Post Category → Transport

NRMA supporting the ANU Solar Car team and the BWSC (from Darwin to Adelaide)

“We see our (NRMA) partnership with the ANU Solar Racing Team and the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge as a great opportunity to support young people who are the leaders and policymakers of tomorrow. This is just one of many steps we’re taking to help Australian motorists in their transition towards an electric future.” NRMA CEO, Carly Irving-Dolan

ANU Project Lead Isaac Martin said the Solar Racing team had spent the last six years working to develop sustainable innovation within the ACT and were looking forward to working with the NRMA for the BWSC.

“Our team is so lucky to be made up of such diverse individuals from different backgrounds and experiences, and we’re excited to continue to push the boundaries of sustainable technology together,” Mr Martin said.

It’s wonderful to have The NRMA continue to support #electricvehicles and get behind Australia’s solar race (from Darwin to Adelaide) and the ANU Solar Racing team! The team’s making their final preparation for next week’s departure and I can’t wait to join them for the 3022km trip down the Stuart!

Full story in the Canberra Weekly

Video insight into the EnergiZine experiences

This has been one of the most engaging – and out there – projects I’ve ever had been involved in. It was an absolute privelidge to work with Brad Riley and collaborators in the First Nations Clean Energy Network on the content, Mitchell Whitelaw and Dave Fanner from the Engaged ANU on the creative engagement, and Tristan Schultz from Relative Creative who designed the richly layered absurdist mnemonic experience.

My speech from the events:

Let me add my respects to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri custodians of the beautiful and unceded land on which we’re gathered this evening and to all First Nations people who have cared for country since time immemorial.

The theme of tonight is wellness.

Everything you’ll be exposed to and will have to deliberate on and choose between effects your wellness and the wellness of your communities and the earth.

We don’t ever think or talk about our role at the ANU in terms of wellness, but really everything we do is in service of this goal: the wellness of individuals, communities, and the planet.

Now not everything you’ll find on these tables will assist with wellness. After all, a key part of wellness is avoiding that which makes you unwell: be that stress, junk food, pollution, etc.

And you can’t always trust what you read in wellness magazines and labels, you’ve got to critically investigate to uncover the complex interrelations and impacts of things.

This too is a vital part of our job at the ANU – to uncover and analyse that which makes people and places unwell. So keep an eye out for this tonight.

And with that, I wish you luck in nurturing, navigating, and crafting your wellness energy transition. I hope it’s as stimulating and engaging to complete as it’s been to create.

Response to Saul Griffith’s “The Wires That Bind”

This correspondence was originally published in the June 2023 edition of the Quarterly Essay, in response to the March 2023 edition by Saul Griffith.

While the pivotal role of electrification in decarbonisation has been understood for decades, it has rarely been described as vividly or enthusiastically as by Saul Griffith in The Wires That Bind. Griffith recognises that electrification is a story, at its heart, not about decarbonisation but about cleaning the air in our kitchens and streets, improving the liveability of our homes and communities, and “keeping wealth in our households and communities” – and nation. In short, electrification is a story about a better future.

While attuned to this human story of electrification, Griffith is, at heart, an engineer so it’s no surprise that The Wires That Bind is packed full of figures. Emissions are carved up, the grid is mapped and fossil machines are counted. This achieves Griffith’s goal of “clarity about the job in front of us” and complements his persuasive case for electrifying everything. The question that remains is: how can the transition best be accelerated and steered towards just and enduring outcomes?

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REVS project completion

This week marked the completion of the REVS project – the largest demonstration of vehilce-to-grid technology in Australia and foundational research on the integration of electric vehicles into the grid and people’s lives.

Some of the media stories from the wrap up event below:

“An immense amount of competition:” V2G charging station costs set to plummet

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8140475/powering-the-future-with-your-next-ev-takes-a-step-forward/

Electric vehicles: Batteries on wheels can make grid smaller, says network owner

A provocation – Who will drive Vehicle-to-Grid?

A “provocation” is my new favorite form of publication!

This article in Utility Magazine was a real pleasure to write and condenses many recent discussions.

Our main takeaway is this: “Our experience to date suggests that V2G may stand to be of greatest attraction “for the grid” and that there is much to be done “by the grid” to accelerate this innovation becoming a seamless part of the electric vehicle experience.”

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Overwhelming interest in EVs for remote communities

In response to the incredible media interest in our recent paper on electric vehicles in remote Australia – with the second most media stories that the journal Australian Geographer has ever generated in it’s 94 year history – the publishers have lifted the paywall to make the full article available for free until the end of Oct.

So if want to look behind the headline, now’s your chance https://lnkd.in/dvF7FKxi

Exploring the feasibility of electric vehicle travel for remote communities in Australia

New paper out today showing that current EVs would be able to service the vast majority (93%+) of residents of remote communities in northern Australia (under simplified assumptions).

My take aways:

  • We cannot leave these communities out of our clean transport plans (as we did with clean electricity) – they are not in the “too hard basket”
  • If EVs can service trips in remote communities their ranges are likewise sufficient for regional communities – who too have received less support for electrification
  • Charging infrastructure – especially in regional and remote service towns – is now the missing piece of the puzzle

The media’s takes:

  • The Guardian “Regional residents at risk of being ‘last people in the world’ driving petrol cars due to misconception electric vehicle batteries lack range” (a stretch perhaps)
  • Cosmos Magazine “Electrification shouldn’t ignore remote communities.” (nailed it!)

Article is here and abstract and link to free to access pre-print are below

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FACTS – a Framework for an Australian Clean Transport Strategy

I was part of a team of 18 independent experts (academics) who developed a comprehensive framework for decarbonising the Australian transport sector in a manner consistent with international best practice (eg shifting trips to public and active transport) and climate science to keep warming within 1.5d.

Below are some takeout snapshots. The full report is available at transportfacts.org and a summary was published in The Conversation.

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