Replace Hazelwood
Help us replace Australia’s dirtiest power station, which produces almost 15 percent of Victoria’s greenhouse pollution. Please sign this letter and send it to our Labor and Coalition party leaders and let them know that you want a Clean Energy future.
(And don't forget - customised letters always get more attention. So don't be afraid to add your own thoughts!)
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Comments
Environment Vics given you a massive kick start, getting going!
Environment Victoria has already done so much of the work for you, with International Power (owner of Hazelwood) willing to do a deal on closing the power station, closing Hazelwood is a no-brainer. Getting serious about clean energy and a better future for current and future Victorians is easy. Governments need to stop stalling and do what governments are meant to do, ACT IN THE INTERESTS OF THE COMMUNITY. Jobs, investment and reducing greenhouse gases are definitely in the communities interest.
Closing Hazelwood Power Station and looking to renewable energy
In the local communities we are working together to live more sustainably, but it seems those who make the bigger decisions are living in a bubble and not listening to their people and electorates. Don't be afraid to stand up to the big polluters and do what is right for the earth.
Well done Environment Victoria
Finally a credible Clean Energy report from an independant non-government organisation. Thanks Environment Victoria for commissioning this report that leaves no doubt that the government can act immediately to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution. Their lack of action so far is an embarrassment. No more excuses.
Where are the leaders??
We have the science that proves our carbon emissions are having an impact on the planet's climate, and we have the techonogy to do something about it. What we are missing here is a government that will provide leadership and DO something
why are you anonymous
don't these comments come from real people?
Whats wrong with a big dirty coal plant anyway?
I love my 4 plasma screens!
Hazelwood Clean Energy Possibility
Listen to Radio National, the Science Show today. It's about the possibility of using Hazelwood to make clean energy. Brown Coal acts as the best insulating blanket in the world because it is porous and full of water. At about 5 km down, there are estimated to be earth temperatures of about 200oC. Check out the possibility of using this for geothermal energy: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2010/2883582.htm
On a personal note I would
On a personal note I would like to acknowledge that although there are difficulties in following through with good intentions, this particular subject requires that, you the government attempt all possible avenues to do just that. The message you are sending to the future of this country that is just expected that the government will say one thing and ask all to help out. Yet no policies are even close to what is needed, I think is appalling
Hey there - we're not the government!
Hi there,
We really appreciate you commenting on our website. As you'll see though - we're not government!!! Environment VIctoria is the lead environment group in Victoria. We're independent of government and definitely not for profit. So we're working closely with the Victorian community to convince our state government to Replace Hazelwood with Clean Energy by 2012. This is an election year so we've got a really good chance to make things happen but we need everyone's help to do it. Sending this letter to our politicians is a good place to start!
If you want to know more about our organisation, head over here for a look: http://www.environmentvictoria.org.au/content/our-story
Thanks for visiting our site!
Hey there - we're not the Government
Yes, you certainly are not the Government but the name of your organisation does have that Government body sound to it. Is that by design in an attempt to add credibility or mislead people? Replace Hazelwood with gas fired generation? A 37 year stop gap on the figures in the report commissioned by yourselves. Hardly the answer! New methods of baseload generation technology are needed. Is our society ready for the changes that need to be made to everyones' energy usage patterns in order to move to a lower emission future? On current evidence the answer would have to be no! Our voracious appetite for electrical energy continues unabated and in fact increase at a growing rate. Solid reliable baseload Electrical generation is the foundation of our society. Try to imagine what our lives would be like without it. What do we do when the gas runs out? Gas should rightly be seen as a replacement for petrol and diesel engines in vehicles. Once through gas turbines a huge waste of gas also. Do the cycle efficiency figures quoted include the energy loss in converting Gas to electricity? Gas turbines are very high maintenance and have shorter life spans (due to high thermal loads and stresses with faster run up and shut down times) than Coal fired plant. Has their ongoing maintenance and replacement been factored in to the report? Finally, where are the Jobs that are mooted? Hazelwood has provided stable employment for large numbers of people for many years. Show me these new jobs then lets talk abut shutting down Hazelwood. The Latrobe Valley has not fully recovered from the privatisation scourge of the Kennett years (probably never will). The report is strong on figures regarding replacing Hazelwood with Gas but lacking in detail on the actual jobs.It is all very well to quote projected figures but that does not put food on the table or a roof over your head! Do the Power station workers have the skills to enable them to apply for and secure these jobs? What type of jobs are they? Construction? Maintenance? Admin? Operational? Manufacturing? How much of our current wind farm and gas turbine componentry is manufactured in this country? I suspect there will be short term construction jobs and a few Admin jobs and a small number of ongoing maintenance jobs.
A concerned Latrobe Valley resident.
A just transition plan for the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland
Hi,
Thanks for your comments – all valid concerns which I’ll endeavour to address below.
Let’s start at the beginning. We are a non-government, not-for-profit environmental group. We’ve been around for 40 years, and represent the community voice of Victorians on the environment. We actually changed our name to Environment Victoria in the mid 90’s because there was concern that we sounded too much like government at the time (we were called the Conservation Council of Victoria). Since then the government has opened agencies such as Sustainability Victoria, and it seems our only solution is to promote the organisation further to make sure there is no confusion.
Our decision to include some efficient gas as part of our solution to Replace Hazelwood is based on a few key factors – timeframes, political realities, and social acceptance. We need a solution that will work, that people believe in, and that will achieve the greatest emissions reductions as soon as possible. Hazelwood is so polluting that we need to replace it asap. We wanted to show that we could replace the power station by the end of 2012, and that meant looking at projects that were on the table and ready to go. These projects included wind, tidal, biomass, and efficient combined cycle gas projects, as well as energy efficiency measures. We agree that we need to move towards 100 percent renewable energy, and we hope that large scale solar thermal and geothermal projects will have all necessary approvals in time to be used to replace the remaining polluting generators – these technologies have huge potential and are already commercial in other countries. However, we need to get moving now and use what we have on the table to get the biggest emissions reductions that we can.
It seems that we’re in furious agreement about the need for energy efficiency, which is why we’ve built it into our scenario, and we’re running serious energy efficiency campaigns in the lead up to the elections.
We’re spent quite a lot of time in the Latrobe Valley and across Gippsland in the last 12 months, and have been speaking to people across the community on what a transition plan for the region might look like. There is some fantastic work being done throughout the community, such as the CFMEU’s solar water heater manufacturing proposal (a project we’re partnering in) but unfortunately none of these proposals are to the scale required to drive continued economic stability across the region. Further, the community voice isn’t being heard loudly enough in Spring St or Canberra – where the money needs to come from. We’ll continue speaking with partners and organisations in the Valley, and hope to see some real commitments to a just transition for workers and the community as a key plank of the package to Replace Hazelwood.
Well said
Pragmatic policies are the way to go. They are too little but if the risk is by asking for too much we get nothing then its worth it in the long term. I also take heart from my own personal experiences of living with a smaller footprint, that once you start you cant stop. Composting becomes buying Organic food and putting the bin out once a month. Switching lightbulbs becomes Solar Panels becomes a culture of increasing efficiency and practicing thrift. I have been waiting for big solutions but small solutions with 5 million people seems to have the best chance of success.
Peter Morgan www.ccof.org.au