Renew 165 out now: Getting climate ready, effective building envelopes, biodiversity impacts, community batteries, EVs on a budget, community eco hub, and more!

In Renew 165, we bring you an in-depth look at the weather systems we face and their potential impacts on our homes and communities. To help you prepare for the hotter conditions ahead, we share information and advice about how you can keep cool, stay comfortable and even enjoy a little gardening through the season.

In our cover story, we get to know grassroots advocate Shirley Saywell, who has been campaigning for better environmental outcomes in the Victorian town of Euroa for more than 40 years. Among her many successes has been the Euroa Microgrid Project, which saw solar arrays and batteries installed at six local businesses to create a microgrid for the town.

We also bring you a bumper Buyers Guide on affordable electric vehicles—everything you need to know about what you can get on the market with a small-to-medium-sized budget. We look at what’s out there when it comes to electric cars, mopeds, bikes, motorbikes, scooters and more—and give practical advice to help you make the right decision for your lifestyle and budget.

Plus, Tom Hawking explores the importance of community batteries for the energy transition, Dick Clarke shows us how he electrified his old timber launch, and Rob McCann looks at how biodiversity loss impacts scientific knowledge and innovation.