Castlemaine community and industry groups are tackling greenhouse emissions and an emerging energy crisis with support from the Sustainable Communities Initiative and its partners.
Sustainability challenges
The Mount Alexander Shire, in central Victoria, Australia, sources nearly all its stationary electricity needs from the National Grid, making its greenhouse gas emissions from stationary energy amongst the highest per Mwh (megawatt hour) in the OECD.
With one-quarter of the Shire’s residents employed by local manufacturers, the region is increasingly exposed to rising energy costs and the impact of carbon pricing.
Community leaders, including the local sustainability group, and the Shire’s four main commercial energy users are working together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while concurrently working on strategies to increase the security of energy supply.
Working together
The key local partners in this project are the community-based Mount Alexander Sustainability Group, plus manufacturers KR Castlemaine, Flowserve and Victoria Carpets, and the Mount Alexander Hospital.
CSIRO brings the expertise and knowledge of nine SCI partners to the project. For example:
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CSIRO provides project leadership and linkages
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Westpac offers infrastructure investment models to inform planning
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Insurance Australia Group provides design options, risk mitigation advice and small and medium enterprise support
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Energy efficiency and mitigation advice is provided by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
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Origin Energy and Ricoh provide auditing programs to assess efficiency
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The Natural Edge Project offers engineering solutions and training packages
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Local Governments for Sustainability provides support through their Rural Cities for Climate Protection campaign
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WWF Australia has helped communicate the project to a broader audience and assisted in determining environmental targets and outcomes.
On a local scale the project is supported by the Victorian Government through various sustainability programs.
The way forward
Maine’s Power partners aim to reduce their 2006 greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2010. The partners are working towards zero net emissions by 2020 while also securing energy supply to the Shire.
The project partners will achieve their energy consumption and emission goals by exploring options to implement embedded energy generation technologies such as cogeneration and renewables, and by managing energy demand to decrease peak loads on the Castlemaine substation.
An action learning and cross disciplinary approach is applied during the project’s three main stages:
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Foundation building. Establishing a baseline understanding of energy use including an inventory of current assets and an assessment of synergies, constraints, demand use patterns plus identification of local attitudes and an exploration of linkages across social, economic and environmental factors.
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Options development. Identifying the range of technical and behavioural options available to deliver the project objectives.
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Detailed planning. Developing an implementation plan using an action research approach to ensure the optimum plans are being developed. This process includes assessment of expert opinion, risks, stakeholder impacts, financial support, performance and evaluation requirements.
“For us as a community organisation, it has been an opportunity to move into a space where we are supported and able to tell our story. That is really empowering”
Mr Dean Bridgefoot, Mount Alexander Sustainability Group.
Implementation of agreed options will occur under subsequent projects following this initial planning phase project.
CSIRO will review the lessons learnt from each stage of the project to increase its understanding of working with cross-sector partners on mutually-beneficial initiatives.
The Maine’s Power project runs from July 2007 to July 2008.
What is the Sustainable Communities Initiative?
The Sustainable Communities Initiative, or SCI, is a multi-partner program bringing together skills and expertise from the private, public and community sector to develop and deliver innovative solutions to local sustainability issues.
Find out more about The Sustainable Communities Initiative.
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