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RNZ's Eloise Gibson looked into the question of whether gas or electric appliances are cheaper and the evidence, as outlined in Rewiring Aotearoa's Electric Homes report, is pretty clear: even with the upfront costs of replacement and finance, running electric hot water, electric heating and electric cooking is much cheaper - and less toxic - than using fossil gas and it's cheaper still if you've got rooftop solar and batteries. It makes no economic sense for new homes to connect to gas in New Zealand and if your old gas appliance breaks down, it pays to make your next purchasing electric. "Compared with using piped gas heating, hot water, and cooking, a fully electric home could save almost $11,000 over 15 years for upfront costs and energy bills, the study found. Compared with using bottled LPG for heating, hot water, and cooking, a fully electric home could save almost $20,000 over the same period."
"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.
Read moreDownloadHow the sun led to higher salaries for teachers in the US and why this should be happening here, too; how "the once-rigid link between economic growth and carbon emissions is breaking across the vast majority of the world" as electrification gives more countries a productivity boost (and how that would allow New Zealand to keep embracing our long, languid summer break); solar continues to weather storms and provide 'free resilience'; Dunedin laundry company Preens goes electric and saves over 300 utes worth of emissions; the company that wants you to drink diesel exhaust; and a wonderful rundown of the Kill Bills tour - and the national electrification opportunity - from one of the tour sponsors.
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