Sep 28
The Guardian, 28 September 2017
EasyJet could be flying planes powered by batteries rather than petroleum to destinations including Paris and Amsterdam within a decade. The UK carrier has formed a partnership with US firm Wright Electric, which is developing a battery-propelled aircraft for flights under two hours.
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The Conversation, 27 September 2017
Governments at all levels invest a lot in greening Australian suburbs. Yet, in a recent report, we show that the greening efforts of most of our metropolitan local governments are actually going backwards.
This is a puzzle, as greening has clear environmental and economic benefits. The environmental benefits are obvious and relatively easy to count. For private home owners, numerous studies have linked greening to a range of economic benefits from energy savings to higher house prices. So how do we explain the loss of green cover?
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REnew economy, 22 September 2017
Australia set a new record for wind energy production on August 16, producing an average 3,629MW over one 30 minute settlement period to the National Electricity Market (which doesn’t include W.A. or the Northern Territory). The record, noted by Hugh Saddler in The Australia Institute-sponsored monthly update of emissions and energy supply, meant that wind energy counted for more than 17 per cent of total grid demand.
REnew economy, 26 September 2017
Elon Musk has a busy month in front of him, as he usually does. This Friday, he will address a space industry conference in Adelaide about his plans for human life on Mars, and then is widely expected to deliver some major news on the Tesla big battery at the Hornsdale wind farm later that evening. A month later, Musk will unveil the latest of his technology developments that promise to turn an existing industry upside down – the Tesla Semi, a very big electric truck.
WA Today, 26 September 2017
Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, apologised in an open letter Monday for the company’s “mistakes,” after the transport authority for London said last week that it would not renew the ride-hailing service’s license to operate in the city. “While Uber has revolutionised the way people move in cities around the world, it’s equally true that we’ve got things wrong along the way,” Khosrowshahi wrote. “On behalf of everyone at Uber globally, I apologise for the mistakes we’ve made.”
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ABC News, 19 September 2017
Have you ever walked past (or tripped over) a shared bike and wondered how it’s possible for the business to survive with a ride costing as little as $2 per half hour? While bike share schemes attract controversy in some places, the economic models behind such schemes actually have more to do with data mining, advertising and turning a profit from interest on the deposits than from the bike rental itself.
The Conversation, 19 September 2017
The Airbnb and empty house phenomena and their presumed links to housing and rental prices have attracted considerable media and political attention. The ABC points to the “dark side” of Airbnb and its effect on long-term rental prices. Empty houses are being linked to higher housing prices and to foreign investment, most often Chinese investment. The Australian headlines that “China buyers raise ghost town fears”. The Commonwealth and state governments are seeking to regulate the phenomena. It is questionable whether they should and even whether they understand the data and trends.
The Queensland Cycling Strategy sets the direction for encouraging more cycling, more often throughout Queensland. It is accompanied by an action plan and Queensland State of Cycling Report, which will be updated every two years to help us prioritise our efforts and respond to changes that impact cycling in Queensland.
ReNew Economy, 14 September 2017
The chair of Australia’s newly formed Energy Security Board, Dr Kerry Schott, has stressed the importance of demand response in meeting the nation’s energy security and affordability needs, telling ABC Radio that if we could harness the technology effectively, we could “all stop worrying about building new plants of any description.”
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ReNew Economy, 13 September 2017
Spring is barely two weeks old and the sun had yet to pass the spring equinox (September 23), but already South Australia has set a new record low for electricity demand from the grid, thanks to its increasing supply of rooftop solar PV. The record low demand – 786MW – was reached around 2pm on Sunday and was cited by Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Audrey Zibelman as an example of how the grid is transforming.
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