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Readers response: How do you handle changes in energy levels as you age?

<p>As we get older, our levels of energy, ability and agility can slowly start to decrease, making us change our day-to-day lifestyles. </p> <p>We asked our readers how they handle these changes, and the response was overwhelming. Here's what they said. </p> <p><strong>Margo Courtney</strong> - Eat clean and healthy and your body will reward you with heaps of energy and vitality. I have a very big green smoothie most days as one of my 2 meals, along with 2 litres of water a day, and I don't even need much sleep.</p> <p><strong>Ron Stubbs</strong> - Up at 8am, can’t be late for my walk in the sun, and feeling great. Don’t need afternoon snooze then. I’m 77.</p> <p><strong>Kristeen Bon</strong> - I don’t handle them. I flop on the couch most afternoons for a quick five minute interior eye check!</p> <p><strong>Sylvia Brice</strong> - I have an autoimmune disease so my levels of energy are way down. I do what l can in small bursts and rest when l need to. Luckily l read and craft so can always do them. It's very hard to adapt but that's life and l am so much better for off than younger people with my disease. Think positive.</p> <p><strong>Judie Fisher</strong> - Do chores in small stretches, and have regular breaks.</p> <p><strong>Diane Green</strong> - Adjust. I do what I can, and what I can't just has to wait.</p> <p><strong>Raymond Richards</strong> - As they told us at the heart clinic, if you have something you HAVE to do - do it first.</p> <p><strong>Janis St George</strong> - Listen to your body - rest awhile when you need to.</p> <p><strong>Kaylene Samuels</strong> - Have a SCAN..... Seniors Compulsory Afternoon Nap.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p>

Body

Walking or running: for the same distance, which consumes more energy?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-lemineur-1529211">Clément Lemineur</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-naveilhan-1495411">Clément Naveilhan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/francois-dernoncourt-1495410">François Dernoncourt</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a></em></p> <p>It’s Monday morning, the alarm goes off and it’s already 7:30 a.m. – and you’re 30 minutes late. Normally you need 45 minutes to walk the 3 kilometres to work, but this morning you’ll be running for 20 minutes. Yes, but by lunchtime you’re feeling more tired and you have the impression that you’ve expended more energy than usual on the trip. Yet you’ve covered the same distance as on the other days. How can this be?</p> <p>The calorie expenditure associated with any activity is called the “metabolic cost”, and corresponds to the energy consumed by our organs to cover a given distance. This metabolic cost can be determined by analysing the oxygen our bodies consume and the carbon dioxide they produce, we can estimate the amount of energy expended, and thus the metabolic cost. It was using this method that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/692303/">researchers had already answered our question back in the 1970s</a>.</p> <p>Perhaps not surprisingly, running consumes more energy than walking for the same distance covered. But why?</p> <h2>Energy lost when running</h2> <p>Imagine you’re watching someone running. Now look closely at the vertical movement (up and down) of their pelvis and head. As you can see from the diagram below, when we run, the distance that our body moves up and down is greater than when we walk. To produce this vertical movement, the muscles of the lower limbs have to generate more force, and that consumes more energy, yet doesn’t bring us any closer to our destination. So when running, part of the energy expended is used to move our bodies <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16029949/">upward rather than forward</a>. The energy needed to cover those 3 km is therefore higher for running than for walking.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Illustration of the oscillations of running and walking" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Running involves much greater vertical oscillation of the centre of mass than walking. This is the main reason why running consumes more energy than walking for the same distance covered.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">François Dernoncourt</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>This difference between walking and running is not confined to what happens during the activity itself. In fact, each physical exercise causes a delayed expenditure of energy, which is added to the expenditure during the activity.</p> <p>Taking this into account, it’s once again running that uses more energy than walking. Immediately after running your 3 km, the increased energy consumption (compared with resting) lasts for several minutes, mainly because of the increase in body temperature and the replenishment of energy reserves. This additional expenditure after running is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22446673/">more than twice that observed after walking</a>, due to the difference in intensity between the two exercises.</p> <h2>It all depends on speed</h2> <p>Running therefore involves a higher calorie expenditure than walking for the same distance covered. But this is on condition that the walking speed considered is “normal” (around 5 km/h). So, if we walk very slowly, it will take us so long to cover the 3 km that the calorie expenditure will be greater in the end. This is because the body expends a certain amount of energy per unit of time no matter what, regardless of the activity performed (known as the “basal metabolic rate”).</p> <p>The same applies if the walking speed is very fast (<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29925582/">more than 8 km/h</a>): running is more energy-efficient. Here, the coordination required to walk at such a speed means that we need to activate our muscles more, without being able to take advantage of the elasticity of our tendons, as is the case with running.</p> <p>Moreover, we have a very precise intuitive perception of the energy efficiency of a particular style of movement. If we’re on a treadmill whose speed gradually increases, the point at which we spontaneously switch from walking to running coincides with the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096663622100120X">moment when it would become more energy-consuming to walk than to run</a>.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Modelling of metabolic cost (kilocalories expended per kilogram per kilometre covered) as a function of speed (kilometres per hour) for walking and running. The curves cross at a certain speed (purple line; around 8 km/h): this means that above this speed, walking becomes more energy-intensive than running. It’s at around this threshold speed that people spontaneously switch from walking to running.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">François Dernoncourt, Adapted from Summerside et al</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>In conclusion, because of greater oscillation of the centre of mass and increased energy expenditure after exercise, running to work is more energy-intensive than covering the same distance by walking. But remember, whether you choose to walk or run to work, the most important thing is that you’re already saving energy!<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/233943/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-lemineur-1529211">Clément Lemineur</a>, Doctorant en Sciences du Mouvement Humain, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-naveilhan-1495411">Clément Naveilhan</a>, Doctorant en Sciences du Mouvement Humain, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/francois-dernoncourt-1495410">François Dernoncourt</a>, Doctorant en Sciences du Mouvement Humain, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/walking-or-running-for-the-same-distance-which-consumes-more-energy-233943">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Body

Jamie Oliver renews vows in Las Vegas

<p>Jamie Oliver is celebrating 24 years of marriage! </p> <p>The celebrity chef and his wife Juliette Norton - also known as Jools - celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows. </p> <p>The couple organised a more fun and laid back ceremony, with a trip to Las Vegas, which, of course, included an Elvis impersonator. </p> <p>"Happy 24th wedding anniversary @joolsoliver 24 years !!! Love you - Las vagus baby !!" Oliver captioned a series of Instagram photos from their special day. </p> <p>"@gracelandweddingchapellv big love really good fun 🙏🏼 jamie xxx."</p> <p>The pair seemed to be having the time of their life posing and dancing alongside the Elvis impersonator. </p> <p>Their outfits also matched the fun occasion with Oliver donning a grey suit paired with aviator sunglasses, while Norton wore a pair of jeans, cowboy boots, a white top and a mini veil. </p> <p>Oliver also included a few snaps from their wedding in July 2000, where they also hired an Elvis impersonator. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8pbo-ztToH/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8pbo-ztToH/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jools Oliver (@joolsoliver)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Norton shared her own Instagram post, with the caption: "Happy 24 crazy married years together🤍 I love you so much." </p> <p>"thank you for indulging my LOVE for Elvis 🤍 I know this marriage has '3 people in it 😂😂 but you get me like NO other!</p> <p>"Just you wait and see what I have planned for our 25th 😉❤️❤️❤️❤️"</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p> <p> </p>

