This presentation was delivered at the New Economy Network Australia 2018 conference in Narrm (Melbourne). (https://www.neweconomy.org.au). The aim of the presentation was three-fold. First, contextualise the national energy conversation prior to the installation of Tesla’s 'big battery’ at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia. Second, problematise the battery's inception on Twitter, its lithium-ion composition, and the media discourse that never explicitly addresses excessive energy usage as a cause of grid instability. Finally, third, propose that while the big battery industry is still seeding in Australia - & before the controversy settles - an opportunity exists to normalise new socio-ecological practices (such as our appetite for energy) that works within our planetary boundary and confronts climate change. I emphasised that this proposition is possible by relating it to the battery icon on our mobile devices (the icon is a communication strategy that influences energy practices). I then concluded by explaining how Earth is a 'battery' and proposed the question of how to take our relationship with our mobile device battery and scale it to big batteries (that support renewable energy), and to the 'biggest' battery (Earth).
1. The Tesla battery
and our appetite for energy
Aleesha Rodriguez | @_aleeshajoy
Image source: https://good-design.org/projects/tesla-powerpack-neoen-hornsdale-wind-farm-2/
6. 9 March 2017 14 March 2017 7 July 2017
11 March 2017 31 March 2017 29 November
2017
The Weatherill
government announce
new $150 million
renewable energy
technology fund to
build a 100MW battery
by summer
Tesla Motors and
French wind farm
developer Neoen win
tender to supply
100MW battery
Tender for
100MW battery
close with 91
expressions of
interest
Hornsdale Power
Reserve begins
dispatching power to
the grid, one day
ahead of schedule
The Financial Review
report that Cannon-
Brookes, Musk, & SA
Premier Jay
Weatherill discuss
the wager via call
The Twitter bet
‘Policy by Tweet’ – as described by Marc Hudson
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy
11. Parker, S. & Mountain, B. (2018). Tesla big battery: It earned a lot more money in
second quarter. Retrieved from https://reneweconomy.com.au/tesla-big-battery-it-
earned-a-lot-more-money-in-second-quarter-80892/
NENA Conference 2018. Aleesha Rodriguez, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT. Say hi @_aleeshajoy