Let Me Sum Up

Come join us at Currently Speaking's trivia night!  Our friends at the Currently Speaking newsletter are putting on a trivia night in Melbourne on Wednesday, 23 October (on the evening of the first day of the All Energy Australia exhibition and conference). So you should get onto that, obviously. But if you are a Super Summerupperer (or ready to sign up) we have three spare tickets for the LMSU trivia team, and maybe they have your name on them! Just head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, make sure you are a paying subscriber, and answer this question: in 25 words or less, tell us what novel strategy Tennant should employ to get the Carbon Leakage Review second report released. The three most creative, least illegal answers get a ticket!

—

Luke and Frankie try to distract Tennant from his increasing desperation and dismay at the lack of CBAM content on the local menu, but happily your intrepid hosts have pathways-a-plenty to snack on with the Climate Change Authority publishing their final Sector Pathways Review! Feeding into the government’s work on the six sectoral decarbonisation plans, there is bottom-up and economy-wide modelling to consume. The TL;DR? A decent serve of residual emissions to net off, and engineered removals? We’ll need a fewwwwww!

And if you’re after more of a main course on CCA sector pathways, we recommend this fresh episode of First Fuel with Brad Archer: *chef’s kiss*

Our main paper

This week the LMSU crew sample some fine dining that Gill Armstrong, Joshua Danahay and Mia Dewar at Climateworks Centre have served up: a delightful degustation of home energy upgrades in their latest report, Enabling Australia’s home renovation wave. With three upgrade options across eight jurisdictions and sixty nine climate zones, your intrepid hosts had more than their fill of insulation packed options to improve Australia’s crappy old housing stock! A special hat tip to the team for their infographic game – it remains strong – and the interactive charts on the Climateworks website are especially worthy of your attention!

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: the new and improved National Hydrogen Strategy v2. Should National Hydrogen Strategy v1 impresario Alison Reeve come back on the podcast and critique v2? Well should she? You, chicken, Reeve? PLUS a shout out and congratulations to friends of the pod, Erwin Jackson and Gabrielle Wood on their recent nuptials! 

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a shout out for the just launched campaign “Renew Australia For All” which has some sharp asks for upgrades to Australian homes AND pod rec for The Rest Is Politics US with Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci.

Luke’s One More Thing is: NSW has a new Consumer Energy Strategy! And residential mandatory disclosure is a thing! For realsies this time!

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like our recent bonus episodes on US election shenanigans and closer to home, the passing of legislation for the Net Zero Economy Agency and Climate-related Financial Disclosures. You will also find things you didn’t know you wanted (weekly photos of Frankie’s uber cute doggo, Tennant’s cats, cyber punk cosplay outfits and a general #GoodTime). Don’t be shy! Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

Your intrepid hosts open with some ill considered commitments on BoCo that will(?) be made available on the Patreon (who doesn’t love a cyberpunk-doggo mash up), barely mention the actual bonus episode we released last week (see above) before wading into the inviting waters of AEMO’s latest Electricity Statement of Opportunities. So what does 2024 ESOO have to say for itself? Everything is now terrific, reliability wise! OR IS IT??!! 

This year’s ESOO leads with the good news picture but *warning* we still need to read carefully and while some big projects have been approved (oh hi HumeLink!), we should be feeling the urgency of Getting Stuff Done. And that stuff MUST include energy performance retrofits of millions of Australian homes! Shout out Climateworks on their latest report, Enabling Australia’s home renovation wave, which has some great suggestions on that front.

Our main paper

Your intrepid hosts break down being down on emissions breaks with the hot new Science paper causing all the commotion in climate circles. Climate policies that achieved major emission reductions: Global evidence from two decades from Annika Stechemesser and collaborators, mainly from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, has more hot takes and fake takes than you can poke a stick at!  Listen on to hear ours - flaws we did find, it’s not all bad though - but also don’t just trust us! We reference some fantastic analysis of the paper from Emil Dimanchev which is well worth your time. Also, if Euler diagrams are your jam then this paper is for YOU.

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: the decision by Korea’s highest court to require the legislature to put forward 2030-50 interim climate targets PLUS a Brian Deese article in Foreign Affairs calling for a clean energy Marshall Plan.

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a note on some worrying signs of breaks to commitments towards net zero housing and future changes to the National Construction Code after the SA government pressed pause on further changes for the next ten years.

Luke’s One More Thing is: This article from Currently Speaking (and the associated impromptu reading list). 