Relationships

How would a switch to nuclear affect electricity prices for households and industry?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/roger-dargaville-1832">Roger Dargaville</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p>Peter Dutton has announced that under a Coalition government, seven nuclear power stations would be built around the country over the next 15 years.</p> <p>Experts have declared nuclear power would be <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-20/power-prices-wont-fall-with-nuclear/103998172">expensive</a> and <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/nuclear-to-cost-17b-and-take-until-2040-to-build-csiro-20240521-p5jfaj#:%7E:text=Nuclear%20could%20cost%20up%20to,until%202040%20to%20build%3A%20CSIRO&text=Peter%20Dutton's%20nuclear%20energy%20plans,operational%20until%20at%20least%202040.">slow to build</a>.</p> <p>But what might happen to energy prices if the Coalition were to win government and implement this plan?</p> <h2>How might we estimate the cost of nuclear?</h2> <p>By 2035, 50–60% of the existing coal-fired fleet will very likely <a href="https://aemo.com.au/-/media/files/stakeholder_consultation/consultations/nem-consultations/2023/draft-2024-isp-consultation/draft-2024-isp.pdf">have been retired</a>, including Vales Point B, Gladstone, Yallourn, Bayswater and Eraring – all of which will have passed 50 years old.</p> <p>These five generators contribute just over 10 gigawatts of capacity. It’s probably not a coincidence that the seven nuclear plants proposed by Dutton would also contribute roughly 10 gigawatts in total if built.</p> <p>Neither my team at Monash University nor the Australian Energy Market Operator has run modelling scenarios to delve into the details of what might happen to electricity prices under a high-uptake nuclear scenario such as the one proposed by the Coalition. That said, we can make some broad assumptions based on a metric known as the “levelised cost of electricity”.</p> <p>This value takes into account:</p> <ul> <li> <p>how much it costs to build a particular technology</p> </li> <li> <p>how long it takes to build</p> </li> <li> <p>the cost to operate the plant</p> </li> <li> <p>its lifetime</p> </li> <li> <p>and very importantly, its capacity factor.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Capacity factor is how much electricity a technology produces in real life, compared with its theoretical maximum output.</p> <p>For example, a nuclear power station would likely run at 90–95% of its full capacity. A solar farm, on the other hand, will run at just 20–25% of its maximum, primarily because it’s night for half of the time, and cloudy some of the time.</p> <p>CSIRO recently published its <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/technology-space/energy/gencost">GenCost</a> report, which outlines the current and projected build and operational costs for a range of energy technologies.</p> <p>It reports that large-scale nuclear generated electricity would cost between A$155 and $252 per megawatt-hour, falling to between $136 and $226 per megawatt-hour by 2040.</p> <p>The report bases these costs on recent projects in South Korea, but doesn’t consider some other cases where costs have blown out dramatically.</p> <p>The most obvious case is that of <a href="https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/dedicated-sections/journalists/all-press-releases/hinkley-point-c-update-1">Hinkley Point C nuclear plant</a> in the United Kingdom. This <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/edfs-nuclear-project-britain-pushed-back-2029-may-cost-up-34-bln-2024-01-23/">3.2GW</a> plant, which is being built by French company EDF, was recently <a href="https://www.edf.fr/en/the-edf-group/dedicated-sections/journalists/all-press-releases/hinkley-point-c-update-1">reported</a> to be now costing around £34 billion (about A$65 billion). That’s about A$20,000 per kilowatt.</p> <p>CSIRO’s GenCost report assumed a value of $8,655 per kilowatt for nuclear, so the true levelised cost of electricity of nuclear power in Australia may end up being twice as expensive as CSIRO has calculated.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="Aryx7" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Aryx7/4/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <h2>Other factors play a role, too</h2> <p>Another factor not accounted for in the GenCost assumptions is that Australia does not have a nuclear industry. Virtually all the niche expertise would need to be imported.</p> <p>And very large infrastructure projects have a nasty habit of <a href="https://www.cis.org.au/publication/bungles-blowouts-and-boondoggles-why-australias-infrastructure-projects-cost-more-than-they-should/">blowing out in cost</a> – think of Snowy 2.0, Sydney’s light rail project, and the West Gate Tunnel in Victoria.</p> <p>Reasons include higher local wages, regulations and standards plus aversion from lenders to risk that increases cost of capital. These factors would not bode well for nuclear.</p> <p>In CSIRO’s GenCost report, the levelised cost of electricity produced from coal is $100–200 per megawatt-hour, and for gas it’s $120–160 per megawatt-hour. Solar and wind energy work out to be approximately $60 and $90 per megawatt-hour, respectively. But it’s not a fair comparison, as wind and solar are not “dispatchable” but are dependent on the availability of the resource.</p> <p>When you combine the cost of a mix of wind and solar energy and storage, along with the cost of getting the renewable energy into the grid, renewables end up costing $100–120 per megawatt-hour, similar to coal.</p> <p>If we were to have a nuclear-based system (supplemented by gas to meet the higher demands in the mornings and evenings), the costs would likely be much higher – potentially as much as three to four times if cost blowouts similar to Hinkley Point C were to occur (assuming costs were passed on to electricity consumers. Otherwise, taxpayers in general would bear the burden. Either way, it’s more or less the same people).</p> <h2>But what about the impact on your household energy bill?</h2> <p>Well, here the news is marginally better.</p> <p>Typical retail tariffs are 25-30 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is $250–300 per megawatt-hour. The largest component of your energy bill is not the cost of generation of the electricity; rather, it’s the cost of getting the power from the power stations to your home or business.</p> <p>In very approximate terms, this is made up of the market average costs of generation, transmission and distribution, as well as retailer margin and other minor costs.</p> <p>The transmission and distribution costs will not be significantly different under the nuclear scenario compared with the current system. And the additional transmission costs associated with the more distributed nature of renewables (meaning these renewable projects are all over the country) is included in the estimate.</p> <p>According to my back-of-the-envelope calculations, your retail tariff under the nuclear scenario could be 40–50c per kilowatt-hour.</p> <p>But if you are a large energy consumer such as an aluminium smelter, you pay considerably less per kilowatt-hour as you don’t incur the same network or retailer costs (but the cost of generating electricity in the first place makes up a much bigger proportion of the total cost).</p> <p>So if the cost of electricity generation soars, this hypothetical aluminium smelter’s energy costs will soar too.</p> <p>This would be a severe cost burden on Australian industry that has traditionally relied on cheap electricity (although it’s been a while since electricity could be described as cheap).</p> <h2>A likely increase in energy costs</h2> <p>In summary, in a free market, it is very unlikely nuclear could be competitive.</p> <p>But if a future Coalition government were to bring nuclear into the mix, energy costs for residential and especially industrial customers would very likely increase.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/232913/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/roger-dargaville-1832">Roger Dargaville</a>, Director Monash Energy Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-would-a-switch-to-nuclear-affect-electricity-prices-for-households-and-industry-232913">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Money & Banking

