renewable energy Archives - Darryn Van Hout

Richard Branson’s Take on Climate Change

Darryn Van Hout — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 06:25:30 +0000

Let me incept this piece with a quote from the British magnate and billionaire, Sir Richard Branson, which goes, “whatever your goal is, you will never succeed unless you let go of your fears and fly.”

Love him or hate him, Sir Richard Branson is by all measure, a master of success with unstoppable entrepreneurial zeal that has given him an edge across many different niches.

The multi-billionaire philanthropist and founder of a slew of diverse companies under the umbrella of the Virgin Group—Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, Virgin Cruises, Virgin Express, Virgin Hotels, Virgin Mobile and recently Virgin Galactic, has built an amazing life and credits this to a simple philosophy he applies daily—love others, be grateful for all you have, be kind and be mindful. And oh, “Never say no, but just keep going until you succeed.“

But surprisingly…..

It’s not just his ability to succeed in the business space that makes him special. Sir Richard Branson has built himself a solid name thanks to his quest to make a difference on Earth—something that he says has driven his achievements and helped built a multi-billion dollar empire in a single lifetime.

Richard Branson and Renewable Energy

Now one of the wealthiest and most influential British men in the world, Sir Richard is truly making that difference in the renewable energy space, especially after finding himself under siege during a Hurricane Irma event that had him hunkered down in his vast wine cellar whereas the Category 5 storm ripped through his private island.

For the duration of that bad weather event, the Virgin boss had to dash to his concrete shelter with his family and staff as winds with speeds of 185 mph tracked over Caribbean’s Necker Island.

“Earth is astoundingly beautiful, it needs to be protected.”
Sir Richard Branson

While Mr Branson seems to be perpetually a happy-mode man and of course a die-hard fan of outlandish hobbies, he has actually expressed his connection to climate change.

Branson Calls Upon the Australian Government

During a Tuesday morning conference in Sydney, Sir Richard Branson asked Australia to lead the way in renewables.

At the event, the amazing Sir Richard called on the Australian government to put an end to export of coal given its contribution to global warming.

“I’m afraid that Australia must stop selling coal overseas to China and it must stop using coal in Australia. It is the most damaging thing that it can do.”

“I would suggest the Australian government create a revolution in clean energy, which can create thousands more jobs than coal could ever produce.”

The business tycoon proposes a scheme where all companies will be required to work out their net carbon footprint and pay a certain percentage of their revenue that will be channeled towards supporting clean energy initiatives.

“Unlike a carbon tax, that would create a revolution in clean energy, with trillions going into clean energy,” he noted.

“It’s going to need the world to take this problem very very seriously,” he said.

“I think the government of Australia should do a lot more and coal is definitely, I’m afraid, something that should be a thing of the past.”

The Noble Approach to Climate Change

The 69-year old Branson practices what he preaches and advised that the right decisions aren’t always the easy ones as he cited a rather “painful” decision to decline a billion dollars worth of funding by the Saudi Arabian government for his space program—Virgin Galactic. The offer came immediately after the murder of the French journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

According to the business mogul, it was time for the corporate world to create an “entrepreneurial way of addressing climate change that doesn’t have the negative effects that carbon tax has had in the past – which obviously brought down the Australian government.”

The proposed scheme, he emphasized, was all simple.

“Every company that emits carbon should work out its carbon footprint, and then a percentage of their turnover or profits relating to that footprint will not just be sent to the government to be lost in the coffers. 100 per cent will be spent on clean energy initiatives.”

He added that if all companies were to strictly adhere to these noble rules then “we would have trillions and trillions going into clean energy and very quickly.“

Richard Branson Guilt Tripping the Aviation Industry

The philanthropic Virgin Group boss has pledged three billion dollars over the next decade to go towards efforts to mitigate global warming.

While the aviation industry contributes about 2 percent to the global carbon emissions, Virgin Australia’s co-founder Richard Branson says it’s time for airlines to reduce their carbon footprints or actually risk a reprehensible backlash from passengers.

The prodigy of “flight shame” was on the rise especially in Europe and the phenomena have seen passengers stop flying with certain airlines due to guilt over the effects on the environment.

“It’s up to us companies to get our footprint down and down and down, so people don’t feel guilty,” he stated.

“If any industry doesn’t get their act together on carbon, there is the risk that consumers will act badly against them – and they deserve to be acted badly against,” Sir Richard stated on Thursday.

