It’s time to get SwitchedOn and kick gas out of the system: Our future depends on it

Ignore the scare campaign from the increasingly desperate, and ruthless, fossil fuel industry: The big bad Greenies are not going to storm into your house to take away the BBQ.

But the world is transitioning to an all-electric future, and over the next 20 years we will all be on a journey to electrify everything – our homes, our cars, and our businesses.

Electrification is now acknowledged by Australia’s, and the world’s energy experts as being essential for the world to get to zero emissions in the fastest possible time. And that, given the extraordinary spree of temperature records and extreme weather around the world, has never been more important.

Electrification, it is now clear, is the cheapest way to run our homes and businesses, and how consumers can have the biggest and fastest impact on climate this decade.

And consumers have the power to act, and the power to create change. Australia’s massive uptake of rooftop solar has spelt the death-knell for coal fired generation. The next phase, to electrify everything, will be the end of gas.

It’s not just cheaper, it’s also going to cut emissions. Our world has been built around fossil fuels and combustion, and while it’s been important for economic growth in past decades, we’re now realising just how inefficient and how damaging, and that there is an alternative.

The IEA has acknowledged in its net zero emissions by 2050 scenario, the very minimum needed to arrest runaway global warming, that the majority of emissions reductions from electrification come from the shift towards electric transport and the installation of heat pumps.

This graph below highlights the difference in emissions from all electric homes and dual fuel homes in Australia. It’s a no-brainer in all states, with the possible exception of Victoria, and that will change as its dirty grid, still dominated by brown coal, goes green. Victoria is aiming for 95 per cent renewables by 2035.

But how do we electrify everything?

RenewEconomy.com.au has been tracking the green energy transition for more than a decade, and over the next 6 months we’ll be publishing a special series about electrification called SwitchedOn. 

SwitchedOn will show how Australia can electrify – we’ll look at the opportunities that an all-electric future can provide, as well as the myriad challenges, including the myths and misinformation that stand in the way of Australia’s electrification journey. 

The series will include news and analysis, explainers, mythbusters, electric bytes and podcasts. We’ll hear from researchers, energy nerds, government, community leaders, company executives, as well as individuals and communities who are making the switch.

We’ll also be tracking the role of government. So far, only the ACT – with a Labor government dependent on Greens support – has had the foresight, and the gumption, to go tell fossil fuels to take a hike.

It has already gone 100 per cent renewables for its electricity grid, and has banned new gas installations, and given a 22 year notice to stop burning fossil fuels. Other states need to follow.

The project is being led by Anne Delaney and will draw on the resources of RenewEconomy and its EV-focused sister site, The Driven. Over time, electrification will be one of the cornerstone themes of RenewEconomy and One Step Off the Grid. It already is at The Driven.

We have some fascinating new content this week to kick off the series. And it will be updated regularly. You can sign up for the free weekly newsletter to keep in touch.

This week:

• Why new gas connections should be banned – the importance of governments setting dates for getting off gas
• ‘Heat pumps are the most efficient heating technology ever invented’ – a podcast interview with Dr Jan Rosenow from global energy think tank, Regulatory Assistance Project, about energy demand in an all-electric future, efficiency, and heat pumps
• Myths about electrification – we set the story straight on what electrification can and can’t do
• Car owners could save $10,000 if Australia had strong fuel standards – Australia is one of the few developed countries still without fuel standards and is missing out on electric transport opportunities 
• How I fully electrified my home – Rob Asselman turns the downside of a failed gas hot water system into an all-electric opportunity
• Gas cooking worse than passive smoking – with evidence mounting about the adverse health impacts of gas in the home it’s time to look at the new electric alternatives

You can find the SwitchedOn series at our new sub-site www.switchedon.reneweconomy.com.au

If you have a suggestion for a story, or would like to contribute a story, you can contact us at switchedon@reneweconomy.com.au