In 2007 the Howard Government awarded HRL a grant of $100 million to build a new coal fired power station in Victoria. But 5 years later HRL has failed to meet any conditions of this grant and it is now under review. Recent media reports indicate it may be revoked, making it unlikely that HRL would ever be built.

This would be a massive win for us, and that's why we're joining with other groups to holding the biggest HRL rally yet. Together we can send a powerful reminder to the government about the strength of our opposition to HRL, and a big turn out could be decisive in turning the decision in our favour.

    * Where: Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne CBD
    * When: 12.30PM, Wednesday February 1st
    * Featuring: Special guest speakers Adam Bandt MP and Kelvin Thompson MP
    * Bring: Signs & Placards telling the government you want renewable energy & NO NEW COAL!
    * Share!: Be sure to click 'attending' on our facebook event and invite all your friends!

The facebook events are here:
Stop HRL Rally http://www.facebook.com/events/217678494986317/?ref=ts
Climate Convergence: http://www.facebook.com/events/287355481321128/

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MRSG0603_A4 poster_art2.pdf Download this file

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100Thousandtoedge (2).pdf Download this file

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At present, coal accounts for more than 85% of our electricity production
here in Victoria. This will need to change profoundly as we move to a low
carbon emissions future.

Wind power is particularly abundant in the Macedon Ranges region, and nearby
Hepburn Wind have just completed their community-owned windfarm at Leonard's
Hill.

Could this area help to repower the state, and if so, what benefits could it
bring to the community?

We hope this panel and discussion can facilitate the community discussion on
this important issue.

Free event - all welcome.

For further information, Ben Courtice. Ben.courtice@foe.org.au

Organised by Friends of the Earth
http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/
http://yes2renewables.org/

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Stand with me this Sunday

Dear Friend,

I am calling on all friends and supporters to take a stand and send a strong message that the community says YES to a price on pollution.

Join with thousands of other Australians to support a price on pollution as the first critical step in the transition to a clean energy economy.

WHEN: Sunday June 5. Meet at 11 am at the State Library

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The summit is the main national gathering of grassroots climate campaigns and activists. It will be an opportunity to mix with climate activists and friends from around the country, to learn activist skills and get new ideas for campaigning in 2011.

We have panels on the latest climate science, on the carbon price debate, on relations with the union movement, and community sustainability initiatives. There are planning forums for people involved in campaigning for renewable energy, fighting to stop the coal companies, and building links with other sectors like Landcare groups, Transition Towns, and the Lock the Gate alliance that is bringing farmers into the fray to stop coal and gas exploration on their land.

All the details of the event are available on our website: www.climatesummit.org.au.  The full program is now available for download, and you can also register online.

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On Wednesday 1st December, the Australian Government announced further changes to the Renewable Energy Target (RET) and in particular, the Solar Credits scheme, that will directly affect householders and businesses looking to invest in small scale renewable energy technologies such as small solar, wind and micro-hydro.

The Solar Credits scheme provides an increased number of RECs to people investing in small scale electricity generation technologies. Since June 2009, the scheme has allowed purchasers of small systems to create five times the amount of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for small systems up to 1.5 kW in capacity.

The five times ‘multiplier’ was projected to begin to decrease from mid 2012, in line with projected reductions in the cost of technology. Given the significant cost reductions, particularly in solar photovoltaic technology over the past 12 months (i.e. approximately 50%), the Government has decided to bring forward the reduction of the multiplier to ‘four’ a year earlier – i.e. beginning on 1 July 2011.

The Alternative Technology Association is comfortable with the Government’s decision to bring forward the reduction in the multiplier, particularly in light of strong technology cost reductions in PV and the continuation of feed-in tariffs in most states offering an additional incentive to invest in small scale renewable energy.

For more information on this policy announcement, please email Damien at ATA at damien@ata.org.au or go to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency’s website at: www.climatechange.gov.au/en/government/initiatives/renewable-target.aspx

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Rally to Replace ALL of Hazelwood

Saturday 6 November, 2010 @1pm

State Library, Cnr of Swanston and Latrobe St, Melbourne

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Hundreds to protest at Hazelwood power station

on global day of climate action

On 10/10/10, as part of a global day of action in 180 countries, hundreds of people will attend a

peaceful community protest at Hazelwood, Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power station, calling for the

plant to be replaced with renewable energy.

“This polluting old dinosaur spews an average of 17 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every

year, and the community has had enough,” said Shaun Murray (phone 0402 337 077)

spokesperson for the Switch Off Hazelwood Collective.

