Canberra to be 100% renewable

[Shiraz]

It seems to be fashionable for many federal pollies and Eastern State shock jocks to demonise South Australia for the "reckless" drive to a renewable energy future. A bit ironic then, that the first part of the country that is likely to be using 100% renewable energy is, tada ta daa!!! .... Canberra!!!.
https://www.act.gov.au/our-canberra/latest-news/2016/may/100-renewable-energy-for-canberra-by-2020

They will do it in part by buying renewable energy from SA generators.

Good on 'em. cheers Ray

[Wavytone]

Plenty of wind in Parliament House... and most of the pollies could use a few sessions on a treadmill...

Harnessing the torrents of invective could be a bit harder :)

[DarkArts]

Biomass?

But I think you're missing the point. Parliament would definitely be solar ... I mean, they're all so damn sure the sun shines out of their ar**s ! :)

[Shano592]

And the politicians would be the perfect starting point for a recycling project.

[multiweb]

No recycling needed. Sh1t in, sh1t out.

[theodog]

Funny, I was thinking Solar Floor Tiles myself.:D

[LewisM]

Yes, kindly recycle Canberra. We live so close to the NSW border, all I need to do is move my big toe and we get excluded :lol:

[strongmanmike]

The "pollies" to which you predictable ill informed old fogies are refering to, are federal ones ie they come from "your" electorates and except for a handful, only "visit" Canberra. So they have zilch to do with Canberras energy production and use policy :)...that is being put in place by MLA's elected by the aprox 283,500 Canberrans on the electoral roll, only.....:rolleyes: ;)

Mike

[Kunama]

I would also add to Mike's post that if your representatives are truly the best you could send to Canberra, and represent the populace of your electorates, then what does it say about the people who voted them in......... :shrug: :lol::lol:

[Shano592]

I was thinking of pulping them... :D

Matt, I didn't vote for them... unless one of them slid through with the name, Don Key!

[LewisM]

OK, just pulp the Leg. Assembly (after we let Mike and his wife escape) :lol:

[AndrewJ]

Gday Matt

Beg to differ here.
They are the residue presented to us by faceless party political hacks who select who they want in Canberra and then slot them into a suitable electorate.
Only then do we get to vote for dumb or dumber in most cases.
Now if they added a new box to voting forms ( that was a valid vote )
that said "No one worthy of my vote", that would give a true idea of the electorates wishes.
If that vote wins the electorate, all candidates are thrown out and new ones get put in :-)
Andrew

[AstralTraveller]

Except it isn't really true. Canberra is planning to use 100% renewable electricity - not energy. That means that transport, a major user of energy, is still powered by fossil fuels. I also assume that homes in Canberra have gas heaters and perhaps gas hot water.

Don't get me wrong; this is a major achievement and I fully support it but the phrase '100% renewable energy by the year 2020' contains a good dose of spin. There is more good news though. Canberra plans to have 'zero net emissions by 2050' and hopefully that includes transport. The next steps might be electric buses and plenty of car-charging stations.

[Kunama]

I regard my wood fire as renewable energy, I have seen forests and they get taller each year....

[AstralTraveller]

Fair enough. Any idea what land area it would talk to sustainably produce your firewood?

[Kunama]

I just bought 200 acres of virgin hardwood forest, should keep me going for a while.... :thumbsup:

[Camelopardalis]

I wouldn’t even know where to start with this one :lol: :eyepop:

[Shiraz]

maybe the coal-supporting Feds could stage a protest against the dilution of pure power by that horrid wind stuff.... while in Canberra, they could switch off their bar fridges or something.

[LewisM]

No beginning, no end...

[multiweb]

I reckon if they put a flue on top of parliament house with a propeller inside and hook the turbine to the grid they could power ACT. :nerd:

[Wavytone]

As one who lived in Canberra for 13 years - in Turner - and had both oil heating and a YOOOGE fireplace (the oil tanker drivers went out on strike every June, without fail) we were able to survive with firewood for the winter using a combination:

A) planted the boundary with Tasmanian blue gums, about 3m apart and regularly cut about ⅓ of them after a few years and replanted. These were then dawn and split and stacked to dry. Generally aimed to cut these into large logs such that one would suffice for 2-3 days in the fireplace.

B) couple of times a year equipped with a large box trailer, raided the lake foreshore for firewood; this was usually quite a productive source after a large storm.

C) collected masses of pine ones from the pine belts and pine forests. Made great fire starters if you had a nice big log to burn for the weekend. Green were especially good.

Probably an illegal activity now.

[el_draco]

Hypocritical PRICKS... !!:mad2:

[el_draco]

I live in Tassie and get more than enough from dead wood on a 35 acre block. It generates about 4 ton of waste p.a. and grows about 12 ton. Better than carbon neutral !

[Imme]

I’ve got 24 acres, about 11 is natural bush and I have more than enough wood to keep my wood heater (non stop) and open fire (2 nights a week norm) going from end April to sept/oct

[torana68]

Yep from the same place that brought you the “No waste by 2010” strategy (didn’t work out if you don’t know, did make some huge improvements) I’m doubting it will happen by 2020,ACT governments have a history of talking big but not delivering, glad the trains on the go , hope it gets finished before some other Elected Government kills it off.

[AussieTrooper]

Sounds like an excellent source of fuel for a biofuel generator plant, in-line with their 100% renewable target.

It's an ambitious target, but this kind of thing needs to happen. The cost of wind, solar and batteries has been consistently dropping, and are now competitive with coal.

For a country with half of its agriculture on marginal areas that would be wiped out if droughts worsen, we sure have been dragging our heels on this.

[AussieTrooper]

In my neck of the woods, about zero acres. Developers/renovaters cut down so many trees around here and leave the wood on the sidewalk, that I have far more than I need. At a rough guess, I currently have about 3 tonnes in the backyard.