Consultant Dan
09 August 2011
Community wind and solar for central NSW
On Friday I spoke on behalf of Hepburn Wind at Energise Central NSW, a conference and expo on renewable energy, held in Cowra.
It was convened by Dylan Gower, an architect who made the tree-change to Cowra a few years ago, and organised by Lil Wilson, an interior architect. Cowra and regional Shires were major sponsors as well as the NSW Government and Lachlan Catchment Management Authority.
The audience ranged from school kids up to senior citizens and included local business, government, farmers and everyone else in between.
They were very well informed and I was inspired by their enthusiasm for renewable and community energy. It seemed that everyone in the room had a healthy skepticism of so-called ‘wind sickness’.
Biofuels were a big topic because everyone can see the benefits of farming fuel crops. There was of course a balanced concern for food security and need to grow fuels without displacing food crops.
When it came time for my presentation the computer in the auditorium crashed, so I had to ad lib, which went fine.
There were more good questions about the community energy model and wind technology than we had time to deal with, so I returned to these topics later during a panel session with other speakers including Dr Alex Wonhas (CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship) and Jay Rutovitz (Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS).
Later this year the region will get its own sustainability training institute, when the Flannery Centre opens in Dubbo. I spoke with the people establishing the Centre about the kinds of skills that are required for communities to take charge of their own energy future.
James O’Loghlin of New Inventors fame wrapped up the formal proceedings for MC Sarina Locke, also from the ABC. For dinner time we went to the Historic Show Pavilion where the expo was staged.
We were treated to fine organic wines and a great dance show from the kids of the Wagambirra Dance Group.
Andrew Upton, from the Sydney Theatre Company, gave a philosophical speech to end the day. He drew a comparison between the dogmatic thinking which refuses to embrace the renewable energy transformation with the religious dogma of medieval Europe.
I think that central NSW is ready to start the journey of creating its own community energy co-ops like Hepburn Wind. These will probably be wind farms but could also include solar parks.
From what I saw, central NSW has an abundance of renewable energy and biofuel potential and most importantly, a strong sense of community.
presentation
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