How to sign up for energy bill relief

<p>In the face of rising living costs, thousands of Australians have turned to their energy providers for financial assistance, highlighting the community spirit and support available during these challenging times. Energy companies like AGL Australia and Energy Australia are stepping up to help their customers manage their bills and find relief.</p> <p>AGL Australia has seen a significant increase in its financial hardship program, with 10,000 customers joining in the past year. Energy Australia receives 1,000 calls every weekday from customers seeking bill relief. These numbers reflect the proactive measures Australians are taking to manage their expenses and the readiness of energy providers to offer support.</p> <p>Crystal Noronha, who has worked at the AGL call centre for 11 years, has witnessed firsthand the growing need for assistance. "There's a lot of distress in their voice, there's anxiety," Noronha <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/thousands-of-customers-signing-up-for-energy-bill-relief-with-millions-more-eligible/9dc9535b-f94b-42f4-aeaf-6534dc898df2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared with 9NEWS</a>. "Some hide away from sharing their difficulties, but we're here to help them."</p> <p>Customers need not face extreme financial hardship to seek help, as everyone is eligible for some form of assistance.</p> <p>Gavin Dufty, from the charity St Vincent De Paul, underscores the commitment of energy companies to support their customers. "Every energy company has a legal obligation to provide support for all households regardless," Dufty explains. The assistance offered varies based on the provider and individual circumstances, ranging from bill extensions and more manageable payment plans to, in some cases, complete debt waivers.</p> <p>Adding to this support, the federal government is taking significant steps to ease the burden on households. Starting July 1, every household will receive a $300 credit into their energy account, providing substantial relief. Additionally, a free government website is available for customers to compare energy plan prices and find the most cost-effective options.</p> <p>These measures reflect a collaborative effort between energy providers and the government to ensure Australians can navigate the financial challenges of today's world. By offering practical solutions and financial relief, they are making a positive impact on the lives of many, ensuring that no one is left to face these difficulties alone.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Money & Banking

Celebrity chef Curtis Stone renews vows in stunning intimate ceremony

<p>Curtis Stone and his wife Lindsay Price have said "I do" for the second time in an intimate ceremony to renew their vows. </p> <p>The celebrity chef and his wife were joined by their two sons Hudson and Emerson for the ceremony, as they did readings and got involved in their parents vow renewal. </p> <p>Curtis and Lindsay first tied the knot in Spain ten years ago, and again travelled to a luxury villa in Mallorca for their renewal in a tiny chapel. </p> <p>Stone, 47, shared a series of pictures from the big day on Instagram and sweetly captioned them, "Ten years down. Forever to go."</p> <p>"Renewing our vows on the same island that we got married on with both of our boys was unreal."</p> <p>"Look at the world of memories we've created so far baby. Here's to many more."</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw2-MLupZ1t/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw2-MLupZ1t/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Lindsay Price (@lindsayjprice)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>American actress Price, 46, added, "Ten years ago on this island we said I do. And this little house just happened to have a little chapel."</p> <p>"So we just had to celebrate by doing it all over again. Having 10 years of life together means new promises with deeper meaning to each other. It's the four of us now. And, we do."</p> <p>In a video shared by Price, their sons say, "We now pronounce you husband and wife, again!"</p> <p>The couple, who are based in Los Angeles, met on a blind date back in 2009.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram</em></p>

Relationships

Calories and kilojoules: how do we know the energy content of food, and how accurate are the labels?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-barnes-1238606">Katelyn Barnes</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></p> <p>Everything we consume contains energy our bodies use to move, grow and maintain health. To work out how much energy is in different foods and drinks, we need to first look at a few core concepts.</p> <p>Firstly, you’ve probably heard of the units of measurement for energy – calories – as well as the metric equivalent, which is joules. One calorie is defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1℃.</p> <p>In human nutrition, the amounts of energy needed to maintain health, and to fuel a body, are much larger than the tiny singular calories used to heat up a gram of water. So, the term “calorie” in nutrition commonly refers to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622085546">kilocalorie</a> (or kcal), which is 1,000 calories. When you see the word “calories” on a nutrition label, it’s likely referring to kcals.</p> <p>The energy stored in food and drinks is released when the body breaks down one or more of the four macronutrients inside the food (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, alcohol). The body then uses that energy for activities such as keeping our heart beating, our lungs breathing and our muscles moving.</p> <p>When energy in food is estimated, it is the amount of energy food and drinks provide for these bodily processes. The four macronutrients provide <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522039454">different amounts of energy</a>:</p> <ol> <li>1 gram of carbohydrate provides about 4 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of fat provides about 9 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of protein provides about 4 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of alcohol provides about 7 kcal of energy.</li> </ol> <h2>How are calories estimated?</h2> <p>There are two ways to estimate the amount of energy in food and drinks.</p> <p>The first is called “bomb calorimetry”. This gold-standard method involves placing a small sample of food or drink inside a device known as a bomb calorimeter. The food is burned in the presence of oxygen, releasing heat.</p> <p>The amount of heat released is directly related to the amount of energy in the food, allowing a calculation to be made. This method is most commonly used for foods rich in fats and is considered the most reliable (but expensive) method.</p> <p>The second method, the Atwater system, is a much less expensive method for estimating energy content. It is more commonly used when calculating energy of most food and drinks sold in supermarkets. Named after legendary food researcher <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622065336">Wilbur Atwater</a>, this system uses a standard conversion factor for each macronutrient found in food and drinks. By estimating the amount of each of the four macronutrients, an approximate calculation of the total energy can be made.</p> <p>However, this method requires detailed knowledge of the ingredients within composite foods (such as muesli bars or hamburgers) – which may reduce accuracy. There is also a margin of error to expect with the Atwater system, because it assumes each ingredient is always the same in composition.</p> <p>For example, a cup of oats grown in one part of the country won’t necessarily have the exact same nutritional content as another cup of oats grown elsewhere, due to climate and soil differences. So, this system is an estimation based on an average.</p> <p>Importantly, both methods estimate the amount of energy <em>in</em> food and drinks. But the actual energy our bodies extract from these foods and drinks can vary due to factors such as individual differences in digestion and absorption, as well as food processing and cooking methods.</p> <h2>Why do foods have calories written on them?</h2> <p>In Australia, it’s a <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/labelling/panels/Pages/default.aspx">legal requirement</a> for packaged food items to have a nutrition information panel that displays the number of kcal it contains.</p> <p>However, homemade food items sold at places like a fresh market may not be required to provide a nutrition information panel. This will depend on the type of food being sold and the scale of the business operation.</p> <p>Fresh foods such as fruit, vegetables and meat also don’t require a nutrition information panel. To find out the number of kcal in them, you can either run an experiment with a bomb calorimeter or look up an estimated value in an online nutrition database.</p> <p>Food composition databases such as <a href="https://www.calorieking.com/us/en/">CalorieKing</a> compile information about the energy and nutrient content of various foods. Dietitians and other health professionals often use these databases to estimate the energy content of foods to inform dietary recommendations.</p> <h2>Different international standards</h2> <p>Both kJ and kcal refer to energy – they are just two different units of measurements (such as how inches and centimetres are two different units for measuring length). Kilojoules (kJ) is part of the International System of Units (SI).</p> <p>Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Europe use kJ. The United States and the United Kingdom use kcal. To convert between calories and kilojoules you use the conversion factors:</p> <ul> <li>1 kcal = 4.184 kJ</li> <li>1 kJ = 0.24 kcal (about ¼).</li> </ul> <p>For example, if you have a packet of chips with an energy content of 200 kcal, you can convert it to kJ as follows: 200 kcal × 4.184 = 836.8 kJ.</p> <p>As for how many calories are acceptable to eat, the Australian Guidelines for Healthy Eating estimate the average adult requires about 7,000kJ or 1,670Kcal every day. However, differences in age, gender, size, health and physical activity will influence how much energy a person needs.</p> <p>To estimate your personal energy requirements, you can use this <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/nutrient-reference-values/nutrients-dietary-energy-calculator#results-energy">nutrients and dietary energy calculator</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211613/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, Dietitian, Researcher & Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-barnes-1238606">Katelyn Barnes</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/calories-and-kilojoules-how-do-we-know-the-energy-content-of-food-and-how-accurate-are-the-labels-211613">original article</a>.</em></p>