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Episode Notes

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like our recent bonus episode on brat summer and US election implications for climate, as well as other savoury morsels like our notes on papers read, alternate paper titles and so so many custom memes. Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

After recent frolics in pre-and-post election climate speculation in the US and UK, your intrepid hosts turn their gaze to developments closer to home and ponder, could China be peaking its emissions early? We discuss this excellent article in Carbon Brief with data from respected China-watcher Lauri Myllyvirta. The short of it? It’s a complicated stew with a GIGANTIC cup of renewable energy growth, a generous dollop of post-COVID energy demand and a worrying scoop of coal-to-chemicals growth. 

Our main paper

Your intrepid hosts cross examine a bumper new report Global trends in climate litigation: 2024 snapshot from Joana Setzer and Catherine Higham from the London School of Economics' Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. This was a fascinating read on the many and varied approaches not-for-profits, governments and corporates are taking to litigating climate action, climate inaction and climate washing! Warning: contains SLAPP fights and green-on-green action.

One more things

Luke opens with some feedback from friend of the pod David McEwen. David thought we missed a trick around Frankie’s suggestion that it would take a while to replace budget revenue from fossil fuels and helpfully provided a link to an excellent paper from Paul J. Burke at the ANU Tax and Transfer Policy Institute which points out that our fossil fuel industry delivers <3% of combined state/territory and federal revenue. It shows the largest dependencies are coal royalties in QLD (Tennant has seen the ads to prove it!) and the federal fuel excise. Fair cop, we say, but even 3% would take some work to replace! Thanks for the support.

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a shout out for the FixIt Chicks, Jenny Edwards (notable energy efficiency expert and retrofit queen) and Lish Fejer (ABC journo and fabulous climate communicator) who’ve grown a cult following on their excellent insta full of handy reels on energy saving tips and tricks for the home. Love your work!

Tennant’s One More Thing is: a bold claim that the government’s nature positive reforms - even though they’ve been split into different stages with the truly difficult EPBC Act reform put off until after election - appear to be going nowhere fast! Stakeholders on all sides are not happy and things aren’t looking too good ahead of Australia hosting an international biodiversity summit.

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like our recent bonus episode on brat summer and US election implications for climate, as well as other savoury morsels like our notes on papers read, alternate paper titles and so so many custom memes. Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

After shamelessly spruiking our latest subscriber-only bonus content – LMSU speculation on the US election and its implications for mitigation – we pop across the pond to pick over the scraps of the recent UK election. Did the Tories’ flirtation with an anti-green agenda cost them or was the prospect of warm homes and nationalising energy with GB Energy too tantalising to turn down? Maybe it was just time for the Tories to go! 

Our main paper
Having foreshadowed our curiosity about the current Quarterly Essay on our last pod, your intrepid hosts came for the excellent climate science but might have left before the policy diagnosis in Joëlle Gergis’ HIghway to Hell: Climate Change and Australia’s Future. It turns out that straying from your lane can be fraught and plagued with pesky potholes like politics and diplomacy, which are, like, totally simple and not at all riddled with their own peculiar complexities. Alas, they tried to make Japan go to rehab and Australia said “no, no, no.” 

One more things

Luke’s One More Thing is: Listener feedback! The folks from RE-Alliance took issue with a hypothesis floated on our last pod that folks from the regions may feel a sense of pride in the nation-building hosting of renewable energy infra. That’s a big fat NO according to research done by the RE-Alliance crew. Well then.

Tennant’s One More Thing is: HumeLink has been approved (economically, by the AER). Next: EPBC and NSW planning!

Frankie’s One More Thing is: A shout out to now-former Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Jenny McAllister, who was promoted in the recent reshuffle. From her work leading on early adaptation plans, energy performance and securing a billion-dollar fund for home energy upgrades, the LMSU crew salute you, and congrats on the new gig!

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like bonus episodes and other savoury morsels like our notes on papers read, alternate paper titles and so so many custom memes. Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

This week your intrepid hosts feast on the veritable smorgasbord of actions and progress contained in the communique out of climate and energy ministers’ most recent gathering! The acronym soup - CER, FMIA, MEPS, GEMS, Oh MY! - might have been a touch too much for most, the LMSU crew dined with delight. Yes please for home energy ratings! Yummo on MEPS for hot water heat pumps! Please Sir, I Want Some More regulation of crappy LEDs!

Our main paper

Andrew Dyer unpacked the dire state of community engagement in his review, which was the main course for this week’s pod and was yet another item that received a formal response from climate and energy ministers last week. 

