Media Release

Friday, 20 November 2009

Last week Council's Economic Development Manager, Economic Development Officer and I took a trip to Bendigo for the Energy Futures Conference – an absolutely fantastic opportunity to see what is happening with the future of energy, the technology that is out there and what people are doing with this new technology.

From geo exchange (which uses the earth's natural ground temperatures during winter and summer to heat and cool your home), to opportunities for solar power, right through to the use of biomass, which converts organic waste products into energy by capturing methane (and has great potential for our Swan Hill region for discarded fruit, husks and hulls from almonds, waste from pruning and much more), the conference was certainly an eye opener.

Although many of these technologies are still in their infancy, the Energy Futures Conference highlighted that there are a lot of opportunities out there in renewable energy sources.

The conference also highlighted how important it is that both State and Federal Governments get behind renewable energies in the face of climate change and that we must also get away from our biggest energy source in coal.

Obviously this won't be a case of simply switching from coal completely; it will have to be a process, where we use less energy, including using less electricity to reduce this energy and embrace alternative energies towards the future.

This conference not only gave the opportunity to network with many renewable energy providers, the event was also the chance to hear speakers discuss the future of renewable energy, including Channel 7 weatherman and environmental and communications consultant Rob Gell, who has extensive knowledge regarding the environment and climate change.

I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to give Mr Gell the Regional Energy Plan for Swan Hill, in which he was very interested and to also have a discussion on ABC Victoria's live broadcast from the conference regarding renewable energy opportunities in the region.

Overall this was a terrific conference and an excellent opportunity to see the possibility for renewable energies in the Swan Hill region.

Refilling of Dry Lake and Lake Benanee

It is fantastic news for our Robinvale people that the refilling of Dry Lake and Lake Benanee has gotten underway. It is great for our residents in our northern parts of the municipality, for their agriculture, recreation and tourism sectors and we can also live in hope that we might see some water in Lake Boga in the future.