On Tuesday the 18th of March 2008, I had the pleasure of attending a forum on renewable energy hosted by the Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association (DRREA). There were a number of guest speakers who provided useful information about community level action to install renewable energy facilities. What i found most inspiring was the activities that have been undertaken and that are planned for our local area.

DRREA has plans to install 6 solar power plants in the hills by 2009 on community buildings. To date they have overseen the installation of a 2.9kW photovoltaic facility at the Emerald Primary School.

I also heard about the Belgrave Solar Village project which is a scheme to make the purchase of solar panels very affordable. This project will be undertaken with BeyondBuildingEnergy whose mission is the provision of affordable solar energy. This business got started when the owner asked himself the question - why is solar power so expensive in Australia? His investigations had revealed that the equipment passed through so many hands on its way to the end user with each level of the exchange adding their own service fee etc. He decided to remove all the 'middle men' and found that the technology becomes suprisingly affordable.

Other examples of communities around Australia who have taken matters into their own hands are the Hepburn Renewable Energy Association. They are well on the way to setting up Australia's first community owned wind park. It will consist of 2 wind turbines rated at 4MW. Investment in the project will be open to anyone, however first priority will be given to the local community.

Another group that has started up which i learnt of on the night is called EmFSus or Emerald for Sustainability. This group is an intiative of the Emerald Village Committee and intends to tackle Climate Change at a grassroots level.

I will report back here with more news of these projects as they occur.