Food & Wine

Cooking (and heating) without gas: what are the impacts of shifting to all-electric homes?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/trivess-moore-12580">Trivess Moore</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alan-pears-52">Alan Pears</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joe-hurley-157161">Joe Hurley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p>Gas connections for all new housing and sub-divisions will be <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-victorian-homes-go-all-electric-2024">banned in Victoria</a> from January 1 next year. The long-term result of the state government’s significant change to planning approvals will be all-electric housing. The ACT made <a href="https://www.climatechoices.act.gov.au/policy-programs/preventing-new-gas-network-connections">similar changes</a> early this year, in line with a shift away from gas across <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47559920">Europe</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/19/gas-stove-culture-war-united-states">other locations</a>, although the NSW Premier Chris Minns has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/31/nsw-wont-ban-gas-in-new-homes-as-premier-declares-i-dont-need-another-complication">baulked</a> at doing the same.</p> <p>Around <a href="https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/renewable-energy/victorias-gas-substitution-roadmap">80% of homes</a> in Victoria are connected to gas. This high uptake was driven by gas being seen as more affordable and sustainable than electricity over past decades. The situation has <a href="https://www.iea.org/events/net-zero-by-2050-a-roadmap-for-the-global-energy-system">changed dramatically</a> as renewable electricity generation increases and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-27/aemo-wholesale-electricity-prices-fall-impact-power-bills/102654498">costs fall</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/all-electric-homes-are-better-for-your-hip-pocket-and-the-planet-heres-how-governments-can-help-us-get-off-gas-207409">Research</a> has suggested for more than a decade that the benefits of all-electric homes <a href="https://bze.org.au/research_release/energy-efficient-buildings-plan/">stack up in many locations</a>. New homes built under mandatory building energy performance standards (increasing from <a href="https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/building-construction/victoria-kicks-the-can-down-the-road-again-on-the-national-construction-code/">6 to 7 stars</a> in Victoria in May 2024) need smaller, cheaper heating and cooling systems. Installing reverse-cycle air conditioning for cooling provides a cost-effective heater as a bonus.</p> <p>Savings from not requiring gas pipes, appliances and gas supply infrastructure help to offset the costs of highly efficient electric appliances. Mandating fully electric homes means economies of scale will further reduce costs.</p> <h2>How does this ban help?</h2> <p>To achieve environmentally sustainable development, reforms of planning policy and regulation <a href="https://theconversation.com/sustainable-cities-australias-building-and-planning-rules-stand-in-the-way-of-getting-there-84263">are essential</a> to convert innovation and best practice to mainstream practice. Planning policy is particularly important for apartment buildings and other housing that may be rented or have an owners’ corporation. Retrofits to improve energy efficiency can be difficult in these situations.</p> <p>Banning gas in new and renovated housing will <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/getting-off-gas/">cut greenhouse gas emissions</a>. It’s also <a href="https://theconversation.com/gas-cooking-is-associated-with-worsening-asthma-in-kids-but-proper-ventilation-helps-151591">healthier for households</a> and <a href="https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/research-data-and-insights/research/research-reports/the-victorian-healthy-homes-program-research-findings">reduces healthcare costs</a> as well as <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/getting-off-gas/">energy bills and infrastructure costs</a>. The Victorian government suggests the change will save all-electric households <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-victorian-homes-go-all-electric-2024">about $1,000 a year</a>. Houses with solar will be even better off.</p> <p>The government appears to be offering wide support to ensure these changes happen, but this will need to be monitored closely.</p> <p>Some households will face extra costs for electric appliances and solar panels. The government’s announcement of <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-victorian-homes-go-all-electric-2024">$10 million</a> for Residential Electrification Grants should help with some of these costs while the industry adjusts.</p> <p>There will be impacts and benefits for the local economy. Some jobs may be lost, particularly in the gas appliance and plumbing industry. The government has announced financial support to retrain people and they will still have essential roles in the existing housing sector.</p> <p>Many gas appliances are imported, including ovens, cooktops and instantaneous gas water heaters. Some components of efficient electric products, such as hot water storage tanks, are made locally. Local activities, including distribution, sales, design, installation and maintenance, comprise much of the overall cost.</p> <h2>Challenges of change must be managed</h2> <p>Sustainability benefits will depend on what <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/getting-off-gas/">happens with the energy network</a>. We need more renewable energy, energy storage and smarter management of electricity demand.</p> <p>The shift to all-electric homes may mean winter peak demand for heating increases. Energy market operators and governments will have to monitor demand changes carefully to avoid the reliability issues we already see in summer. However, improving energy efficiency, energy storage and demand management will help reduce this load (and household costs).</p> <p>While the benefits are clear for new homes, the changes may <a href="https://www.bsl.org.au/research/publications/enabling-electrification/">increase gas costs and energy poverty</a> for residents of existing housing who don’t shift to efficient electric solutions. The government has reconfirmed financial rebates to help households switch from gas.</p> <p>In addition, existing housing may face building quality and performance issues. Some may require electrical wiring upgrades as part of the transition.</p> <p>Social acceptance of some electric appliances may also be an issue. For example, <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/schools-colleges/property-construction-and-project-management/research/research-centres-and-groups/sustainable-building-innovation-laboratory/projects/heet-housing-energy-efficiency-transitions">our research</a> has found some households dislike the way heating from reverse cycle air conditioners feels. Others do not like cooking on induction cooktops.</p> <p>Consumer education and modifications to appliances and buildings may be needed to increase acceptance and avoid backlash.</p> <p>Some electric appliances are available overseas but not in Australia. Higher demand may increase the range of imports. For example, floor-mounted heat pumps can make heating feel similar to gas heating while still providing effective cooling.</p> <p>We should not assume electric appliances are all equal. To improve consumer protection, action is needed on weak standards and limited and inconsistent public information. For example, information on noise levels and efficiency under a range of weather conditions must be standardised.</p> <p>Moving housing away from gas is an <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-99-2760-9">important step</a> in the transition to a zero-carbon economy and energy system. Careful management is needed to ensure this transition is effective, accepted and fair.</p> <p>Continued planning reforms are also essential to ensure environmentally sustainable development of housing and communities. Other urgent priorities include urban cooling and greening, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/turning-the-housing-crisis-around-how-a-circular-economy-can-give-us-affordable-sustainable-homes-208745">circular economy approaches</a> to reduce the material and waste impacts of housing and thus the carbon that goes into building and running homes.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210649/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/trivess-moore-12580">Trivess Moore</a>, Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alan-pears-52">Alan Pears</a>, Senior Industry Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joe-hurley-157161">Joe Hurley</a>, Associate Professor, Sustainability and Urban Planning, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cooking-and-heating-without-gas-what-are-the-impacts-of-shifting-to-all-electric-homes-210649">original article</a>.</em></p>

