minigrids that has already been recognised with a global sustainability award and a best IoT startup award.
Mirvac set to build net zero energy Melbourne community with ARENA backing
With ARENA’s help, Mirvac is set to trial a net zero energy community of townhouses in the Melbourne suburb of Altona North.
46,000 rooftop PV installs under Victoria’s Solar Homes program
New data on the Victorian government’s Solar Homes program show the demand for rebates for solar panels, solar hot water, solar batteries and no-interest loans has been well spread across the state.
CEFC tables Annual Report to Australian Senate
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has released its 2018-19 Annual Report on its investment into Australia’s clean energy transition. The report laud’s CEFC investment and provides optimistic reading for the energy transition.
