Comments on the Energy Transition Plan

General:

Council is to be congratulated on this forward thinking approach to the issues of peak oil and the climate change impacts from stationary energy consumption. The initiatives outlines are worthwhile starts to meet the vision of sustainability for the region; however on their own they will not deliver the most sustainable region in Australia. This will require much bolder and more significant action than the Council envisages or is willing to commit to based upon the previous 2 1/2years and the plan as outlined.  The major contributor to Greenhouse gases is stationary energy. Stationary energy on the Sunshine Coast is predominantly sourced from coal fired power. There is little within the plan to create significant embedded generation, delivering investment, jobs and clean energy to the region.

It can only be hoped that this is a start. Bold steps were expected from the Council (such as the Woking example in the UK).

Specific comments:

Read the article below by Isobel Coleman that appeared in the Noosa Journal on 31 December 2009.

Invited to present at council’s General Meeting, members of the Powerlines Action Group of Eumundi (PAGE) told councillors of the devastating impacts of high voltage powerlines planned for the region on, among other things, council’s vibrant, green and sustainable ambitions.

“Meeting future demand for power on the Sunshine Coast in a sustainable way is possibly the biggest issue for our community, our council and our time,” said PAGE coordinator Graham Smith.

“A Powerlink proposal locking the coast in to 20-plus years of dirty, coal-fired energy in an effort to meet peak demand, which only occurs about three to four days each year, is outrageous and will contradict any strategy our council rolls out to achieve a sustainable, low carbon economy.

“Yesterday, we therefore called on council to pass a resolution opposing the proposal in defence of our shared visions for cleaner, greener 21st century solutions to meeting our energy needs.

“In response, council rose to the challenge and unanimously agreed to move a resolution opposing the Powerlink proposal, which is scheduled to be ratified at council’s Ordinary Meeting on Thursday.

“We were also impressed that now was the time for council to embrace new technologies and issue an Expression of Interest (EOI) to engage industry specialising in demand management, energy efficiency and local generation with a view to ‘eliminating the need for Powerlink infrastructure’.

“And again, PAGE members were pleased that council agreed and vowed to issue an EOI with the aim of developing solutions contributing to the elimination of the need for the Powerlink project.”

Attending the meeting was Mayor Bob Abbot and Councillors Vivien Griffin, Jenny McKay, Keryn Jones, Lew Brennan, Tim Dwyer, Anna Grosskreutz, Chris Thompson, Ted Hungerford and Russell Green, plus a 30-strong public gallery.

The residents group was also buoyed by a Queensland Government announcement yesterday regarding its Renewable Energy Plan requiring all state-owned energy companies to “… submit a renewable energy network benefit statement detailing where deployment of renewable energy or demand management projects could help avoid building or upgrading electricity networks”.

“We’re now looking forward to Powerlink reviewing the renewable energy network benefit statement relating to this project and the real benefits arising out of this plan,” Mr Smith said.

PAGE, also known as People Advocating Green Energy, is a volunteer group which formed 20 months ago in reply to Powerlink’s proposed 275kV, 70km Woolooga to Cooroy South (Eerwah Vale) Transmission Line and Substation Project, estimated to cost energy consumers $130 million and involve around 440 hectares of hinterland and rural land.

The project also plans to carve a new 8.5km, 60m-wide easement through private property, including 14 dedicated Land for Wildlife properties and precious koala, Richmond Birdwing Butterfly and other vulnerable species’ habitat, from Ridgewood to Eerwah Vale.

PAGE led the development of a viable non-network alternative to the destructive project, which includes significant ‘bankable’ demand management initiatives and scalable, local renewable solar-thermal generation with storage capacity, plus real employment opportunities for locals through the creation of green jobs.

Mr Smith said PAGE members were grateful for the opportunity to present alternatives to council.

“We are a group committed to promoting sustainable ways to meet the Sunshine Coast’s future energy needs, and to working constructively with governments to do so,” he said.

“Council has taken a decisive step towards realising its visions for a green and sustainable Sunshine Coast, and we’re delighted to not only share these ambitions but to also to contribute to finding a solution.”

Other discussion items and outcomes included:

• Powerlink’s proposal would deliver capacity to increase energy consumption by at least 7.5 times current consumption, over-engineering the solution and likely to cause stranded assets
• Proposal would also see an estimated rise of 59% GHG emissions (400,000t CO2-e by 2020) and at least 20 hectares of vegetation cleared in Noosa Biosphere
• Council agreed to continue consulting with Powerlink on their project, especially regarding the project need, population and energy growth projections, and also ensured a strong community voice on this issue by inviting and agreeing to consult with PAGE through council’s Energy Transition Project
• Council agreed to schedule meetings with the relevant Ministers to address the shared concerns over this project
• A clean energy solar-thermal alternative
• Lower impact alternative routes
• Energex’ statements: “…spending on poles and wires is unsustainable. Energy efficiency and demand management are the key”.