The billionaire businessman who is such a success today also owns a 10 per cent share in Virgin Australia and the man behind UK’s Virgin Atlantic carrier noted that sustainability should be a top priority for every company and airline.

“Every consumer in [the modern world is informed] and makes up their own mind on things like that,” the Virgin boss remarked in Brisbane while promoting Virgin Australia’s newly introduced route to Haneda Airport in Tokyo which is set to commence in March 2020.

The Virgin Approach

Virgin Australia’s rival Qantas has pledged to eliminate its long-term carbon emissions to zero by year 2050 using a winning combination of fuel efficiency and “off-setting” schemes like tree planting.

Virgin Australia is yet to decide whether it would match its rival’s new commitment to cut its emissions. As it is now, Virgin Australia has used diverse fuel efficiency plans to mitigate its annual carbon emissions by 9 million kilograms.

Last August, the company installed “split scimitar winglets” to its aircraft of which the company claims will save up to 160,000 kilograms of fuel per plane each year.

Already, the Virgin founder is testing newly recycled aviation fuel for use in his airlines but insists that governments ought to do more too.

“What would happen is the price of clean energy would drop dramatically, and stay down forever. It will never go back up again.”

“That’s something I’ll be talking to the Australian government about,” also noting that the prominent Australian scientist Tim Flannery had reached out to him, lauding the idea.

So, What’s Next on Richard Branson’s Agenda?

Sir Richard looks forward to conquering both the oceans and space.

He recently affirmed Virgin’s plans to launch a cruise line—Virgin Oceanic, despite heated concerns in recent years over the industry’s pollution but he promised that Virgin would do “everything possible, plus more.”

“With brand new ships and brand new technology, we can lower our footprint,” Virgin Voyages CCO Nirmal Saverimuttu noted.

For now, Sir Richard’s eyes are set on space and he’s already at it—training hard to become an astronaut as he prepares to travel to space in the near future through his innovative Virgin Galactic venture.

And how does he consider claims that he’s given up on planet Earth? According to him, it’s all hogwash.

“I think Earth is all we’ve really got,” he stated.

“I think this idea that we are going to go and colonise Mars or the Moon and therefore we don’t really need Earth anymore is rubbish.”

The “Earth is astoundingly beautiful, it needs to be protected,” he concluded.

The post Richard Branson’s Take on Climate Change appeared first on Darryn Van Hout.

Behind the Scenes of the Solar Storage Revolution

Darryn Van Hout — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 23:50:24 +0000

Battery storage is increasingly becoming an attractive and viable option for homes in Australia. The disruptive technology, which is moving faster than expected, is set to revolutionize the way Aussies access electricity–helping more homes to stay independent of the national grid.

Storage batteries are indeed the holy grail of renewable energy and a significant element to the massive transition from fossil fuels. The lithium-ion battery to be precise is the future that is already here with us, a power revolution for our homes.

The storage device, the home battery, is taking power back to the consumer. With Australia being at the forefront of this energy revolution; you too need one of these to experience the potential of a 24-hour renewable power.

An Energy Revolution On The Horizon

While buying home energy storage systems was in the past, an option for most Australians, the batteries and other storage components have been cumbersome, expensive and difficult to operate and maintain. This is one of the reasons why residential energy storage has, up until now been largely confined to storage buffs and off-grid applications.

But, the emergence of the lithium-ion batteries and related technology is shifting all that. The next gen energy storage is expected to be cheaper, better and streamlined. In the near future, plug-and-play, set and forget battery storage for homes will become commonplace in Australian households that use solar.

Benefits Of The Lithium-ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries come in almost any device you can think of – tablets, power tools, cell phones, notebook computers, and electric cars. They have some inherent features that make them distinct from the wet-cell lead acid batteries like those found in your car. These features include:

Lighter
Higher energy density
Lower maintenance
Lower self-discharge
Increased cycle life
No “memory effect”

Battery Storage To Provide ‘zero dollar’ power bills

According to a report by the Climate Council of Australia, a combination of solar panels and home battery storage will be the cheapest way for Australians to power their homes and businesses.

With home battery storage estimated to grow 50-fold in the next 10 years, the report dubbed the Powerful Potential: Battery Storage for Renewable Energy and Electric Cars, predicts that as early as 2018, going off-grid will be cost-competitive with staying connected. The report further indicates that as the feed-in tariffs (FITs) are phased out and grid electricity cost increases, Australia could become the leading market for the solar storage within the same period.

