Depending on your outlook, the Net Zero movement could result in anything from the seven horses of the apocalypse riding across the sky to the delivery of some sort of Nirvana for humankind.

No matter what your view, some facts are clear and undisputed.

Fact one. It is going to cost a fortune and you will be paying the bill. Fact two. If investments in intermittent wind and solar didn’t provide significant returns, no one would invest in them. Fact three. Intermittent and unreliable generators will always deliver intermittent and unreliable electricity.

Which brings me to batteries…

The media seems to love the concept of batteries, storage of intermittent wind and solar-generated electricity, and a proposed end of coal and gas all hail this part of Nirvana. Unfortunately, pesky facts get in the way.

Batteries are storage devices, not some sort of perpetual motion machine that doesn’t abide by the laws of physics. They must be recharged after use, have fire risks that most people I think are unaware of, and are very, very expensive.

Storage first. In very simple terms a 2.4-kilowatt-hour battery could run your fast-boil kettle for an hour, or potentially your clothes dryer and your fast-boil kettle at the same time for 30 minutes. Assuming it was fully charged and could run until it’s completely exhausted. You see where this is going. If tomorrow it rains or isn’t windy, the likelihood of your battery system recharging fully while your intermittent generators hopefully provide electricity to your household is low. Imagine living in the north where the monsoon can set in for weeks.

Batteries, especially lithium-based batteries burn hot. Really hot. In fact they are so hot that emergency services around the country have special procedures regarding how to deal with them and they are worried. In an interview with the ABC in February this year, Electrochemistry Professor Paul Christensen, from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom said:

‘Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big, big fan of lithium-ion batteries. But I believe they’ve penetrated far faster at all levels of our society than our understanding of the risks.

‘What people had reported as being smoke was actually vapour cloud vented by the lithium-ion batteries, which is explosive as well as toxic. If that vapour cloud ignites immediately you get long, rocket-like flames, 1,000 degrees centigrade.’

You don’t have to look far to see emergency services and first responders have concerns and they are growing. Fire and Rescue New South Wales give this advice on its website for electric vehicles:

Keep clear of the vehicle and warn passers-by to keep at a safe distance (at least 30 metres), even if there is no visible smoke, vapours, or flames.

An electric vehicle that has been involved in a collision, a fire, or has been submerged, must be treated with caution as the high voltage battery pack may be compromised. Damaged EV batteries may ignite hours, days, or even weeks after the initial incident.

For household batteries Renew Magazine in March 2020 provided the following advice on home battery installation:

Batteries aren’t allowed in habitable rooms (bathrooms, laundries, pantries, hallways are not habitable rooms), in ceiling spaces or wall cavities, under stairways or access walkways, in an evacuation route or escape route, near combustible materials. Clear space must extend at least 600 mm to either side and 900 mm above the battery. Most likely the installer will add a thick cement sheet unless the wall is already made of cement sheet, brick or concrete. A battery in a garage may need a bollard to protect it from cars.

If its chemistry is lithium or it’s a powerful battery that can create a dangerous arc (arc flash) in the event of a short circuit.

If batteries at home and electric vehicles are your thing, if you can afford them, and if they suit your lifestyle, knock yourself out. But please make informed decisions. In my view it is only a matter of time before more onerous standards are put in place, especially to deal with fire risk. It is only a matter of time before enormous upgrades will be needed in the electricity network to deal with increased demand. It is only a matter of time before disposal becomes regulated and charges are put to the consumer. AEMO estimated that increased demand at peak times could be as much as 60 per cent to deal with electric vehicles alone. It is only a matter of time before there are more fires and injuries associated with this developing technology. While the electric Nirvana supporters continue to howl at the Net Zero moon, there are those out there who think physics, engineering, risk analysis, and minimising environmental impact are just as important.

And whether it is wind turbines, solar panels, lithium batteries, or electric vehicles they all have a design life and must be disposed of at end of life. What on earth do you do with it all?

Wind turbine blades are expected to create approximately 43 million tonnes of waste by 2050 around the world. Just the blades alone. Without counting the millions of solar panels and tens of thousands, growing into millions of batteries.

I’m often asked about the half-life of radioactive waste from nuclear reactors that are producing baseload electricity around the world. In America, generally using older nuclear technology, their nuclear fleet provides electricity to 70 million people a year. And produce enough waste to fill half an Olympic-sized swimming pool per year. Whatever the half-life of that waste is I can guarantee you it is less than the half-life of heavy metals, carbon fibre, lithium, and everything else that goes into what are incorrectly called renewable generators. Because the waste products from intermittent wind and solar last forever.

Keith Pitt MP – Federal Member for Hinkler and former Resources Minister