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Saul wants to eventually convert the whole of Australia. "Engineers are people who like to use the tools of science to get a job done." "I think of myself as an engineer," he says. But there's one that Saul says he's happy to wear. He's been described as a disrupter, a compulsive optimist, a certified genius. "I think being able to genuinely tell the story with real data that also paints a successful outcome for humans is incredibly important." Loading. "People have always, since the beginning of time, been motivated by stories," Saul says. If it succeeds, those living along a thin strip of coast north of Wollongong could provide something rare in the global fight against climate change - a good news story Saul hopes communities around the world could emulate. To get the project up and running, they need to raise money. Saul estimates it will take $20 million in funding "from a bunch of different sources" to cover the community's electrification costs. It might sound straightforward but it's not. "Here's a community of real Australians living better than they did before with lower energy bills, they're healthier and they're zero emissions." "We're trying to do proof at scale, prove it in a community," he tells Australian Story. He calls Electrify 2515 a "lighthouse project", a real-world test to illuminate a pathway out of the climate crisis. Inspired by Saul's ideas, a small group of local volunteers have been busily doorknocking their suburb and rallying the community to sign up to the Electrify 2515 pilot, which stands to be the first of its kind in Australia if it can get off the ground.īut Saul's mission is larger than just one suburb. It aims for all household machines in the postcode area running on fossil fuels - from gas cooktops to petrol cars - to be converted to electric equivalents and powered by renewable energy. Saul Griffith believes Australia is the ideal country to plug into an electric future. ![]() "There is no other viable technology on the horizon to eliminate these emissions." "We have to electrify all the machines," Saul told the packed meeting at the Thirroul community centre last September. Having returned to live in Australia with his young family, he's now working on another ambitious plan: to see households in his own suburb of Austinmer - and those neighbouring it in the 2515 postcode area - "electrified" and converted to run on renewable energy. Originally from the suburbs of Sydney, Saul, 49, lived and worked in the US for over 20 years, where he recently helped politicians write "the largest piece of climate legislation in human history anywhere in the world," he says. "If we screw up, you literally know where I live." "You're my neighbours," Saul joked as he stood up to give his presentation. From meetings with White House officials and US politicians, to duelling with the powerful fossil fuel lobby, he's made the case for his solution to the climate crisis in forums where the stakes couldn't be higher.īut it was a Sunday afternoon meeting in a community centre just north of Wollongong that proved "the most intimidating one by far," he said. Dr Saul Griffith has found himself in plenty of high-pressure situations over the past two decades.
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