replace hazelwood word spreads

Last weekend I joined with Dandenong Ranges community members concerned about Hazelwood Power Station. The event was part of the Replace Hazelwood National Day of Action.















I was joined by over 30 locals who staged a sit in and then marched around Belgrave to highlight the issue.

Hazelwood Power Station, originally commissioned in 1959, is the developed world's dirtiest power station, responsible for 15% of Victoria's total greenhouse gas emissions and 3% of Australia's emissions.

In speaking to the group I talked about the alternatives to coal fired energy including wind and solar, with already proven technologies and the need to start planning a transition. I also talked about the need for a comprehensive energy retrofit across the domestic, commercial and industrial sectors. Efficiency measures implemented in smelters would translate into important reductions in energy consumption.

The development of alternative fuels and small scale electricity generation are also part of the mix, not to mention compliance ratings for energy efficient buildings.

I went on to talk about the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan, published by the Melbourne University Energy Institute and Beyond Zero Emissions.

A peer reviewed plan, it maps out a transition to 100% renewable energy in the space of 10 years. It is a plan that must be looked at seriously by government as a way to make the deep and necessary cuts to greenhouse gas emissions that the scientists are telling us we need to make.

The people of the Dandenong Ranges came out to show that they want to see a transition from coal fired power to renewable energy. We need a positive response to support our energy needs into the future. That's a future based on renewable energy and a reinvigorated manufacturing industry. What we need is a transition plan out of old fossil fuel technologies to a bright new and secure future in the manufacturing and the renewable energy sector.