Home & Garden

Energy bill relief to benefit just one Aussie demographic

<p>Nearly half a million older Australians will receive hundreds of dollars in energy bill relief as the federal government looks to battle rising power prices.</p> <p>Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth revealed that all Commonwealth seniors health card holders will be given up to $500 per household.</p> <p>The 490,000-plus recipients will include an extra 16,320 people granted access to the card after the federal government introduced higher income thresholds for eligibility in November 2022.</p> <p>The new income limits are $90,000 for singles and $144,000 (combined) for couples.</p> <p>The government claimed this would benefit 52,000 older people by 2026-27.</p> <p>Rishworth explained the energy relief would be available from July 2023.</p> <p>The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released its final determination on May 25, with a revised price increase higher than the March draft that saw a 20 to 22 per cent rise.</p> <p>AER chair Clare Savage said it had been a “difficult decision” but high wholesale energy costs continued to hike up retail prices.</p> <p>“No one wants to see rising prices, and we recognise this is a difficult time, that’s why it’s important for consumers to shop around for a better deal,” she said.</p> <p>Following the AER’s announcement, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton appeared on <em>Today</em> and said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had “lied” to Australians about energy prices.</p> <p>“Let’s be very clear about it, he promised on 97 occasions your bill would go down by $275,” he told <em>Today</em> host Karl Stefanovic.</p> <p>“I think the government’s completely underestimating how much families and small businesses are hurting at the moment.”</p> <p>The bill comes shortly after the Australian Energy Regulator revealed electric prices were set to increase by 25 per cent for about 600,000 customers across three states from July 1.</p> <p>The federal government’s latest budget committed to $3 billion in financial support for those struggling to pay their power bill.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

Money & Banking

“She wasn’t ready to die”: Son speaks after mum on life support dies during power outage

<p dir="ltr">A grieving son is calling for energy companies to do better after his mum, Gloria Shae, 80, who was on life support, died during a power outage in Dubbo.</p> <p dir="ltr">Gloria was found collapsed on the floor after her oxygen machine switched off during an unexpected blackout at around 5am on May 8.</p> <p dir="ltr">The great-grandmother was woken up out of a deep sleep and was later on found trying to reach for her bottled oxygen.</p> <p dir="ltr">Now, her son Brian Shae, has spoken up about the tragic incident and is calling for energy companies to do better.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She wasn't ready to die," Brian said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She was full of life and energy, she had planned what she was doing the next day.</p> <p dir="ltr">He said that his mother was a registered life support customer with Origin Energy and Essential Energy.</p> <p dir="ltr">Neither Brian, who lives in the same property, nor Gloria were notified about the outage by their energy providers.</p> <p dir="ltr">"If there was some sort of automated system that sent out a text message, I could have been there in 30 seconds, in under a minute,” the grieving son said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We could have assisted her, we could have got her oxygen bottles to her.</p> <p dir="ltr">"She does have oxygen bottles in the home but at night you rely on the oxygen generator."</p> <p dir="ltr">Although emergency services arrived about 15 minutes after Gloria was found, and they managed to restart her heart, Brian said that by then she was already brain dead.</p> <p dir="ltr">Gloria’s oxygen machine was rented and didn't come fitted with a back-up battery.</p> <p dir="ltr">Providers currently only need to give customers using life support four days' notice if there is a planned power outage, but in the case of a blackout there is nothing in place to contact their customers or the next of kin.</p> <p dir="ltr">Instead, they urge vulnerable customers to have a back-up battery or generator, to call triple-zero in an emergency, and to “have contingency plans in place”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But how could an 80-year-old lady who has woken up out of a deep sleep (and) short of breath manage to go out (and) start a generator?” Brian asked.</p> <p dir="ltr">Health Minister Ryan Park described the death as a “terrible tragedy” and said that he has spoken with NSW Health. The Health Minister also encouraged energy companies to find better ways to support vulnerable customers.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If there’s anything that we could have done differently, we will look at that,” he added.</p> <p dir="ltr">An Essential Energy spokesperson has also commented and said that the team had personally contacted the family to extend their "deepest condolences".</p> <p><em>Images: 9News</em></p>

Caring

Federal Budget 2023: How to make the most of the key promises

<p dir="ltr">Treasurer Jim Charles has handed down his first budget for 2023/24, offering a series of measures aimed at tackling the cost-of-living crisis.</p> <p dir="ltr">Millions of Australians will receive a boost from the federal government medical care, bills and welfare payments, amid the forecast that the budget will be be in the black with a surplus of $4bn.</p> <p dir="ltr">Here’s what it means for you:</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Bill help</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Those who are on the pension, a seniors card holder or a recipient of family tax benefits A and B will be eligible to get help with energy bills thanks to a deal between the states and Commonwealth that’s worth $1.5bn.</p> <p dir="ltr">That means over five million eligible households and one million eligible small businesses will benefit from the scheme.</p> <p dir="ltr">The relief will come in the form of credits that apply directly to their power bills rather than cash, and the amount they receive will depend on the state they live in.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Medicare Relief</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">The incentives paid to GPs who bulk bill 11.6m eligible Australians including children under 16, pensioners and other concession card holders will increase.</p> <p dir="ltr">GPs will be able to claim the incentives for in-person consultations over six minutes long and certain telehealth consultations.</p> <p dir="ltr">GPs who bulk bill patients in the city will be paid a new incentive of $20.65 compared to the previous rate of $6.60, while regional GPs will receive a $31.40 incentive, up from $10.05.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Welfare recipients</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Over 1.1 million vulnerable Australians will benefit from a $40 fortnightly boost from September, if parliament agrees.</p> <p dir="ltr">The increased base rate will apply to people receiving JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment (partnered), ABSTUDY, Disability Support Pension (Youth) and Special Benefit.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Rental assistance</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">For many renters, this budget means that rent is forecasted to increase over the next year as the market tightens.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, for those currently receiving the maximum Commonwealth Rent Assistance allowance their payments will increase by 15 per cent.</p> <p dir="ltr">Here’s what the Federal Budget will look like at a glance:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Budget deficit of $13.9 billion in 2023/24</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Commonwealth net debt to rise to $574.9 billion (22.3 per cent of GDP) in 2023/24</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Economic growth to fall to 1.5 per cent in 2023/24</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Unemployment rate to rise to 4.25 per cent in 2023/24</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Inflation as measured by CPI to be 3.25 per cent in 2023/24</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Wages to rise by four per cent in 2023/24</p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">And here are the key measures the federal budget has promised:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Energy bill relief for five million households and one million businesses</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Triple bulk-billing incentives and more funding for urgent care clinics</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Base rate of JobSeeker and other payments to be raised for 1.1 million households</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Commonwealth Rent Assistant rise for 1.1 million households</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Housing boost including tax breaks for build-to-rent investors</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">$4 billion extra for renewable energy</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Tax breaks for small business to write-off assets and reduce energy costs</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Targeted help for jobless aged over 55</p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr">Cut to cost of medicines</p> </li> </ul> <p><em>Image: Getty Images/ Martin Ollman / Stringer</em></p>

Money & Banking

1 in 4 households struggle to pay power bills. Here are 5 ways to tackle hidden energy poverty

