The Future Isn't as Bright As It Used to Be
Anthony Albanese was asked about the future of green energy just before he became Prime Minister. He told journalists …
“What does the future look like? And the future in many ways can be here right now. It’s solar panels on the roof, charing your vehicle for free overnight. That’s what it looks like. That’s what it looks like.”
Someone needs to tell the Prime Minister that the future is in no way “here right now”. It can’t be here right now. If the future is here right now it’s the present, not the future.
And if the future is today, then tomorrow the future is the past.
Honestly, I think a five watt globe is brighter than the PM sometimes.
His comments on today being the future make about as much sense as his enthusiasm for using solar panels to charge your car overnight.
Someone needs to tell the Prime Minister that it’s dark at night. Even on a clear night, there’s no sun to power anything. Solar panels don’t work in the dark.
Perhaps the Prime Minister will extend daylight savings so we can power our Teslas?
Is luna power about to be invented? Maybe the next generation of EVs will run on moon rays!
Okay, okay, I’m being facetious. Let’s get serious.
What if the solar panels on your roof are charging a battery during the day that then charges your car overnight? That could work.
Except that you’d need solar panels on your roof and on five of your neighbour’s roofs to power up the $65,000 Tesla that you can’t afford because you lost your job due to government vaccine mandates.
And what’s charging your refrigerator while all your solar panels are charging the battery that charges your car while it basks in the moonlight?
By the way, how does this work if you live in a block of flats? Will there be enough solar panels and battery storage for all residents to charge their EVs?
And what if you live in a tent? #askingforafriend
Honestly, the future isn’t as good as it used to be.
It is free, though. Right? He did say you’d be powering up your car for free.
Question …
If you’re using the solar panels on your neighbours’ roofs to charge your car for free, does that mean the electricity powering your fridge, and your lights, and your air con is also free?
Does all of this mean that if you own an EV you can go off the grid?
If any of this does work, the future - which is not today - looks like you regularly reporting how many kilometres you have driven in your eco-friendly, overnight charged electric vehicle so that the government can tax you.
EV owners with cars registered in Victoria have to send the state’s road authority a photo of their odometer readings to comply with the EV road tax.
Electric owners in Victoria are being slugged a tax of 2.5 cents per kilometre, meaning an annual bill of $375 for cars that travel around 15,000kms a year, and around $750 for electric cars that travel double that - if the solar panels on your roof will allow it.
But at least it’s free.
Any EV owner who does not comply with the request risks having their overnight powered car’s registration cancelled or suspended, or, ominously, something else.
VicRoads advised EV owners earlier in the year …
“Failure to comply may result in your vehicle registration being suspended or cancelled, or other penalties.”
We can only hope “other penalties” does not mean being forced to listen to the PM talk about the future.
Speaking of the future, the International Energy Agency has predicted a worldwide lithium shortage by 2025. They have also said there is not enough global lithium deposits to power anywhere near the number of cars that would be required to replace internal combustion engines.
What does the future look like? It looks like you and I keeping a bus timetable handy!
Ohhh I am so so so sick of all this climate stuff. I am too old to be conned into thinking that weather should always be 'sunshine and oranges'. Solar is good for homes, until, we have rain, wind, cyclones (yasi) who would power Qld back in 2011. Yasi and her family members often come visiting and have done so for ever. My dad would always tell me about "Cyclone Mahina which was the deadliest cyclone in recorded Australian history, and also likely the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. Mahina struck Bathurst Bay, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, on 4 March 1899, and its winds and enormous storm surge combined to kill more than 300 people."(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Mahina) Dad heard it from the 'old boys' in Tully and it was talked about with awe... Yasi is our recent Qld deadly Cyclone. Climate has not changed. but the resilience of our Nations people has. funny story.... I was visiting my 89 yo mum at Tully Heads last weekend... she said to me "why do people think they can change the climate, just leave it alone".. :-) have a great day James. and thank you
I’m not sure the bus timetable will help either… what’s going to power the buses? Are they going electric too? Maybe we all need to invest in push bikes? Or horse and carriage? But that brings other issues.. stables, feed etc and then with more horses, who also fart like cows, the methane would be too much for the environment to cope with… hmmm? Best solution for transport? Cycling and walking, if you have legs that is.. because if don’t, then what?
Our world is getting ridiculous.. blah!