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When you live in a 'pocket neighbourhood', it makes sense to run on the sun and embrace electric tech - and that's exactly what the Peterborough Housing Co-op in Christchurch has done. Jim Small, a trustee for the Ōtākaro Land Trust, says the co-op has been around since the early '80s and it's "designed with the community in mind". Think shared spaces, shared gardens, cars on the outside, shared utilities and shared energy.
Solar helps to keep the costs low for everyone and, as he says, during the summer, the power bill for 14 units and a large common space is less than $1000.
The system was designed for 'minimum constant demand' so it didn't require batteries and it exports very little excess energy.
Overseas, district heating schemes generate centrally and distribute to homes in the area and Peterborough is a microcosm of that approach, with low temperature water pumped around the homes as underfloor heating, "which people love", and heat pumps handling the higher temperature water.
The expensive fuel prices triggered by the choking of the Hormuz Strait were not stopping an undercurrent of change, Rewiring Aotearoa chief executive Mike Casey said. "We're talking about kitchen table or dinner table decisions rather than board- room table decisions." Casey, who runs a fully electric cherry farm in Central Otago, said New Zealand could benefit from introducing a “salary sacrifice" scheme similar to one available in Australia for people wanting to buy new electric cars. “We can get brand new basic electric cars onto the road ... for under $200 a week, at least for people in New Zealand, for our essential workers, for our teachers, for our nurses, and that includes registration, insurance, maintenance, energy and the car itself."
Read moreDownloadKeeping up with the Joneses (in a good way) as Australia shifts towards sun and wind and away from fuels; New Zealand gets a good grade in terms of how electric our economy is, but we're well behind the leaders; batteries are booming (also in a good way) and eating into gas; how to get that 'wok hei' flavour with induction; a big electric barbie event gets set to break a Guinness World Record; Joby Aviation's historic electric test flights in New York; and what's old is new again with electric classic cars and even an electric museum.
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