<p><a href="https://energyconsumersaustralia.com.au/news/how-increases-in-energy-prices-are-impacting-consumers#:%7E:text=Energy%2520affordability%2520is%2520not%2520just,in%2520the%2520past%252012%2520months.">One in four Australian households</a> are finding it hard to pay their gas and electricity bills. As winter looms, <a href="https://www.aer.gov.au/news-release/default-market-offer-2023%25E2%2580%259324-draft-determination">energy price rises</a> will make it even harder. Cold homes and disconnections resulting from energy poverty threaten people’s health and wellbeing.</p> <p><a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ACOSS-cost-of-living-report2-March-2023_web_FINAL.pdf">Income support for welfare recipients</a> and retrofitting homes to make them more thermally efficient – by adding insulation, for example – can ease the burden. And when homes are not too cold or hot, <a href="https://theconversation.com/fuel-poverty-makes-you-sick-so-why-has-nothing-changed-since-i-was-a-child-living-in-a-cold-home-201787">people’s health benefits</a>. This in turn <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/319556">eases pressure on the public health system</a>.</p> <p>However, many people are missing out on assistance as programs often do not recognise their difficulties. Their energy vulnerability is hidden.</p> <h2>What forms does hidden energy poverty take?</h2> <p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623000737">Our newly published study</a> has revealed six aspects of hidden energy vulnerability. These are:</p> <ol> <li> <p>underconsumption – households limit or turn off cooling, heating and/or lights to avoid disconnections</p> </li> <li> <p>incidental masking – other welfare support, such as rent relief, masks difficulties in paying energy bills</p> </li> <li> <p>some households disguise energy poverty by using public facilities such as showers or pooling money for bills between families</p> </li> <li> <p>some people conceal their hardship due to pride or fear of legal consequences, such as losing custody of children if food cannot be refrigerated because the power has been cut off</p> </li> <li> <p>poor understanding of energy efficiency and the health risks of cold or hot homes adds to the problem</p> </li> <li> <p>eligibility criteria for energy assistance programs may exclude some vulnerable households. For example, people with income just above the welfare threshold are missing out on energy concessions. Energy retailer hardship programs also ignore people who have voluntarily disconnected due to financial hardship.</p> </li> </ol> <h2>5 ways to help these households</h2> <p>Our studies suggest trusted intermediaries such as people working in health, energy and social services can play a vital role in identifying and supporting such households.</p> <p>First, energy efficiency and hardship initiatives may be <a href="https://www.rmit.edu.au/about/schools-colleges/property-construction-and-project-management/research/research-centres-and-groups/sustainable-building-innovation-laboratory/projects/care-at-home-system-improvements">integrated into the My Aged Care in-home care system</a>. Energy poverty risk identification, response and referral could be built into the national service’s assessment form. This could leverage existing client screening processes.</p> <p>The system’s front-line staff could connect at-risk householders with energy counsellors. These counsellors could help people access better energy contracts, concessions, home retrofits and appliance upgrade programs.</p> <p>A new Commonwealth “energy supplement” could help pay for essential energy-related home modifications. This would help avoid My Aged Care funds being diverted from immediate healthcare needs.</p> <p>Second, general practitioners and other health professionals could help identify energy vulnerability among patients with medical conditions of concern. They could also provide letters of support emphasising renters’ health-based need for air conditioners or heaters.</p> <p>Third, energy providers could use household energy data to identify those that seem to be under-consuming or are often disconnected. They could also identify those that are not on “best offer” deals. They could be proactive in checking struggling householders’ eligibility for ongoing energy concessions and one-off debt relief grants offered by states and territories.</p> <p>Energy providers could also make it easier for social housing providers to ensure concessions for tenants renew automatically.</p> <p>Fourth, local councils could use their data to identify at-risk householders. They might include those with a disability parking permit, discounted council rates or in arrears, on the social housing waiting list, Meals on Wheels clients and social housing tenants. Maternal and child health nurses and home and community care workers making home visits could call attention to cold or hot homes.</p> <p>Councils could employ in-house energy counsellors to provide assistance and energy literacy training. Council home maintenance teams could develop bulk-buying, insulation and neighbourhood retrofit programs.</p> <p>Strategies to reduce vulnerability to energy poverty should be part of municipal public health and wellbeing plans. Under these strategies, net-zero-carbon funds set up by states and local councils to reduce emissions could finance targeted housing retrofits.</p> <p>We also suggest setting up a central helpline to improve access to energy assistance via local referrals.</p> <p>Fifth, residential energy-efficiency programs could become more person-centric. For example, we already have <a href="https://www.homescorecard.gov.au/">Residential Efficiency Scorecard</a> audits to assess the thermal quality of a home. These audits could also explore whether concessions and better energy deals are available to the household.</p> <h2>Building capacity at all levels</h2> <p><a href="https://cur.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/tackling-hidden-energy-final.pdf">Capacity-building strategies</a> are needed at all levels – individual, community and government – to overcome the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623000737">challenges</a> of reducing energy poverty. Current obstacles include the competing priorities of service providers, lack of time and resources, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629622003553">poor co-ordination between siloed</a> programs and services.</p> <p>Access to essential energy services should be part of state and local governments’ strategic health plans. Housing, energy and health departments could work together to include housing retrofits in preventive health programs.</p> <p>A comprehensive approach is needed to overcome hidden energy poverty. It must include public education, integrated services and well-funded energy-efficiency programs. Regulatory reforms and ongoing funding are both needed to improve the availability of energy-efficient, affordable homes for tenants.</p> <p>Our suggested strategies start with improving the skills and knowledge of trusted intermediaries. Doctors, social workers, housing officers, community nurses and volunteers can play a central role. Using these front-line professionals to help identify and act on energy poverty offers a novel, cost-effective and targeted solution.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-4-households-struggle-to-pay-power-bills-here-are-5-ways-to-tackle-hidden-energy-poverty-204672" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

Emma Willis shares unseen footage of vow renewal

<p dir="ltr">On her 14th wedding anniversary to Bruce Willis, Emma Heming Willis decided to share unseen footage of the couple’s vow renewal in 2019.</p> <p dir="ltr">Emma took to Instagram to share the sweet video montage of the ceremony that took place in the Turks and Caicos Islands.</p> <p dir="ltr">“On our 10th wedding anniversary we decided to renew our vows in the same place we said ‘I do’ back in 2009. I’m so happy we did. Seize every opportunity to unite and celebrate with family and friends,” she captioned the video.</p> <p dir="ltr">The couple’s original officiant, Steve Eads, can be spotted marrying the couple again during the 2019 ceremony.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Those are the moments and beautiful pockets of memories that you get to hold on to for a lifetime. And we get to keep those memories safe and alive for the ones that might not be able to,” she added.</p> <p dir="ltr">This is the couple’s first anniversary since Bruce’s <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/cruel-disease-bruce-willis-given-heartbreaking-new-diagnosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dementia diagnosis</a>, and Emma chose to reflect on the joyous occasion by expressing her gratitude for having these memories to hold on to, and for the constant support from the expansive Willis family.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A big shout out to our videographer @demimoore, our wedding singers @rumerwillis @scoutlaruewillis and our two flower girls Mabel Ray & Evelyn Penn,” she added in the caption, mentioning Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore and all of their kids.</p> <p dir="ltr">She also thanked their “sweet family and friends for always showing up”.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqESEaBuKzu/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqESEaBuKzu/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The video is shared moments after Emma posted a heartbreaking message on how hard “special occasions” are for caregivers.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Today marks 14 years of marriage to the greatest love of my life,” she captioned the photo of a bouquet of flowers.</p> <p dir="ltr">She then goes on to share a small act of kindness from a friend who had remembered that it was the couple’s anniversary. Her friend, Juliya, had bought her a bouquet of flowers with a note that said: “Happy Anniversary amongst other things”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It got me thinking about how hard these types of “special occasions” can be on caregivers. When usually our person would acknowledge the event, now their changing brains just can’t. And that is what it is,” she shared.</p> <p dir="ltr">“So my point is this. If you know someone that is looking after someone else, don’t ask what you can do, just do. This random act of kindness will honestly stay with me for a long time.</p> <p dir="ltr">I love you Juliya. You single handedly made this day special for us 💐💞,” she added.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CqDU7iGLD_8/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CqDU7iGLD_8/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Emma has constantly <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/any-tips-bruce-willis-wife-posts-heartfelt-plea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared her journey</a> as a caregiver after Bruce announced that he will be stepping away from his career as an actor due to his <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/bruce-willis-forced-to-retire-after-medical-diagnosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aphasia diagnosis</a> last March.</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Relationships