For information regarding PAGE’s presentation, email contact@saveeumundi.org and for more information on PAGE and the project visit www.saveemundi.org

The resolution unanimously adopted at the general committee of council is attached for your information.

Extract from council minutes of general meeting 22 June 2009.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

Moved: Councillor V Griffin
Seconded: Councillor L Brennan

That Council:

(a) endorses the Council officers’ submission (Appendix A – Submission on Woolooga to Cooroy Transmission Line and Cooroy South Substation Project
Environmental Impact Statement);

(b) continues to engage with Powerlink and Powerlines Action Group Eumundi (PAGE), through the energy transition working group as this project progresses;

(c) request a follow-up submission providing further information on population projections and Council’s Corporate plan objectives for reducing the region’s greenhouse gas emissions and advising that Council opposes Powerlink infrastructure proposal on the grounds that there are more sustainable initiatives in meeting the regions energy needs in the future;

(d) proceed with the calling for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from entities who may be able to contribute to eliminating the need for Powerlink infrastructure through the generation of power closer to the projected energy user locations in accordance with s489 of the Local Government Act 1993 and notes that the calling of the EOI will be in the public interest for the following reason:

• it will allow for a full review of future energy production options for Council to consider which are consistent with Council’s goal to be the most sustainable region in Australia;

(e) request the Minister for Energy to undertake a full cost benefit analysis of the Powerlink project, comparing the cost of the proposed distribution infrastructure, together with costs of power generation against the cost of sourcing renewable energy generated closer to user locations and potentially obviating the requirement for the proposed distribution infrastructure; and

(f) request the Chief Executive Officer to investigate the Federal and State demand reduction and renewable energy generation grants and incentives, and assess Council’s eligibility to apply.

Carried.

Ends.

Sunshine Coast Regional Council - Division nine councillor Vivien Griffin.

COMMENT: Vivien Griffin

As a council, we have set ourselves the goal of being the most sustainable region in Australia. If we are to be serious about this goal, 2009 must be the year we commence that journey in partnership with our communities.

I am confident this council and its residents have the intellect and determination to succeed. Nevertheless, I have recently had confirmed to me the magnitude and seriousness of the task, through being referred to the November 2008 World Energy Outlook prepared by the International Energy Agency (www.iea.org/ Textbase/npsum/WEO2008 SUM.pdf).

The opening paragraph of the executive summary of this report reads:

“The world’s energy system is at a crossroads. Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable – environmentally, economically, socially. But that can – and must – be altered; there’s still time to change the road we’re on.”

It is not an exaggeration to claim that the future of human prosperity depends on how successfully we tackle the two central energy challenges facing us today:

• Securing the supply of reliable and affordable energy; and
• Effecting a rapid transformation to a low-carbon, efficient and environmentally benign system of energy supply.

What is needed is nothing short of an energy revolution. This World Energy Outlook demonstrates how that might be achieved through decisive policy action and at what cost. It also describes the consequences of failure.”

Perhaps if these were the words of some fringe, doom and gloom group, we could ignore them. However, the International Energy Agency reports to 27 countries about energy matters.

It is regarded as one of two pre-eminent energy agencies in the world, the other being the US government’s Energy Information Agency. It has traditionally always projected that oil supply will meet oil demand.

However, after a major review of its data, it now paints a serious picture of the action all levels of government must take on the twin challenges of climate change and peak oil if we are to position our communities for resilience in the future.

Our council must be ready to tackle the big issues, and the key ones are climate change and peak oil.

Councillors Chris Thompson and Tim Dwyer became fathers last year. Their children will be 21 in 2030. I think it will be useful for us as a council to always ask ‘what kind of world are we preparing for these future adults?’.

I chair council’s Community Transport Group, which meets for the first time on January 22.

It is a terrific group with great skills and energy to contribute to the goal of sustainable transport on the Sunshine Coast.

I suspect they already know, but what I want to convey to them is a sense of the magnitude and necessity of their task.

For them to understand that changing the transport culture of this region in time to deliver the “energy revolution” required by the International Energy Agency requires a war footing, and for them to think of themselves as a War Cabinet.

Sound dramatic? Sure does and sure is. I am looking forward to it!

Source:  http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2009/jan/16/sustainability-task-big-one/