Better Call Saul: Rewiring Australia, Home by Home

For Saul Griffith, engineer, inventor and clean energy entrepreneur, decarbonising the economy begins at home. He is using his non-profit organisation, Rewiring Australia, to advocate for mass electrification of the domestic, then the commercial energy markets.

This, he insists, is the quickest and most cost-effective way to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Rather than waiting for green hydrogen to become economically viable – which he says could take some time – we should be electrifying our cars, appliances, houses, offices and factories right now.

We can have our cake and eat it, Saul claims. It’s not what we might lose, but what we have to gain. Abundance, not sacrifice. With the right government support, we can enjoy all the advanced technology and vehicles we like - as long as they’re electric, and powered by renewable energy.

Climate sceptics say losing coal and gas industry exports will have a negative impact on prosperity and living standards. Yet Saul Griffith says renewable energy can easily fill the gap left by fossil fuels. With our abundant supply of wind and sun, we can gradually build a thriving green energy export industry. He just believes Australia’s renewable transformation should start at home. In people’s homes, in fact.

So what are Saul’s credentials?

Dr Saul Griffith earned engineering degrees from the University of New South Wales and University of Sydney, working across the steel and smelting industries before earning a doctorate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Basing himself in the US, he quickly earned a reputation for passionate renewable energy advocacy, with his constant flow of innovative, industry-changing ideas.

Before founding Rewiring Australia in 2021, he created its US precursor, Rewiring America. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Saul’s team played a major role in shaping the Biden Government’s Inflation Reduction Act, with its record-breaking US$369 billion investment in energy security.

His companies include research organisation Overlab, Makani Power (wind energy) and R&D firm Squidlabs. He has also written two books, ‘Electrify’ and ‘The Big Switch’.

What’s his plan?

Saul wants to get cracking on a ‘collective nationwide home renovation project’. This involves the electrification of one million large machines (used in manufacturing, mining and fossil-fuelled power plants) and 100 million smaller ones (cars and domestic appliances).

Cars (petrol/diesel), gas hot water systems and gas space heaters sit at the top of the domestic emissions list. Together they account for around 95% of average household emissions, according to Professor Andrew Blakers (Director of the Australian National University Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems).

With the average car life being about 10 years, and gas heaters 10-15 years, the right education and incentives can encourage people to replace them with electric alternatives next time around.

Dr Griffith also wants to see accelerated uptake of rooftop solar and batteries, massively expanding the current total of three million solar-powered households.

What is Saul’s beef with hydrogen?

It’s not that Saul isn’t a fan of hydrogen. He spent many years working in the industry (he developed a hydrogen tank that he then sold to a consortium of auto companies), and sees its huge potential.

He believes we are squandering precious time and resources. Sitting back and expecting green hydrogen to do the heavy lifting, at some future, unspecified time, means we miss vital opportunities to make direct, immediate changes to the way we live.

At the very least, he says, renewable hydrogen is not a solution for this decade. Electrification at ground level is. While there are costs upfront, greater energy efficiency would deliver long-term savings, according to Saul.

Is ‘electrify everything’ feasible?

People are notoriously resistant to change. Governments would need to facilitate the electrification through financial incentives, and education about the benefits of switching.

It’s also expensive to remove gas infrastructure, as Saul found when electrifying his Sydney home. People are penalised rather than encouraged to change up, he claims, though some regard this as primarily a publicity stunt.

Co-Chair of Engineers Australia’s Electrical College, Nee Nee Ong, says switching from a generating energy model to a disparate model will create real issues back feeding into the grid. Significant infrastructure upgrades will therefore be needed.

Evangelist or visionary, Saul Griffith is a force of nature. Maybe we have nothing to lose by pursuing electrification, home by home, while waiting for green hydrogen to make its mark.