Aussies set for power bill relief just before Christmas

<p dir="ltr">The Albanese government has introduced a bill to help battling Aussies feel some relief during the ongoing cost of living crisis by bringing down the cost of unsustainable energy prices. </p> <p dir="ltr">Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australians need “urgent, targeted, meaningful action” to take some of the sting out of the increasing power costs, which will be addressed through a new energy package to give households and small businesses some relief.</p> <p dir="ltr">MPs and senators were recalled to Canberra for a special session of parliament on Thursday to debate the government’s package, as it will now sail through both houses after Anthony Albanese secured the Senate support of the Greens, David Pocock, and the Jacqui Lambie Network. </p> <p dir="ltr">Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has confirmed the Coalition will not support the Bill, saying it would be “catastrophic” for Australian economic policy.</p> <p dir="ltr">Once passed, gas prices will be capped at $12 a gigajoule for 12 months, which the government says will slash power bills by about $230. </p> <p dir="ltr">The Queensland and NSW governments will also enforce a cap on coal for the same amount of time, at $125 a tonne.</p> <p dir="ltr">The package also includes $1.5 billion of additional relief to small businesses and some households.</p> <p dir="ltr">In introducing the Bill in the House on Thursday morning, Dr Chalmers said without urgent market intervention, retail gas prices were tipped to increase by a further 20 per cent and electricity prices by 36 per cent in the next financial year.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That’s why urgent action is needed … And when we vote today, every member of this place will make a choice,” he said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“To help Australians with rising energy bills – or to make it even harder for them.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“To save Australian jobs – or to surrender them. “</p> <p dir="ltr">“We choose to protect households and small businesses. We choose to defend our local industries. And we choose to save local jobs.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

Building and construction emissions and energy use reaches record levels

<p>Despite improvements in energy efficiency, greenhouse pollution levels from the building and construction sector reached an all-time high in 2021.</p> <p>A new report on the building and construction sector by the United Nations Environment Programme released for COP27 found energy demand in buildings – for heating, cooling, lighting and equipment – increased by 4% from 2020 levels. As a result, the sector’s emissions increased 5% compared to 2020.</p> <p>While the increase partly reflects a re-bound in building and construction activities after the pandemic, energy and emissions levels were also above 2019 levels.</p> <p>This is significant because the sector accounts for around a third of total energy demand, the report says.</p> <p>The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the opening forum of COP27 that the future of the planet is in our hands. “…and the clock is ticking. We are in the fight of our lives. And we are losing. Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.</p> <p>“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator. “</p> <p>With the release of the report, UNEP executive director, Inger Andersen added: “If we do not rapidly cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, we will be in deeper trouble.”</p> <p>The UNEP report argues investments in energy efficiency must be sustained in the face of growing crises – such as the war in Ukraine and rising energy and living costs – to help with reducing energy demand, avoiding greenhouse gas pollution and reducing energy cost volatility.</p> <p>“The solution may lie in governments directing relief towards low and zero-carbon building investment activities through financial and non-financial incentives,” Andersen says.</p> <p>Also critical to reducing the sector’s emissions are including buildings in climate pledges under the Paris Agreement – known as Nationally Determined Contributions – and mandatory building energy codes.</p> <p>The report’s recommendations include: building coalitions of stakeholders in support of sustainable buildings, governments introducing mandatory building energy codes and government policies, increasing investment in energy efficiency and commitments from industry.</p> <p></p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=222598&title=Building+and+construction+emissions+and+energy+use+reaches+record+levels" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/building-emissions-reach-record-levels/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Petra Stock. </em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Real Estate

6 clever ways to save energy in the bathroom

<p>Unless you’ve adopted a more-cavalier approach to personal hygiene, odds are you will spend a lot of time in the bathroom over the course of a year. But this doesn’t have to translate into a significant surge in your power bill. With modern energy-saving techniques it’s possible to primp and preen without having to take a hit to the back pocket. Here are six of the most effective.</p> <p><strong> 1. Changing your hot water system</strong></p> <p>It might sounds like a major project, but this can be as simple as getting a technician to make a minor alteration to the settings of your hot water heater. And if you’re willing to go all out consider making the transition to energy efficient solar or heat pump technology. You won’t notice a difference in the shower, but you will when you open your next electricity bill.</p> <p><strong>2. Minimise your time in the shower</strong></p> <p>A fast shower’s a good shower. Here’s another way to save energy in your bathroom which will eventually translate into a nice improvement for your bank balance over the course of the year. Keep showers short and sweet, ideally four minutes or under, and if you’re really keen consider switching shower heads to a more energy-efficient model. Every second counts!</p> <p><strong>3. Turn the lights out</strong></p> <p>This one may pretty self-explanatory, but you would be surprised to know how much energy is wasted every year by people leaving the lights on around the house. If you’re considering major renovations, make sure you take a moment to look ways to increase the amount of natural light in your bathroom light installing high windows or even a skylight. It all adds up!</p> <p><strong>4. Smarter ways to warm up</strong></p> <p>Everyone dreads that freezing cold moment they jump out of a hot shower, but that doesn’t justify having a 1,000 watt bar heater on standby. Only using heaters when it’s absolutely essential will dramatically decrease your power bill. If you’re renovating, make sure your bathroom is well-sealed an insulated, particularly around energy draining areas like the walls of your shower.</p> <p><strong>5. Invest in new fittings</strong></p> <p>Even if you’re not undergoing a major bathroom renovation that doesn’t mean you can’t stand to benefit from some new, energy-efficient fittings. Look out for the star rating when you’re purchasing and pretty soon you will be noticing some serious savings when it comes to your power bill. Before too long these newly-installed fittings will be paying for themselves.</p> <p><strong>6. The little things</strong></p> <p>When it comes to saving power the little things can make a big difference. Things like making sure a device is switched off instead of sitting on standby, making sure a device is not connected when it is fully charged and using a towel instead of a hairdryer are all things that require little or no effort on your part, but will make a serious difference on your next power bill.</p> <p>So there you have it, a range of simple ways you decrease the amount of energy you’re using in the bathroom and save money to spend on things that are more important. Every little bit counts. </p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

