Gippsland Austalia is home to large reserves of brown coal, a fuel of such poor quality that the world will not buy it. Instead it is burnt in Victorian power stations such as Hazelwood, shown above,  and Loy Yang. Each megawatt of electricity produces 1.55 tonnes of carbon dioxide. To put this into perspective, black coal power stations produce 1 tonne of CO2 and gas turbine power stations produce about half a tonne.

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During World War II the motivation to build weaponry was immense. Factories were retrofitted within months to make ammunition, guns and uniforms. “We can do the same thing with renewable energy”, says Derek Povel of Clean Energy for Eternity . “It’s ambitious but achievable”.

And to meet the 50/50 by 2020  goals it is necessary to be ambitious. To reduce energy use in the Bega Valley by 50% will require a radical rethink of energy efficiency. And to source 50% of electricity used in the Valley from renewable sources will require massive investment in wind, solar and biomass facilities. The timeframe is tight to achieve all this by 2020. But already nine shires in SE NSW have committed to these goals. The region has been identified as a place that supports renewable energy. People are excited by it.  (more…)

Today the sun is shining and it feels like spring has arrived. The first apricot blossom has burst and I planted zucchinis. Is this really spring or will the zucchs be killed by frost?

When we moved into our 1950s fibro and tile house we were charmed by the original bathroom. With its matching pink bath, basin and toilet, sky blue fibro walls and old fashioned taps it was both practical and durable. However the toilet used 15 Litres per flush and leaked constantly as new parts were not available. It had to go. (more…)