Innholdsfortegnelse for 171 / Apr-Jun 2025 i Renew Magazine

Hey there, Thanks for picking up this issue of Renew—as you'll see, it's filled with lots of interesting tips and insights on improving sustainability efforts in your home and community. It also continues to paint a picture of the state of play for Australia's energy transition: the successes it's had so far, and the challenges it faces to meet the emissions targets needed so that we can mitigate the worst effects of climate change. In our wide-ranging interview with Australian actress, climate communicator and founding director of Hi Neighbour, Yael Stone (p.30), we unpack the community and grassroots efforts happening to upskill local people for renewable jobs. Hi Neighbour is all about bridging the gap between energy jobs of the past and energy jobs of the future, and ensuring no-one…

As environmental crises worsen, we are also seeing a deterioration in the social foundations of our communities. To address this, innovative developers are incorporating community-enhancing and energy-efficient features in their buildings to illustrate how social connection and sustainability go together. A widely-known example is Nightingale Village precinct in Brunswick, and in particular, the surprising shared laundry space on the top floor. The necessary task of doing laundry is made eco-friendly through utilising the natural and freely available power of wind to dry clothes, while residents spend enjoyable time pegging out washing and getting to know one another! This small adjustment to shared living has powerfully changed residents' experiences of sustainability by putting connection first. Extending the concept of sharing even further is Nightingale's Teilhaus development, which significantly reduces upfront and…

Like many rural dwellers, our septic system has seen better days, and needed a break. We decided on moving to a composting loo, for a while at least, as a trial. I started looking around and found the commercial units, while nicely designed, were expensive. Our house is sitting on foundations, at least where the wet areas are, so a split system wasn't viable and we needed a self-contained unit. These are basically a pedestal with a removable container inside. You do your business and add in a cup of dry covering material—wood shavings, sugar cane mulch or similar materials are commonly used. When the container is full, you put on the lid, remove it and put it in a warm spot to compost. Now, this works well, with minimal…

Reusing and recycling are essential activities for keeping materials in use. But in the extractive, linear economy developed over the past two centuries of industrialisation, recycling efforts are mostly limited attempts to keep a relatively small quantity of simple materials out of landfill. Driven by an insatiable thirst for endless economic growth and the newest fashions and technologies, the impacts of this linear approach are epitomised by ongoing deforestation, accumulation of plastic garbage, mining wastelands, climate change, species extinctions and exploitation of workers. The shame of this approach is felt through gross inequality of wealth and living standards, the vast consumption of energy to feed it, and the waste of valuable, finite materials. All this is in spite of an acknowledgement by many wealthy countries that our environment should be…

Towards the end of autumn, a young (and not so young) person's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of keeping warm in their home, as the winter wind and rain do their best to freeze us. Some of us may be lucky enough to have well-insulated and efficiently-heated homes in which we are comfortable all year round. For the rest, winter frequently reminds us of the little (and big) jobs we never got around to doing (or that our landlord doesn't really care about). So, what can be done as the winter freeze descends on us? A machine for living in A house is a machine for living in. One of its main functions is to enable shelter and comfort from weather—keeping out rain, wind, rodents and summer heat; and keeping…

HEAT PUMPS OR RESISTIVE? I have mentioned before that it is much smarter to spend on extra solar PV to run rental houses (or any house in most of Australia) than waste money on excess upgrades apart from airtightness (which is mostly a tube of sealant and a small amount of commonsense). Even heat pump hot water systems are much more expensive and do not last as long as resistive element HWS combined with daytime self-generated PV electricity. As the heat pumps use a ¼ of the energy of the resistive HWS, the total saving (when using your own PV at 4c FIT loss) is only an extra $88 per year (for a typical two person home). This energy saving will never pay off the high capital cost of the better…

