As the federal government's promises for climate goals at the Glasgow conference make the headlines, in Tasmania we are waiting for the next five-year climate action plan.
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The last action plan included the rollout of fast chargers for electric vehicles around Tasmania, which is needed to give people the confidence they need to drive across the state.
After electricity and land use, transport is our next biggest-emitting sector. An average-sized car emits about 244 grams of carbon dioxide for every kilometre travelled.
Someone who drives nine kilometres to work every day could be responsible for more than one tonne of emissions a year from their commute.
Electric cars have received a lot of the attention when it comes to cutting transport emissions. However, without national action to make it more desirable for car companies to bring in affordable models of electric cars, for many people the purchase price means they are still out of reach.
In contrast, good quality electric bicycles can be bought for $3000-5000.
Research shows that when people have access to an e-bike, it's used for some trips that normally would have been taken by car.
Many of our car trips are local. In Hobart, the average work commuting distance is 11.7 kilometres and in Launceston it's less than 10 kilometres. For people who need to transport children, groceries or work tools, cargo electric bicycles are a good option, allowing loads of up to 100 kilograms, depending on the bike.
The purchase price of electric bicycles is higher than standard bicycles but if they are being used to replace car trips, they quickly pay for themselves. Cargo bikes are more expensive again because they really are an alternative to a car rather than a bicycle. And this is where the government can help.
The Australian Taxation Office already allows electric bicycles to be salary packaged but we are waiting for more employers in Tasmania to offer this benefit so e-bike suppliers can service the whole state.
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If the Tasmanian Government included e-bikes in its salary packaging options for all public servants, it would help more people afford e-bikes and create a larger customer base for suppliers. For people who are not working, or are working somewhere that doesn't offer salary packaging, a no-interest loan scheme could help them buy an e-bike.
The added benefits of getting more people out of cars and onto bikes includes reduced traffic congestion, reduced air pollution and people feeling healthier and happier.
Alison Hetherington, Tasmania public affairs manager, Bicycle Network
COVID ON SPIRIT OF TASMANIA
I RECENTLY traveled from Melbourne to Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania.
While in transit, I had contact with a purser in the corridor of the sleeping cabins.
The purser blocked the corridor, stood very close to me, uncomfortably close in normal times but definitely too close for COVID times.
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When I finally brought the conversation to an end, he offered his hand, which I automatically shook. I later regretted shaking hands with him.
If Tasmania is to stay COVID-free, then all staff on the Spirit of Tasmania need to use the proper social-distancing rules.
Mark Scully, Underwood.
CERTAINTY FOR GP TRAINING
REGARDING "Changes to GP training won't solve recruitment woes" (The Examiner, October 10) I can assure readers that far from being uncertain about the timing, the Commonwealth Department of Health last month reconfirmed the timeline to return training to the colleges, meaning it will happen in January 2023.
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The Royal Australian College of GPs is ready and the department expressed confidence in the RACGP to deliver a model that will deliver the sort of outcomes expected of this level of government investment.
Our model unites the functions of existing training organisations (like General Practice Training Tasmania) under the one umbrella of the RACGP, delivering a strong and consistent training experience which will place future GPs where they are most needed in Tasmania.
Dr Tim Jackson, Chair of RACGP Tasmania.
COSTLY HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
PRODUCING Hydrogen for clean energy sounds like a great idea, if we are to run vehicles on it all that comes out the exhaust is water vapour.
What a boon.
Before Tasmania jumps on the bandwagon, and starts to allow production of hydrogen here, we need to consider a few things.
First thing is that the water to undergo electrolysis needs to be purified first.
That means that we need a lot of water.
To make hydrogen from water we need nine litres of fresh purified water for each litre of hydrogen. It takes two litres of fresh water to make one litre of purified water, so we need 18 litres of water/ litre of hydrogen.
Say we are to produce 100 tonnes of hydrogen a day that would mean that we need to find 1.8 million megalitres of water to make it.
Electricity use in electrolysis is not small either.
To make that much hydrogen we would need to generate around 4800 megawatt hours of electricity.
That requires about 200 megawatts of generation capacity, Which is one-third the capacity of Basslink.
So we need more information from the proponents of hydrogen plants.
How much hydrogen do they plan on making?
Where are they going to get the water from?
Who is going to pay for any new dams or pipelines?
Where is the power coming from?
How much could we get for this electricity if we just sold it over Basslink or the Marinus link?