Tennant was sick in bed this week so naturally he penned an ode to the Dyer Review set to the tune of Girl from Ipanema. It may turn up on the Patreon one day but suffice to say that ♪ short and sharp and smart and concrete, the recs from Andrew Dyer are all agreed ♪

Including but definitely not limited to the idea of an energy spokesperson/hype machine (probably not zombie John Monash but someone like that) to explain why all this infrastructure is necessary! Is Matt Kean that the man for the job?! Maybe not as crazy as it sounds!!! Luke spoke to Matt about his aspirations in the new gig. You know, on his other podcast 🙄  

One more things

Luke’s One More Thing is listener feedback on our discussion of the Global Tipping Points paper from Summerupperer Chris Nunn, who nominated the paper.

Tennant’s One More Thing is a collaborative trip to Hades (no, not to find the Carbon Leakage Review); and a personal electrification saga.

Frankie’s One More Thing is the Building Ministers Meeting decision to include a voluntary pathway for commercial buildings to measure and report embodied carbon using the newly launched NABERS rating in the National Construction Code 2025.

The LMSU crew also flagged an exciting opportunity for YOU dear Summerupperers to read along as we digest a recent Quarterly Essay, Highway to Hell: Climate Change and Australia's Future which we will cover in an upcoming episode!

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like bonus episodes and other savoury morsels like our notes on papers read, alternate paper titles and so so many custom memes. Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

This week your intrepid hosts are joined by a very special guest. He is a writer, a comedian, a broadcaster, a wager of Wars on Waste and a general in the Fight for Planet A, Craig Reucassel! 

And the reinforcements are warranted as we launch into an extended opening segment focused on AEMO's 2024 Integrated System Plan. This discussion ranged across delights such as the big Consumer Energy Resources rebrand (and what’s changed other than the name), why gas peaking capacity is like insurance (Tennant tells all) and the zero carbon tech we can turn to to deal with dunkelflaute in the long term (probably not batteries, and definitely not nuclear)! 

Our main paper
We also reached a tipping point on the concept of tipping points dear Summerupperers and took one for the collective team by diving into the latest offering from the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute, the 2023 Global Tipping Points report. We had a look at the summary report (lots of things to worry about in there) and then did a deep dive on section four, Positive tipping points in technology, economy and society. TL;DR: ‘tipping points’ may be a tad overused as a concept here but perhaps there are one or two areas in which we can leverage learning rates and catalyse some social contagion to replicate the success experienced by solar and wind.

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is an anecdote regarding a query he put to Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen at a recent forum at Parliament House. Politicians are known to duck questions from time to time, but at least the Minister's podcast themed parry gets points for novelty.

Craig’s One More Thing is his keen interest in ensuring costings for prospective nuclear plants factor in the expense of the continued use of aging, emissions intensive coal fired power stations while we wait for nuclear to come online. The man has a point!

Frankie’s One More Thing is a plug for friend of the pod, Tim Forcey, who’s just published a book! My Efficient Electric Home Handbook is a practical guide on how to make your home more comfortable, efficient, fossil fuel free and cheaper to run. Tim is also one of the founders of popular Facebook group My Efficient Electric Home. Go check it out!

Luke’s One More Thing is the proposal from the Victorian Government on minimum rental standards for eminently sensible things like draught proofing and insulation. Plus his chat about the new standards with Victorian Energy and Climate Minister Lily D'Ambrosio on his other podcast , First Fuel 🙄.

AND he got in a sneaky twofer (or is that a threefor?) but we forgave him because his third more thing was a plug for Tennant’s recent (and excellent) speech “The Sun is a harsh mistress: taking Australian energy advantage seriously”.

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like bonus episodes, including our answers to more of the AMA questions we couldn’t get to this week and other savoury morsels like our notes on papers read, alternate paper titles and so so many custom memes. Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

Luke and Frankie are missing Tennant this week but are blessed by the presence of stunt double CBAM enthusiast Carlos Flores, Director of the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) program!

We are summing up the latest developments in climate and energy in commercial buildings with special live show at the end of a very big day at the NABERS and Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) Program Conference. While Frankie and Carlos battled it out for the best one minute elevator pitch on what NABERS is for y’all who aren’t buildings wonks, the TL;DR of it all is that EVERYBODY needs good NABERS! 

The NABERS program is celebrating 25 years in operation and its status as an example of global leadership in energy efficiency policy. That 25 years amounts to 11.57 MILLION tonnes CO2 abatement and $1.7 BILLION in energy bill savings for the building owners that have used NABERS ratings to understand and manage their energy use, saving big $$ and slashing emissions.

