Antinuclear

THE Central NSW Renewable Energy Co-op is holding a one hour information session next Wednesday at 7.30pm at the environmental learning facility at Orange Showgrounds.

They will discuss the economic, social and environmental benefits of renewable energy. Everyone is invited to attend, there is no cost and refreshments will be served.

South Australia now generates more than 30 per cent of its daily electricity needs from wind and solar.

Even more exciting for communities in the central west is the global emergence of community owned renewable energy projects, similar to the NSW Renewable Energy Co-op and the bulk procurement of solar managed by Parkes Shire Council on behalf of the local community.

In the case of the Central NSW Renewable Energy Co-op, individual community members can invest in the project and receive a competitive return. Not only will members be reducing pollution in their community, they will also be removing the dependency on the large power companies to provide electricity.

More than two million Australians are now getting cheaper power and saving some half a billion dollars a year on their electricity bills because of their switch to solar energy.  The number of Australian homes with solar power systems has passed the one million mark.

Wind too has been a remarkable success story around the world. For example, in the US alone last year wind power attracted $US25 billion in private investment supporting 80,000 well-paying jobs. In Australia, wind energy is the fastest growing renewable, hardly surprising given that 81 per cent of NSW supports wind power over other energy sources.

Clean Energy Council chief executive David Green said that approximately 2.5 million Australians now lived in a home with a set of solar panels on the roof – more than the entire population of Western Australia.

“It is remarkable when you think that just five years ago in 2008 there were only about 20,000 systems installed across the entire country,” Mr Green said.

“The solar industry currently employs over 8,000 Australians, and has led to billions of dollars in investment behind Australia’s 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target. Solar is the Hills Hoist of the 21st Century,” he said.

q Simon Wright is a member of ECCO and board member of the NSW Renewable Energy Co-