“Anyone who has PV [photovoltaic cells] on their roof knows they’re paid a fraction – maybe a tenth – of what it costs them to buy power off the grid,” the Climate Council’s Andrew Stock said.

“If they have a tool, a battery, that can allow them to store the surplus power during the day and use it at night, it means they’re going to get greater control than they already have over their power bill.”

Bottom line…How Much Will It Cost?

Up until early last year, the cost of a seven kilowatt battery together with an inverter and installation was way above $15,000. However, in the past few months, prices have dropped rapidly by more than a third. The cost is expected to drop drastically with time.

Analysts predict that by 2020, the prices of storage batteries will have fallen and grid-supplied power charges will rise to a level that will make batteries the mainstream solar storage device. This will lead to lower power bills resulting savings in hundreds of thousands of dollars for consumers.

Why Australia Is Predicted To Adopt Home Battery Storage Faster

Half of all Australian households are expected to take up solar systems coupled with home battery storage, creating a potential market growth of $24 billion. Of course, this technology will be disruptive to network operators in the market, and in fact, some companies are already adjusting their power prices to discourage coupling of solar and battery.

The land under has a unique confluence. The country enjoys a lot of sunshine, has a tech-savvy community, its electricity costs have skyrocketed over time, and has a population that really wants immediate change in the energy industry.

“This is perverse, because battery systems, coupled with PV, can actually help networks get much better use out of their assets by smoothing out the demand on the grid,” the Climate Council’s Andrew Stock added.

“That should mean that network companies don’t need to invest anywhere near as much at adding capacity in the future, and they get better use out of the existing capacity.”

Understanding The Grid’s Superstructure

Australia has three main electricity grids- one in WA, another in the Northern Territory, and the Eastern Seaboard grid, which is currently the largest interconnected electricity system in the whole world. This is really complex and one hell of a job managing it.

Mention the term grid and what comes to the minds of most Aussies is energy storage—where power generated from coal or gas is stored and used as needed. Unfortunately, that’s not how the traditional grid works. Apparently, there’s little electricity storage. Generally, demand is met by turning up or down the power stations just the way we turn on or off our lights. However, with the grid, operators have to get it right on a minute-by-minute basis otherwise too much power would blow up our power poles and not enough power would mean blackout. And of course, when the safety mechanisms kick in, so does blackout.

So, how does this massive network keep accurate pace with our modern lives? Well, it takes a complex interaction between grid operators and power generators, all which work through the National Electricity Market (NEM).

What This Means For Power Consumers

This simply means that the more electricity people use, the more expensive it becomes. Based on demand, NEM, the wholesale price for electricity can either go up or down. Everything seems to be under control right now, but what if the energy consumption spikes instantly? Fortunately, the Snowy Hydro Scheme as well as the gas-fired plants can respond immediately to prevent a blackout. All they have to do is twist the tap up and more power is instantly churned out—at the end of the day, they earn a special premium for this. Now, this is where your battery storage comes in handy as a solution to earn you money.
Battery storage is an important element of the switch to renewable energy. As more renewable power is added into the system, the general influx of intermittent energy complicates further the management of the grid.

South Australia for example has encountered situations where more renewable energy is produced than what people require. The only option has been to export the excess power to others states like Victoria. If this was the case across the entire country, then there would be no place to export this power other than the batteries. Solar battery storage is expected to redefine the energy space. The home batteries are a fundamental game changer and part of the revolution predicted to make renewable power a 24-hour power. These devices will:

Smooth out the grid
Store excess power
Rapidly release power when needed

With over 1.4 million households in Australia having installed solar panels, topping this with battery storage would create the biggest power station in the country’s system.

Energy experts always told us that solar is good, wind is good, but they were not base load power. Well, he lithium-ion storage battery simply that; a battery revolution with base load power.

Want Solar Battery Storage?

You’re not alone—lots of Australian households are already embracing the battery storage to reduce their daily dependence on the conventional power companies that have for decades controlled and manipulated them.

Previously, consumers would pump their excess energy into the grid and get paid seven cents a kilowatt hour. They would buy the same electricity four times this price. With the lithium battery, you’ll earn more money without doing anything except exporting excess power to the grid.

In Summary

Well, this is where we are now. Batteries are the thing that is bringing the ultimate revolution to the 24-hour renewable energy. Fossil fuels will have to go, and with the solar storage, you and your family will contribute to the future we all want.

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