So what’s on the agenda for the next 25 years? The future is ALL ELECTRIC so electrification is all the rage. Embodied carbon is the next big frontier with the launch of the pilot Embodied Carbon rating tool, ambitious new minimum energy efficiency standards for commercial buildings are out for consultation in the National Construction Code 2025 AND Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Jenny McAllister,  announced a review to reimagine and expand the CBD Program. Phew! #justabiton.

A Very Happy 25th Birthday to NABERS from the LMSU crew, here’s to the next 25 years of global leadership in sustainable buildings policy!

Oh, and One More Thing™️ – if you want to watch the video (gasp!) of the live show it is up on the NABERS channel on Youtube!

And that’s all for this week folks! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like bonus episodes, including our answers to more of the AMA questions we couldn’t get to this week and other savoury morsels like our notes on papers read, alternate paper titles and so so many custom memes. Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

Your intrepid hosts are delighted to present this break-with-the-usual-format spectacular to mark an important milestone: FIFTY EPISODES of the Let Me Sum Up podcast!

That’s a whole lotta summing up over the past two years, but even when we’re considering our life choices on a Sunday choosing to pore through papers - so many papers! - it’s been a blast and we want to say a massive thanks to all you Summerupperers for tuning in and supporting us along the way.

We asked you to Ask Us Anything and boy did you! Listen on to hear our responses to the many thoughtful questions and provocations from friends of the pod, which ranged from how we choose what papers to read, to career reflections, to what our very own Horsemen and Superheroes of the transition are. It’s all there for your listening pleasure, including the voices of so many Summerupperers who were good enough to record their questions so you could hear them directly.

Here’s to the next fifty episodes Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.

Thats right, our very next episode is our fiftieth (how did that happen) so to mark the occasion we are doing an Ask Me Anything! Luke's fashion choices, trolling Frankie about hydrogen in buildings, getting Tennant's attention with questions posed in the form of memes – it is all on the table.

But time is of the essence! Get your question into [email protected] by Sunday 9 June 2024. And remember you get extra points if you submit your question as a voice recording (and the chance for it to be spliced into the episode and LMSU history). Huzzah!

Support us on Patreon... Tennant, Luke and Frankie are calling all Summerupperers to come join the expanded LMSU universe and support our Patreon! Sign up today for access to coveted BoCo like bonus episodes and other savoury morsels like our notes on papers read, alternate paper titles and so so many custom memes. Head on over to https://www.patreon.com/LetMeSumUp.

—

Another fortnight, another flurry of activity vis-a-vis the reliability of the NEM! Your intrepid hosts have some whiplash from the just-published May 2024 Update to the 2023 Electricity Statement of Opportunities, rendered out of date some 48 hours later when the NSW Government and Origin Energy announced their deal to extend the operation of Eraring for two years. Reliability fears? Temporarily allayed. Broader impacts? More coal gen pain!

Our main paper

The Australian Government’s universally beloved, well received, totally uncontroversial Future Gas Strategy proved too tempting to resist for your intrepid hosts. In what could have been titled ‘Gassy McGasface Says: Gas? Gas!’ this report goes to great lengths to paint a picture of gas as far as the eye can see – beyond 2050! – even in the face of the many models suggesting that would be a Very Bad Idea, especially if the need to save the climate is a thing. It might be light on analysis, policy, and funding, but don’t worry, we filled in the blanks.

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is some listener mailbag from Summerupperer Kerry Burke, who reckons the LMSU crew got it wrong – it had to happen eventually – with our broad endorsement of Grattan’s Keeping the Lights On paper last episode. We’ll take a 47/48 strike rate any day, and invite Kerry – who is also not happy with the status quo – to tell us what he’d do instead! 

Frankie’s One More Thing is a plug for the National Construction Code 2025 Public Comment Draft, now open for comment until 1 July! Improvements to energy efficiency for commercial buildings are on the table, including an intriguing measure to mandate solar on commercial building rooftops. If buildings are your jam, hop on it!

Luke’s One More Thing is a plug for the Energy Efficiency Council’s revamped and relaunched First Fuel podcast, featuring no less than the grandfather of energy efficiency, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Stanford Professor, Amory Lovins. Canvassing extreme efficiency, grid transition and dare we say it, the prospects for nuclear in Australia, we are McLovins it!

And that’s all from us Summerupperers! Support our Patreon at patreon.com/LetMeSumUp, send your hot tips and suggestions for papers to us at [email protected] and check out our back catalogue at letmesumup.net.