We’re being urged to go all-electric. Saul Griffith in The Big Switch, and the website Rewiring Australia, argue that we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels to address climate change and energy security.

They advocate for the gas that runs home heating, hot water, vehicles, manufacturing, even the bar-b-que, to be urgently replaced with electricity, particularly if that’s made green.

Gas out, electrons in. Excellent idea; except it’s not happening any time soon, as it founders on the reality of urban development.

The first problem is the sheer penetration of natural gas. Ever since the Gas and Fuel Corporation in Victoria partnered with A.V. Jennings for our first model project home, almost a hundred years ago, Sydney and Melbourne suburbia has relied on natural gas for the big energy uses of heating and hot water. That’s a lot of expensive change for individual consumers.

Moreover, it’s meant that electrical infrastructure, both generation and transmission, that was designed to partner with gas, is woefully inadequate if we are to electrify everything, with a doubling (or more) of power demand. Current energy is overly reliant on coal, as sustainable sources such as solar and wind are stalled, and the power lines just aren’t up for the extra loads.

In low density suburbia, this may be a lesser problem. Large houses with large roofs are ideal for solar PV, so their uptake, coupled with batteries, has been very high. This ‘on-site’ energy can substitute for the extra demand (on generation and distribution) that is needed when the gas tap is turned off.

The beauty of solar PV is that the energy is ‘pre-distributed’ and, as its use increases, particularly in community schemes, it could ultimately obviate the need to be tied back to any central form of generation.

So far so good, but big problem arises when increased density, through infill housing in ‘missing middle’ suburbia, is contemplated. There’s barely enough power in the existing grid for the existing detached homes once the gas is turned off, let alone the increased number of dwellings with townhouses and apartments.

The distribution grid can’t cope with the additional demand, so the energy supplier will require a substation, which ‘sucks’ more energy out of the poles and wires, rather than increasing supply. Substations are hideously expensive, not only for the initial costs ($250,000 for a kiosk), but the area required, including a ‘blast zone’, reduces the number of possible dwellings.

All of which is exacerbated by a reduced potential for on-site power as the number of dwellings increases. The bigger or taller the building, the smaller the roof area per dwelling, the less solar PV is possible, usually limited to lighting the common areas.

Then there is the issue of electric vehicles (EV), or rather the charging thereof. Again suburbia has advantages with on-site parking (garage, carport) with a weatherproof charger, and the possibility of solar PV. The car can even become a battery to power the house.

Not so easy for inner-city houses without off-street parking, where jerry-rigged cords are draped at over the front footpath to charge cars overnight. And the issues only multiply in existing strata titled buildings, with insufficient power for charge points for one or two cars, let alone equitably distributed for most residents.

The ‘let them eat cake’ moment for ICE lovers is to say: “use a public charger”. But Australia has far too few charge points in cities, let alone for travellers. The vast distances, and poor transmission lines that need upgrading for the extreme power needed, result in few market-based stations being established. Teslas are sometimes well catered for, but ‘supercharge’ points for other plug types (CC2 and CHAdeMO) are far less accommodated.

For example, in Canberra there are over 30 chargers for Teslas in 12 locations, both north and south, but only one location (with only two superchargers) for non-Teslas, and it’s located in the satellite town centre of Philip.

Finally, for an electric bar-b-que, isn’t that just an internal cooktop taken outside, so that men can get primal in burning sausages?

Next week: Design Notes.

This is Tone on Tuesday #205, 23 April 2024, written by Tone Wheeler, architect /Adjunct Prof UNSW /President AAA. The views expressed are his. Past Tone on Tuesday columns can be found here. You can contact TW at [email protected].