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In response to a critique of Rewiring Aotearoa's 'Watt Now?' explainers, Dr David Hall responds and explains why trying to reduce energy demand shouldn't be painted as the lesser of two evils.
As he writes: "Renewable energy technologies are a product of work. This is something we can – and should – take pride in, celebrating artisanship and good design to ensure these technologies are durable and long-lived. By making technologies such as solar panels and batteries long-lived, repairable and reusable, we might minimise their material dependencies. By designing them so minerals and materials are recoverable at end-of-life, we can create circular supply chains that reduce the need for mining. We are not wedded to cruel or careless modes of resource extraction and manufacturing: we can choose to do better."
When Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
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