Bendigo Advertiser: Power potential in city

Bendigo Advertiser reports: BENDIGO has the natural resources to be 100 per cent renewable, a forum heard yesterday.

Young Environmentalist of the Year Matthew Wright, from Beyond Zero Emissions, said Bendigo could, with the money and infrastructure, obtain enough solar energy to provide base load power.

“Bendigo is well placed to be a net energy exporter,” Mr Wright said.

Mr Wright was a guest speaker at the Bendigo Sustainability Group’s Repower Bendigo Forum, which attracted about 60 people yesterday at the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE.

The forum set the theme for another renewable energy conference taking place today, the national Community Power Conference, which looks at how communities can start and own their own energy projects.

Mr Wright said households should think about replacing gas cooking with induction electric, making the transition to renewable energy easier once the household was powered by one source.

He also advocated stored solar energy using heat pumps.

“We call it reverse ambient heat,” Mr Wright said. “It’s basically a reverse-cycle air conditioner but run in heating mode.”

The forum initiated working groups to discuss how Bendigo could get to 100 per cent renewable energy. BSG policy action group co-ordinator Karen Corr said the forum was the launch of a stronger renewable energy push in Bendigo.

“We decided to say, ‘What can we actually do in Bendigo?’ We feel like it complements the Community Power conference quite well.”

Ms Corr said attendants brought a substantial knowledge of renewable energy with them to the forum.

“(We) brought together those people and we’re looking at how we can come up with a plan to be completely powered by renewable energy.”

That might be through a community-owned energy project or by increasing Bendigo’s energy efficiency, she said.

The forum also heard from the Community Power Agency, a social enterprise that helps community owned energy projects get off the ground.

Mr Wright said the forum was an important way to engage people in the community.

“Community and political engagement – that’s how we can get real action,” he said.

A small Bendigo group will again meet in December, with a similar event planned for February.