Technological evolution is poised to supercharge demand on Australian power grids, worsened by growing climatic disasters such as heatwaves, bushfires, drought and floods.
A new Monash University report (click here to read the report) says practices like AI-driven systems, electrified homes, remote care and hybrid work are likely to place increasing demands.
Monash social anthropologist and lead author of the report, Doctor Kari Dahlgren says emerging technologies are based assumptions that may not hold in a climate-altered future.
“Much of today’s technology innovation doesn’t seriously consider the energy system implications,” Dr Dahlgren said.
“As climate risks intensify, technologies that depend on continuous power and connectivity may face greater challenges to how they function in everyday life.”
The report identifies several areas where this disconnect between technology and climate is most visible such as rising demand for cooling technologies in a warming climate, the need for more resilient digital and energy infrastructure and the risks facing home-based health care and remote monitoring systems during blackouts.
EVOLUTION MEETS CLIMATE
The report draws on 93 reports, interviews and industry observations to identify future-shaping trends such as the rise of AI and automation, an ageing population, changing healthcare needs and growing inequalities in access to housing and technology.
It also highlights shifts that are expected to affect daily household life, ranging from greater electrification of appliances and electric vehicles to managing temperature levels and work, drive and charging practices.
The researchers compared these trends to climate risks that were identified in the National Climate Risk Assessment and examined the likelihood of climatic disruption.
It found these risks were unevenly distributed; the elderly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, regional and remote communities, and lower-income households are most exposed due to a greater reliance on power systems and less access to resilient technologies.
Industries like healthcare, aged care, agriculture, construction, logistics and energy are due to face growing disruption as a changing climate reduces workforce capacity, strains infrastructure, disrupts supply chains and increases demand on already pressured systems.
HOUSEHOLD IMPACT
Monash Energy Institute Director (Research) and co-author Professor Yolande Strengers said the impacts of these vulnerabilities will be felt most acutely at home.
“These technologies are often framed as solutions to climate challenges but they are deeply dependent on the very systems that are under increasing stress,” Prof Strengers said.
“We need to be considering these technological innovations and how they are likely to unfold in everyday life, to ensure the system continues to be resilient to these future changes.”
The researchers also developed ‘scenarios ’ of the future that highlight how the evolution of technological trends may play out in daily lives. These scenarios include:
- home healthcare for the elderly using remote monitoring and robots;
- digitally wired households powered by AI and extended reality;
- homes operating as highly automated, energy-optimised systems;
- modular, mobile homes adapted to climatic change;
- more energy-conscious living with fewer digital devices.
Across each scenario, increasing reliance on electricity and connectivity heightens exposure to climate-related disruptions.
Co-author Dr Fareed Kaviani from Monash’s Faculty of Information Technology says addressing these disruptions will require a shift in the evolution of technologies.
“There is a growing need to design technologies that are not only efficient and advanced, but also resilient to disruption,” Dr Kaviani said.
“That includes building systems that can
respond to increasingly volatile environments.”
Looking to the future, the researchers hope to focus on working directly with Australian households to better understand how these expected future trends are likely to be experienced in everyday life and to inform the development of more resilient, equitable and accessible technologies and energy systems.
ABOUT THE REPORT
The report was developed by a cross-disciplinary team of researchers from Monash University with Dr Rex Martin and Dr Mike Roberts from the University of NSW (UNSW). It is part of a Scenarios for Future Living project that involves Monash University, UNSW, University of Technology Sydney, CSIRO, Ausgrid, CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy, Red Energy, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
