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EVs cross a big tipping point in China and upfront costs are expected to keep falling this year; sales of gas hot water systems decline in New Zealand for the first time in ten years; 'why the solar industrial revolution is the biggest investment opportunity in history' and opens up some amazing possibilities; the many benefits of induction cooktops; and Australian comedian Tom Gleeson explains why big power companies might want to put some solar panels on their power stations.
China is pushing hard to electrify its transport fleet and a major tipping point was reached last month when total percentage sales of EVs beat ICE cars for the first time.
As Quartz says: "The fact that 50.7% of new car sales were electric is especially stark when compared to sales just three years ago. Then, just 7% were electric. 7%! How is this possible? Well, Beijing has heavily invested in its EV industry, allowing its domestic automakers to outpace almost all foreign competition. That investment has included substantial subsidies, ones that aren’t just helping homegrown makers. Tesla sales in the country were also charged up in July."
And more good news, EVs are on track to reach cost parity next year. “Batteries make up about one-third to one-fourth of the cost of producing an electric vehicle, according to Goldman Sachs analysts. The firm predicts the global average cost to automakers for batteries in 2024 will average about $115 per kilowatt hours, about 23% lower than last year.”
Got gas?
Rewiring Aotearoa’s attitude to fossil gas is that it may have a role to play in some bigger industries as we work on new solutions, but it certainly doesn’t belong in the home. So it’s good to see gas water heater sales have started dropping for the first time in over 10 years according to EECA data.
Heat pump sales also declined last year so it may be linked to the downturn, but anyone putting in a gas hot water system into their home now is making a bad decision both economically and environmentally. With gas supply lower than anticipated, big commercial users that rely on it to run their business are buying up as much of it as they can at very high prices. Residential users are definitely not at the top of the list of priorities and there’s a chance they might not even be able to access it in the future.
As a result, we’re confident we’ll see that line continue to dip as other options like hot water heat pumps continue to rise.
Everything, everywhere, all at once
The availability of cheap fossil fuels has taken humans a long way.
It has also come at a significant cost to the environment, but cheap solar energy provides a range of opportunities, some of which you may not have considered, like refilling rivers or making antimatter to fly to new galaxies.
In this blog, Casey Handmer lays out his unified theory on why “the solar industrial revolution is the biggest investment opportunity in history” and it makes for compelling reading.
As he writes: “This unprecedented improvement in the human condition has been unlocked by social and political innovation, and underwritten by the consumption of copious quantities of cheap energy, almost all of it from fossil coal, oil, and gas ... Solar photovoltaic (PV) power got cheap, then big, then cheaper, then bigger. Last year, we installed about 460 GW globally … Solar PV is not just a partial substitute for oil, it’s a cheaper and better energy source in every way that matters."
If you can't stand the heat, get an induction
Our friends at Rewiring America have recently looked into induction cooking and come up with a few good stats.
“It sends heat directly into your pots and pans — where it belongs — instead of into your kitchen ... Induction stoves boil water up to three times quicker than electric or gas stoves.
The flat top surface also makes cleanup a breeze — just spritz, wipe, and you’re done!
Induction stovetops stay cool after use. So they’re safer in case of accidental contact with little hands.
Cooking with gas is as dangerous to your health as secondhand smoke. Almost 13 percent of cases of childhood asthma in the U.S. are linked to gas stoves, researchers from the climate nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute found.
To check if your pots will work on induction, just hold up a magnet to the pan. If it sticks, it works!"
And if you want a taste, portable induction cooktops — aka induction hot plates — are a good first step.
Solar glare
There’s not a huge library of electricity-based comedy on offer, but a clip from Australian comedian Tom Gleeson has resurfaced recently, and it’s aged very well because the situation is just as ridiculous as it was back then - and very relevant to New Zealand’s situation.
He asked his power company why he was paying 31c kWh when they were paying him 5c for his solar and they said it was because they went to a lot of trouble to make their electricity, whereas he just had sun landing on his roof.
“Sounds to me like you need to put some solar panels on your fucking power station”.
Let’s just hope we don’t have one of those terrible ‘solar spills’.
RNZ's Kate Newton reports on the "madness" of thousands of new piped gas connections being installed into houses every year, despite dwindling supplies and higher lifetime costs.
Casey said it was positive that the numbers showed people starting to leave the gas network of their own accord, but not all households were in a position to make that choice.
"If we don't plan for a decommissioning of the gas network, then it's going to be a chaotic transition, where vulnerable New Zealanders really suffer."
As the research of Rewiring and others has shown, gas is expensive, it's getting more expensive, it's terrible for your health when burned inside and there are substitutes available right now that, on average, do the same job for less money over the long run for households, would save the country billions on health costs and lost productivity, and don't pump out unnecessary emissions.
Around 300,000 homes and businesses have connections to the gas network (it’s estimated another 300,000 use more expensive bottled gas, mostly in the South Island). The number of active connections has started to decline recently and the country’s largest gas network, Vector, is forecasting no new residential or commercial connections after 2029.
Upfront capital costs are the main barrier for many homes, which is why we're working hard on a low-interest, long-term loan scheme that can be used to pay for electric upgrades, including hot water heat pumps. This would mean paying for a new thing with a loan would be cheaper than paying to run the old thing.
Read more about the scheme here.
Disconnection costs are also a major barrier. We have seen examples where households permanently disconnecting from the network have been charged between $1,000 and $2,000 to have a meter permanently removed (i.e. digging up the pipes to the road), even though it should only cost customers $200 to have the connection capped at the house.
RNZ even reported a case where a business customer was quoted $7,500 but took the case to Utilities Disputes, where complaints about disconnection costs have been rising.
The Australian Energy Regulator and the state of Victoria have now capped the disconnection fees to a few hundred dollars to stop this kind of behaviour and protect households.
"My message is to not wait it out – instead, grab the opportunity to get ahead. In the long term, unless we hit another Maui, which is unlikely and would take decades to bring online, the era of cheap, abundant gas is over. Business leaders need to start planning now." That's EECA's chief executive Marcos Pelenur writing in the Herald about businesses struggling with rising gas prices and faster than expected declines in gas reserves.
Read moreDownloadTalk about driving change!ETrucks' Ross Linton is at the forefront of New Zealand's nascent electric trucking scene and can claim responsibility for a number of firsts, from the country's first electric concrete truck to the country's first battery swap set up. Since he brought his first electric truck in to the country back in 2018, the technology has advanced massively and driving on electrons has become quite a bit cheaper than diesel and, not surprisingly, that's inspiring a great deal of interest among businesses.
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