The amount of detailed real-time data a smart grid needs to manage the push for electrification and renewables presents challenges – but there’s an affordable solution.
In some cases, adding a battery to your rooftop solar system will pay off. But to be sure of this, households need information about many factors – and there’s no single reliable place to find it.
A heater with a 300-litre tank can store as much energy as a home battery at a fraction of the cost. Being able to store surplus solar energy at the right times helps grid stability and cuts emissions.
The transformation of the national electricity market has “progressed at a remarkable pace and scale” over the last year as it moves towards renewables, but security remains a critical issue.
Our smartphones are made by rare earth metals, and consume large amounts of electricity.
Katie McLean / Author provided
Last year, it was estimated data centres around the world generated the same amount of carbon emissions as created by the global airline industry’s fuel usage.
Policymakers need to be smart about the smart meter rollout.
AAP Image/David Crosling
You may already have a smart meter at home, which monitors your electricity use at 30-minute intervals. But until you can access that data yourself, you could be missing out on the best power deals.
Cutting energy use takes more than just the flick of a smartphone.
3dfoto/shutterstock.com
Smart appliances, which let you control lights and power outlets via your phone, promise to cut energy bills. But research suggests these gadgets are confusing, and can just as easily raise power use.
Was Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly right about the relative cost of electricity in Australia and the US?
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
As more states legalize marijuana, growing pot indoors is consuming massive quantities of energy. Rules for this new industry should include requirements to use clean power or pay carbon fees.
The long view: Australia is bidding to boost energy productivity by 40% by 2030, but other countries are already doing more.
Mattingbn/Wikimedia Commons
Australia’s federal government wants to boost ‘energy productivity’ by 40% by 2030. A good idea, but the plan needs to cut energy use, not just deliver more economic bang for the energy buck.
Powering into the night. The Drax plant in Yorkshire.
Gareth Davies
Winter is coming. And the UK has a real chance of [brownouts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout_(electricity) or even blackouts from lack of power. The long predicted capacity crunch in electric power…
Water storage is used to smooth the output from hydroelectric power - but it can be used with other renewables too.
Martin Kraft/Wikimedia Commons
More and more renewable energy sources are being plugged into Australia’s electricity grids. South Australia, for example, will get 40% of its electricity from wind and solar once the Snowtown wind farm…
Better appliances and energy-efficiency rules saved Australians more than A$3 billion on electricity last year alone.
Shutterstock
The latest review of Australia’s energy-saving appliance scheme has delivered a rare trifecta: a good news story for the economy, the community and the environment. According to my estimates from data…
Amazon data centres like these power the internet.
Eric Hunsaker
Mark Skilton, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
Environmental group Greenpeace has slammed Amazon for its environmental practices in its latest report on the green credentials of the technology industry. Greenpeace is concerned that Amazon Web services…