NiceCKImagine it is February 2010: another scorching summer,...

Nice

CK

Imagine it is February 2010: another scorching summer, Victoria is in permanent drought, the power grid is
again under stress as air conditioners drive up peak demand. A salesman knocks at your door and offers to sell
you a steel box about the size of a dishwasher. The box is made here in Victoria and would sit at the side of
your house next to the gas hot water tank.
It plugs into your home’s existing utility connections: gas electricity and water. It is quiet, it does not make any
noise and it does not bother the neighbours. We do not need a permit to install it and we do not need
environmental approval. It makes all the power your home needs and more, which can be returned to the grid to
help power your neighbour’s air conditioner.
It has the highest electrical efficiency of any technology in the world that uses renewable or non-renewable
hydrocarbon fuels. It also heats the hot water for your home: the showers. It uses 95 per cent less water than
brown coal generators, and, critically, it can save up to 18 tonnes of carbon a year compared to brown coal
power.