Previously I’ve written how blending hydrogen into the fossil gas grid is being used as a “ Trojan horse ” by Australia’s incumbent and foreign-owned gas distributors in order to sustain their business-as-usual. Worryingly, in their recently-released Gas Substitution Roadmap , the Victorian government is inviting that Trojan horse into Victoria. I worry because overseas, detailed analysis warns that forcing hydrogen into the gas grid is another delay tactic, a diversion, distracting us from investing in real climate solutions like electrifying our homes.
Friendly plumbers – no body armour required
Recently in Albury (NSW), I was invited to present on electrifying (getting the gas out of) Victorian homes to an unlikely audience: the Plumbing Sheetmetal Coopersmith Instructors Association ( PSCIA ), aka the people that train the plumbers. I thank them for the opportunity. The organisers were wise enough to see that the all-electric home is now a popular thing in Australia. It’s a topic appearing more and more in mainstream news articles. PSCIA members were keen to figure out what plumbing trainees might need to know about this growing trend. Worryingly, the PSCIA conference organisers warned me I had about as much chance as Ned Kelly of leaving that part of the world in one piece, were I to declare that the practice of piping gas into homes was past its […]