Australia’s electric vehicle numbers doubled last year. What’s the impact of charging them on a power grid under strain?

By Thara Philip, The University of Queensland; Andrea La Nauze, The University of Queensland, and Kai Li Lim, The University of Queensland The number of electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia doubled in 2022 and Tesla’s Model 3 emerged as the best-selling mid-size car, the first time an EV has held this title. Despite these headlines,…

Electric aviation startup to complete MVP build this month (podcast)

Dovetail Electric Aviation began in 2021 and is chasing a market estimated at $US 15 billion for retrofitting electric propulsion systems onto small airplanes. Brent Balinski spoke to co-founder Rachael Barritt about their story so far. A bit over two years ago, this website reported with sadness that MagniX – an Australian-born world-leader in electric…

Researchers see 14-fold improvement in hydrogen production by adding soundwaves to electrolysis

An RMIT University team that has developed a new technique using sound waves to greatly boost the output of hydrogen from electrolysers is currently seeking industry partners to scale up the invention. According to a statement from the university on Tuesday, the researchers had achieved a 14-fold improvement in hydrogen production through electrolysis.  The sound…

To start cutting gas and electricity prices, here’s what the government looks likely to deliver by Christmas

By Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he’ll have a system in place to deal with rising energy prices by Christmas. He can’t yet tell us what it will be, because that will depend on the outcome of negotiations with gas and electricity companies, and possibly on…