Study: Australians can be sustainable without sacrificing lifestyle or economy
A sustainable Australia is possible – but we have to choose it. That’s the finding of a paper published in Nature. The paper is the result of a larger project to deliver the first Australian National Outlook report, more than two years in the making, which CSIRO is also releasing today. As part of this analysis […]
Get more out of your solar power system by using water as a battery
When the sun shines at its brightest, many of Australia’s solar panels generate more electricity than they use. When this happens, excess electricity is exported to the grid. In the old days (say, about 2009), most would be pretty happy with this, given that in Victoria, for example, it would have earned them up to […]
Hot summer nights, and cold winter evenings: how to be comfortable and save money all year long
Every summer, the number of Australian homes equipped with air conditioners goes up and up. Recent statistics show that 74% of Australian homes – 6.6 million so far – have some form of air conditioning. This stands to reason because our summers are becoming hotter and hotter while we increasingly demand constant comfort. At the […]
The hidden energy cost of smart homes
Light globes that change colour with the tap of an app, coffee machines you can talk to, and ovens that know exactly how long to cook your food: our homes are getting smart. These devices, just a few examples of what is known as “the internet of things” (or IOT), have been called the “next […]