Tips to save energy in the kitchen

<p>One room in the house where big energy savings can be made easily is perhaps the least expected: the kitchen. Here’s what to do to cut down on those power bills.</p> <p><strong>Refrigerator</strong></p> <ul> <li>Ensure door seals are working effectively by placing a piece of paper between the seal and door. If the paper moves in and out, your seal isn’t doing its jobs. Adjust the door or replace seals.</li> <li>Defrost fridge and freezer regularly. Frost build up should never be more than half a centimetre.</li> <li>Refrigerators work most effectively if they are mostly full. Make sure there’s enough room between foods for air to circulate.</li> <li>Don't keep your refrigerator or freezer too cold. The recommended temperatures are between 0°C to 4°C for fresh food, close to -18°C for the freezer and close to 0°C for the chiller compartment.</li> <li>Know the contents of your fridge so you don’t spend unnecessary time with the fridge door wide open. It’s drilled into you when you’re kids but it’s always worth remembering: the less you open the door, the less electricity is used.</li> <li>If you are going on holidays for an extended period of time, it may be worth turning off you refrigerator. </li> </ul> <p><strong>Oven, rangehood and cooktops</strong></p> <ul> <li>Clean door seals regularly and check for signs of wear. Replace flat or split door seals.</li> <li>Regularly clean surfaces for full heating benefits.</li> <li>Turn off the rangehood lights when not needed and use exhaust fan on the lowest speed. </li> </ul> <p><strong>Dishwasher</strong></p> <ul> <li>Most of the energy used by a dishwasher is for water heating. Check the manual to see if your dishwasher has internal heating elements that will allow you to set the water heater to a lower temperature.</li> <li>Only run dishwashers when full but not overloaded.</li> <li>Scrape, don’t rinse, leftover food on your plates. </li> </ul> <p><strong>Other</strong></p> <ul> <li>Small appliances like electric kettles, toasters and grills generally provide better value than using the stove or oven.</li> <li>Place the faucet level on the kitchen sinks on cold. Placing the tap on hot position draws hot water even though you are not using it. </li> </ul> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Home & Garden

Energy companies warn of further jump in power bills

<p>Energy company bosses have warned cost of living pressures will increase, with power bills set to soar by 35 percent by next year. </p> <p>"Next year, using the current market prices, tariffs are going up a minimum 35 percent," Alinta Energy chief executive Jeff Dimery told The Australian Financial Review's Energy & Climate Summit.</p> <p>The summit was told that tight supply issues and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have put pressure on wholesale prices and international commodity markets.</p> <p>The early closure of coal-fired power stations is also creating a rocky transition to renewable energy, bumping up power bills. </p> <p>Under the predicted 35 percent rise by 2023, the average quarterly power bill in South Australia would be $514, in New South Wales $480 and for Victorian consumers $430.</p> <p>This predicted rise is another blow to Aussies struggling with cost of living pressures, after there was an increase of up to 18 per cent in household tariffs on July 1st. </p> <p>The winter prices were increased due to the war in Ukraine, and the resounding pressure on the global energy market. </p> <p>Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told the conference that transitioning to renewables remains the best way of bringing down power costs and household bills.</p> <p>Labor pledged its policies would result in power prices falling by 2025 during this year's federal election campaign.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

"Return our stolen diamonds!": Renewed pleas over the Great Star of Africa

<p>In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, calls in South Africa are growing stronger for the British royal family to return the world’s largest known clear-cut diamond.</p> <p>Known as the “Great Star of Africa” or “Cullinan I”, the diamond is cut from a larger gem that was mined in South Africa in 1905. It was handed over to the British royal family by South Africa’s colonial authorities. At the moment, the diamond resides on a royal sceptre that belonged to Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <p>Demands for the return of the Great Star of Africa and other items have intensified since the Queen's death, as many South Africans view Britain's acquisition of the jewels as illegitimate.</p> <p>"The Cullinan Diamond must be returned to South Africa with immediate effect," activist Thanduxolo Sabelo has told local media, adding that: "The minerals of our country and other countries continue to benefit Britain at the expense of our people."</p> <p>According to the Royal Collection Trust, which oversees the royal collection of the British royal family, the Great Star of Africa was presented to King Edward VII in 1907, two years after its discovery in a private mine.</p> <p>Supporting the British monarchy's claim to the precious stone, the Royal Asscher Diamond Company has said that the gem was purchased by South Africa's Transvaal government (run by British rule) and presented to King Edward VII as a birthday gift.</p> <p>A University of South Africa professor of African politics, Everisto Benyera, rejects this narrative, telling CNN that "colonial transactions are illegitimate and immoral”.</p> <p>"Our narrative is that the whole Transvaal and Union of South Africa governments and the concomitant mining syndicates were illegal," Benyera has said, arguing that: "Receiving a stolen diamond does not exonerate the receiver. The Great Star is a blood diamond ... The private (mining) company, the Transvaal government, and the British Empire were part of a larger network of coloniality."</p> <p>According to the Royal Asscher, the Cullinan diamond was cut into nine large stones and 96 smaller pieces. The largest of these was named the Great Star of Africa by King Edward VII, who also named the second largest cut stone the Smaller Star of Africa.</p> <p>The larger diamond was set in the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross and the second cut stone was mounted in the Imperial Crown, which has been on display this week on the Queen's coffin.</p> <p>African countries continue to fight for the recovery of cultural artefacts that have been stolen by colonial troops, with more than 6000 people signing a petition for the return of the jewel so that it can be displayed in a South African museum.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Legal

Simple tricks to reduce your winter energy bills

<p>It’s that time of the year when the temperature drops and your energy bills start to go in the opposite direction – up! Stay warm and reduce your bills with these simple tricks to help you save energy.</p> <p>Winter is a time when we love to hibernate at home and stay toasty warm but the impact this can have on the electricity bill can be enormous. Having said that, it’s possible to stay warm and reduce the chill on your hip pocket with smart ways of keeping your home and yourself warm during winter.</p> <p><strong>Rug up</strong><br />An easy way to save electricity and stay warm in winter is to put on suitable clothing. A big woolly jumper, warm pants and indoor slippers are not only comfortable for relaxing around the home, they’ll also keep you toasty warm. While you don’t have to resort to wearing a big coat or jacket inside your own home, it’s a good idea to put on an extra couple of layers and save having to switch on the heater. However, don’t endure being cold for the sake of not putting on your heater. Find what works for you, as long you’re comfortable and warm.</p> <p><strong>Seal your home</strong><br />Chilly draughts from poorly sealed windows and doors can be both a nuisance and account for a big percentage of heat loss from naturally insulated rooms or the heater. Keep the heat inside by sealing any gaps and cracks in external walls, floors and the ceiling. You can seal external doors with draught stoppers or those classic door snakes at the bottom of doors, and install weather stripping around the frames.</p> <p><strong>Load up on blankets</strong><br />Who needs an electric blanket when you can add any number of layers to your bed? It can be duvets, doonas, quilts and comforters, just keep layering until your bed is a warm haven. A good tip is when you’re about to go to bed, to get the same instant warmness as an electric blanket, heat a hot water bottle and pop it between the sheets. While it won’t heat the entire bed evenly, it can make the bed feel warmer while your body adjusts to the enclosed space.</p> <p><strong>Let the sun in</strong><br />Winter can sometimes offer up a surprise in the form of a clear blue sky and some warming sunlight. When it does, open up the windows and doors (if there’s no cool breeze) and allow the natural rays to heat your home naturally.</p> <p><strong>Shop around for energy providers</strong><br />This is the best way to make sure you’re getting a good deal on your energy usage. Depending on what state you live in, you should be able to find a range of energy retailers offering competitive prices for their services.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Readers response: How do you handle changes in energy levels as you age?