01 Versatile hybrid inverters Goodwe's latest update to their ET series hybrid inverters is the ET G2 series models. The ET GT comes in five sizes—6kW, 8kW, 10kW, 12kW and 15kW. All models are three-phase units, so you'll need a three-phase grid connection. The inverters feature a nominal battery input voltage of 500V, making them suitable for many high-voltage lithium ion energy storage systems on the market. The units feature UPS (grid backup) capability, with a sub-10 millisecond changeover to inverter power in the event of a grid failure. Backup power ratings are the same as on-grid ratings (battery and PV dependent; Goodwe has suitable batteries, the Lynx Home F series and Lynx F G2 series), so each model can provide up to full output power off-grid. Solar input is via…

One of the biggest barriers to the renewable energy transition is the lack of public access to practical, evidence-based information about what it entails and what can be done at a personal and community level. Couple this with a barrage of disinformation from players with vested interests, and the action needed to reduce emissions so that we can mitigate the worst effects of climate change becomes increasingly stalled. The truth is, of course, Australia is well into its renewable energy transition, with nearly 40 percent of its electricity supply coming from renewable sources. Things are changing rapidly, and this can create knowledge gaps on the ground. In response to this need for reliable community support during the transition, three organisations— RE-Alliance, Community Power Agency and Yes2Renewables—have put forward a proposal…

NATHAN SCOLARO: I want to land us in the context of this chat and the fact that we're speaking at an uneasy time with Cyclone Alfred about to hit just above you on the coast there in the next 24 hours. And there are lots of concerns in the community about what that could bring. It feels like climate disasters here in Australia are becoming an almost everyday part of our lives. What are you thinking about in relation to the climate? YAEL STONE: Well, there's acknowledging that my partner's family is up there, and they're Bundjalung people. They are deeply connected with the land and community. They are also feeling the brunt of this stuff. Again, the floods are hitting Lismore. The first time was just devastating when we…

Located 140 kilometres south of Melbourne, Phillip Island is known to many people as a holiday destination. There you can see the adorable fairy penguins waddle across the sand, attend the annual MotoGP or simply enjoy the selection of excellent surf beaches on offer. But there is something else happening on the island: a concerted effort to create unique, sustainable systems of managing its energy and environment. This includes: a large community energy storage system, an additional seven batteries to capture excess solar power generation, carbon neutral farming, and Phillip Island Nature Parks, a world-leading conservation organisation that has made great strides in blending the often-conflicting agendas of tourism and environmental protection. “These initiatives are stepping stones toward an objective to be totally renewable by 2030, which is being driven…

I have just read Lance Turner's article re installing the A/C himself, well done. I recently decided to do something about getting off gas, or at least reducing our consumption, by installing a standard electric hot water system instead of using instant gas for hot water. My partner is a potter with two kilns, which draw a fair amount of power. Three years ago we decided to have a 12.5kW inverter installed with 16kW of panels. When the sun is shining we are regularly producing over 12kW, which may or may not be exported. We pay 31c kW/hr for electricity, with the feed in tariff being 12.4c kW/hr. The electrician who installed the system said that only certain inverters which can be remotely controlled by our electricity company can be…

We are energising our weather The recent cyclone that hit northwest Australia, on top of other unexpected extreme events, focused my attention on the need for stronger messaging about climate change. Each degree of temperature rise increases capacity of air to hold water vapour by about 7 percent—that's real time temperature, not average global heating. Also, the maximum capacity of air to hold water vapour rises rapidly. 80 percent humid air at 25°C can hold 19 grams of water per cubic metre while 30°C air at the same relative humidity can hold 26 grams—37 percent more. That's a lot of extra water that could fall out of the sky as cold air collides with warm air, driving much worse flooding. A combination of high temperature and high humidity becomes lethal…

Hopeful Action is a new and comprehensive resource that intends to make climate change a less wicked problem by building knowledge and capacity, determining where there are solutions, and sharing how to take action. Authored by Taryn Lane who has worked in community climate action for 15 years, and with inputs from collaborators such as Saul Griffith and Renew, and dozens of community case studies, it is a digestible tool for a wide range of people, from early adopters to those newly considering how to take action best. We spoke with Taryn about the work. What was the ambition for the Handbook and who is it for? I have learnt a lot from my community and other communities over the years as we have delivered climate action locally. We can…