What Mike Casey argued for so coherently and passionately this morning on Q+A with Jack Tame isn't pie in the sky stuff. The electrification opportunity is there to be grasped.
Electrification stacks up economically for homes, most businesses and the country as a whole and, as we keep saying, solar, EVs, batteries, heat pumps and renewables are not woke, they just work. We just need to get past the culture war crap and help more New Zealanders deal with the cost of living crisis.
More electric machines running on New Zealand-made energy will also reduce our reliance on imported fuel and make our existing stocks go further for the machines that need it.
And, massive added bonus in case anyone has forgotten what's happening with the weather, there's no contest when it comes to emissions.
Right now, we're dealing with a crisis and we hope it doesn't come down to rationing. But we also need to learn from this and plan for the next one. We need to keep thinking big and building more cheap solar, wind and geothermal. But we also need to think small and electrify as many of our ten million fossil fuel machines as possible.
That's the bit that often gets overlooked but, as Casey said, a lot of a little is a lot. So, to all those politicians thinking about how to get the votes in the 'electric election', let's make New Zealand-made energy our North Star, let's run more electric machines on that energy and let's and do everything we can to create the world's most electric economy.
New South Wales gets the memo about the importance of finance and announces scheme offering zero interest loans to households to upgrade to electric stuff; plug-in solar gets the tick of approval to go on sale in the UK soon and the New York Times says it could 'change America'; EVolocity takes electrification to the streets to gets the kids inspired (and eventually employed); a tour of the amazing recycling business Redwood Materials; Think Solar and BYD give it away now; and a skit that cuts close to the bone for many solar dads.
Read moreDownloadAdvances in technology and falling costs mean customer-owned solar and batteries can play a critical role in New Zealand’s energy infrastructure - improving affordability, resilience and sustainability. Multiple trading relationships (MTR) and peer-to-peer trading would enable this potential by increasing competition, customer choice, and innovation in the electricity market, unlocking greater consumer benefits from customer solar and batteries.
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