Angus Taylor MP recently released his overdue environmental/ transport plan for Australia. Technology Investment Roadmap, A framework to accelerate low emissions technologies

I have followed Tesla and the electric vehicle market for a number of years. In that time i have become a fan of the new and evolving companies. I continue to watch as they strive to become leaders in the field of renewables and electric vehicles. 

However, my own country, does not see transitioning to renewables as a priority. Yet, they have been party to the pollution by providing the resources to burn.

Jo Biden

Since American President Joe Biden has taken office, he has made it very clear that the USA will again be leading by example. When it comes to the environment and electrification of the transport industry America is leading from the front. 

In his first couple of weeks, he has mandated that all government vehicles will become electric vehicles. That’s a total of 645000 vehicles.

Norway

Norway has for many years been the leader in the uptake of electric vehicles and transitioning to sustainable energy production. With an average annual amount of sunlight in one of their cities, “Oslo”, seeing sun hours of 1690 hours. In comparison Perth in Western Australia gets 3212 hours of sun a year. Australia can do more.

Norway, a country that sees almost half the amount of sunlight of Australia. It has transitioned to almost all of its electricity generation being done by renewables. Australia can do more

Norway utilizes wind, solar and hydroelectric options. Australia suggests Gas recovery. We can do more.

New Zealand

Closer to home New Zealand has become a leader in the renewables and transition to EV’s as well. New Zealand is looking to the future and leading the way in uptake of electric vehicles within our region. Recently the New Zealand government declared a Climate Emergency. This declaration is not just words on a page. 

The Prime Minister and the government have followed this declaration with a number of specific actions. This is designed to help kick start the process of undoing what the environment has had done to it over the many decades.

•  (https://thedriven.io/2020/12/08/new-zealand-mandates-electric-vehicles-only-for-all-government-departments/
• https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/OrderPaper_20201202/12af3d67e35a1a7b17a7ff8370e2044608adfd07

It does seem strange that just a short 3-hour flight from New Zealand is Australia. A country that has large areas of land that could easily be used to help generate many and varied types of energy from renewable sources. 

Australia

So, a country that has an abundance of sunlight including resources that can help to build, store and distribute electricity without the use of coal, oil or gas has decided that a gas lead recovery of the economy is essential. 

Australia was once known as the lucky country, a place of prosper and wealth. A place of sunshine and fun, and a place with some of the deadliest animals in the world. 

We as a country cannot stand by while the rest of the world shifts all their thinking to focus on transitioning to renewable energy production and increase the uptake of electric vehicles. 

Instead, we have a prime minister that puts his worth in a lump of coal and believes that electric vehicles are not as capable as Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles. 

Power generation

Power generation in Australia is mainly produced by coal powered power stations. In 2019 it was reported by Energy.gov.au (https://www.energy.gov.au/data/electricity-generation ) that 79% of electricity generation was produced by fossil fuels including Coal, Oil and Gas.  Coal, Oil and Gas, all non-renewable resources that pollute the air we breathe and environment from where it is taken.  

There is a saying that goes something like we should “Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best. (Robert Baden-Powell)

This is truer today than it has ever been before. I hope that the prime minister of Australia starts to think about this more than the people influencing his and his cabinets decision making when discussing the future of renewables and electric vehicles.

Technology Investment Road Map

Angus Taylor MP provided the following update in his strategy for Technology investment road map (A framework for low emissions technologies.)

In the transport sector, hybrids, alternative fuels and electric vehicles present opportunities to improve road transport efficiency and reduce emissions, although pre-2030 abatement potential is limited by the turnover of Australia’s light vehicle fleet (average age of 10 years) and the readiness of these technologies to support emissions reduction in the heavy vehicle fleet. 

Both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are predicted to experience increasing uptake. While sometimes seen as competing technologies, they each meet specific consumer and industry needs. For example, fuel cells are considered more readily scalable to bigger vehicles, heavier loads and longer distances such as in long-haul transport.12 Current battery technology constraints suggest BEVs are more likely to be suited to personal use and light commercial vehicles, particularly back-to-base fleets. 

Refuelling and broader transport infrastructure will continue to evolve with the changing composition of Australia’s transport fleet. The Roadmap will complement other initiatives, such as the forthcoming National 

It is interesting that it mentions Hybrids as one of the first options for vehicles then goes on to say that Battery Electric vehicles being one of the best options for suited to personal use. 

This sounds all very reasonable except actions speak louder than words and the current discussion in different states like NSW and SA is the introduction of taxes rather than incentives. 

Work together

There needs to be clear leadership in the space of uptake of electric vehicles just like there is in New Zealand. Australia needs to work alongside other governments who are promoting the uptake of renewable technologies for the improvement of the environment.

We need to look abroad and see the good work that is being done to drive our cities, towns and residents towards an uptake of renewables like solar and battery storage and help to create market opportunities both through incentives and business assists to create a more competitive market and price for Battery Electric vehicles. 

Look to the future

The quote from Robert Baden Powell suggests that for us as a society to move beyond our current situation we need to look forward not back. Currently the Australian government is only looking back to what they had and not looking forward to what could be.

It would seem that nothing is being considered for the generations ahead and instead it is all consideration for the big oil and coal companies that seem to be getting away with whatever they want because the government takes a slice. 

It is time to change the story and direction that Australia is taking. Time is running out; we are becoming complacent assisters to those who continue to pollute the air we breathe. 

Transitioning to electric, wind and Hydro is the first step in making the future we now dread better than what we had dreamed.

If we act now, we can also be proud and feel satisfied that we made the hard decision when it was the least popular, we chose to stand tall and help rather than hinder. 

It is time that we each start to look at what we can do to help the future generations, our kids’ generation, to look better than what it does now. 

Don’t be that person who is confronted by their kids asking, “Why did you not do anything?” 

#timetolead

Prime minister Scott Morrison it is #timetolead. You have the ability to be courageous and set the targets and look at the future beyond the haze of the bushfires, heat waves and 100-year storms that happen almost every other year and look to the possibilities of what is able to be achieved. You have the power to start the journey to lead us back towards the clear air. As Robert Baden Powell said make sure “you have not wasted your time but have done your best”.

Dave