A committed troupe of renewable energy enthusiasts from Avenel has snared Australia's biggest name in science broadcasting to speak at a home energy expo on Friday 22 August.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki will be keynote guest speaker at the Avenel Home Energy Expo, which is attracting much attention from businesses, locals, and landholders due to the collective knowledge its lineup of guest speakers has on renewable energy.
Kruszelnicki - known to his legion of Triple J fans and beyond as Dr Karl - is no slouch with stamping his mark on the hallowed ground that is renewable energy.
The Euroa Gazette spoke with Dr Karl on Saturday to explain his reasons and in true Kruszelnicki style, he first laid the foundation of just how critical the evidence on climate change was and the urgency of a solution, by starting with a quick Q&A.
"Here's a question for you without notice: when do you think the insurance companies first noticed that a climate change was happening and as a result started increasing their premiums – what year?"
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TEG: "Long time ago I reckon...1980?"
"1973," Dr Karl doesn't skip a beat.
"And the fossil fuel companies acknowledged that global warming was real in 1982, and then in 1992 things happened.
"Firstly, the fossil fuel companies did a complete 180 and started denying that global warming was happening.
"Now, step back for a big picture: since about the year 1750, the amount of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere has been 140 parts per million and half of that – about 70 parts per million – was added since 1992.
"Once the fossil fuel companies knew what they were doing, they started denying it."
Dr Karl is also rich with analogies.
"It's just like tobacco companies advertising cigarettes knowing that they would cause all sorts of respiratory problems, or alcohol companies trying to advertise alcohol to pregnant mothers - which they did in 2018 - saying that it wasn't known if alcohol could cause problems for pregnant mothers.
"Or like James Hardy selling asbestos though they knew that it caused mesothelioma."
Jim Billings is chairperson of Renewable Avenel Energy and said he considered Dr Kruszelnicki to have an incredibly advanced mind.
"He is a beautiful human being who is also quite wise," Mr Billings said.
"He encourages people to think about important issues and he has such a good understanding of the science of climate change and the value of changing to renewables.
"I have just finished reading his book - he has been so dynamic in his diverse career.
"He's been a car mechanic, taxi driver, doctor, he even invented machines to help Fred Hollows identify eye problems."
When Kruszelnicki lands in Strathbogie Shire next month, his spiel will also cross the many fields of science with which he is more than familiar, and he said he has many stories for the whole family that are equally as entertaining as his warnings on global warming are dire.
"There will be some light stuff as well, some funny, witty things."
Topics include ‘Diet drinks make you drunk’, 'Are infrared saunas worse or better than a regular sauna?'
'How ducks can be repeat traffic offenders'.
The Avenel Home Energy Expo has been made possible with funding from AusNet and Strathbogie Shire.
Other speakers include Geoff Lodge, John Warnock, Russell Klose, and Matthew Charles-Jones, and contractors from the new Goulburn Murray Solar Saver's program (see page 4 of today's paper) will also be speaking about what to look for in a hot water heat pump, government rebates that are available, and choosing the right solar or battery system for consumer needs.
Batteries are something in Dr Karl's sights and he says we are not far from a time when a household's car battery could be used to run the energy needs of a family's home overnight.
"The overall big cure is very straightforward: keep fossil carbon in the ground; but then once we stop pumping the carbon into the atmosphere, we have to reverse it and this is where the homebase solutions come in and tie in with that wonderful thing called the electric car battery."
He likens car charging stations to computer rooms in schools during the 1980s and 90s.
"If you had a clever thought you would go to the computer room and use a computer.
"That's now as stupid as having a pencil room where you go if you got a clever thought to write down something with a pencil because now everybody's got a computer.
"Having a few charging ports for cars is as stupid as having a pencil room, because they'll be everywhere."
Kruszelnicki said that an average household could run its home off a car battery in a day and still leave the battery 92 per cent charged.
"So we're heading towards the situation where everywhere you park your electric vehicle will be a point where you can charge it and so during the daytime any excess electricity that goes into your car battery you'll get paid for storing it, and then anywhere you park - your car doesn't have to be near your house - electricity will be taken from your car battery and counted off on an account to charge your house."
In addition to his regular radio and online broadcasts which cover all matters of science from cosmic origins to even déjà vu, Kruszelnicki is also conscious of the energy cost of producing food, with harvest accounting for 20 per cent of the world's energy use.
"The big problem for farmers at the moment is that they need to burn an absolute shedload of energy during harvesting time," he said.
“The amount of engine in a barrel of oil is the amount a labourer can put out working for 10 years - this is huge and so what's going to have to happen?
"It is during the harvest time that farmers will be rotating batteries - that's the only way to do it because they will be going flat out."
Mr Billings said he wanted people to embrace the opportunities that renewable energy provides and make the most of government subsidies to save money installing batteries and lower power bills.
Dr Kruszelnicki will also have a Q&A time with students at Euroa Secondary College and Avenel Primary School in the morning.
The Avenel Home Energy Expo starts at 12:30pm on Friday, 22 August at the Avenel Hall, 15 Queen St, Avenel.
Guest speakers begin at 2:45pm, with Dr Kruszelnicki speaking at 5:30pm.
Admission is $10 and includes a light lunch and door prizes.
For bookings, call Jim Billings 0433 270 101