“Premier Brumby has said his Government might replace one-quarter of Hazelwood by 2014, but

vague, partial promises are no substitute for actual commitment – if you want jobs, if you care about

the future, then it’s time to switch off Hazelwood and switch on renewable energy,” said protest

organiser Carey Priest, (0423 554 398)

“We are pushing for an urgent shift away from coal, and a just transition for coal workers through the

development of renewable energy and energy efficiency manufacturing facilities in Gippsland,” said

Mr Murray.

Today, 20/9/10, the protest organisers delivered a letter to the new owners of Hazelwood, French company

GDF Suez calling on them to urgently decommission the power plant which has lost its ‘social license’

to operate.

Come and help us Switch off Hazelwood - Switch on Renewable Energy

Hundreds of protesters each using large home-made reflectors will focus the

light of clean energy on a ten meter ‘power tower’ to create Victoria’s “first” solar-thermal power plant

outside the gates of Hazelwood power station.

When: Sunday 10th October 2010

Where: Hazelwood Power Station, Brodribb Rd, 10km from Morwell.

Who: Organised by the Switch Off Hazelwood Collective, supported by Friends of the Earth,

Greenpeace, Beyond Zero Emissions, the Climate Emergency Network, and many other climate

action groups.

10/10/10 Global Work Party

The 10/10/10 Global Work Party is being coordinated by the international climate campaign 350.org.

Photos and video from thousands of simultaneous events across the planet will be available for the

media at 350.org/media.

Riddells Creek Sustainability is organizing a contingent to the peaceful protest.

For more info, contact Lyn 0418559640.

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Enhanced Renewable Energy Target (RET)
On Thursday 24th June, the Australian Parliament passed significant changes to the Renewable Energy Target (RET) legislation, many of which are extremely positive for households who want to invest in small scale generation and energy efficiency technologies.
In August 2009, the Federal Government secured one of its 2007 election promises-to expand the RET to ensure that 20% of Australia’s electrical energy came from renewables in the year 2020.

Whilst the expansion of the RET was a positive move, a number of key design features that a number of community and industry organisations had been advocating for were overlooked by the government.

The most significant of these was the fact that strong incentives for small scale systems such as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and solar hot water units, were leading to an oversupply of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in the market, crashing their price, and significantly hampering the ability of large scale projects to develop.

The existence of fixed annual targets within the RET, and the existence of the ‘Solar Credits’ multiplier for small solar, small wind and micro-hydro systems, meant that not only were investors in small scale technologies being prevented from achieving anything additional beyond the government’s mandated targets, but that they were actually reducing the amount of new renewable energy installed by four times the size of their system – clearly not their intention!

After significant lobbying and media pressure over the past six months, the Federal Government finally agreed to amending the design of their expanded RET scheme.

The solution offered by the government through the new ‘enhanced’ RET will see the small and large scale renewable energy markets split into two totally separate trading markets – so that activity and investment in one will not compromise the other.

From 1 January 2011, there will be a Small Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and a Large Renewable Energy Target (LRET).

The LRET will continue to operate in much the same way as the existing RET – but with eligibility restricted to large scale renewables such as wind farms, bio-gas plants, wave, geo-thermal and large scale solar projects. The LRET will have annual targets that make up approximately 90% of the existing RET.

The SRES will make up the remaining shortfall, and will likely in the short term go higher than the existing RET targets, meaning that the new scheme will likely deliver slightly more renewable energy across Australia.

Most importantly to investors in small scale technologies, the SRES will be uncapped – that is, there will be no fixed annual targets for small scale technologies. All RECs from small systems such as solar PV, small wind, solar hot water, heat pumps and micro-hydro systems will be purchased each year by electricity retailers.

The lack of a cap or annual targets for the SRES means that two fundamental problems of investing in small scale technologies have now been solved:

Firstly, investors in small scale technologies can be additional to the targets mandated by the government; and
Secondly, investors in small scale technologies will not be reducing the amount of new renewable energy installed.
The SRES will also include a fixed price for RECs of $40, providing greater financial certainty to investors in small scale technologies.
Finally, the ‘enhanced’ RET will also see the Solar Credits multiplier extend to investors in remote off-grid systems – up to 20 kW in size. This is a positive step after the scrapping of the remote off-grid subsidy (the Remote Renewable Power Generation Program) in September 2009.

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Great News - Hepburn Wind is underway and there is still a change for current Macedon Ranges Sustainability Group members to invest in the project for as little as $100. Of that $100, MRSG will receive $25 for future application to local sustainability projects.

Please consider if you can participate we need more greenpower to replace brown power, given the lack of real action at the Federal level.

In a week when Australia took a major step back from a low carbon future, the Hepburn community and supporters took a major step forward.   Last Wednesday we signed the full 'turn-key' contract for the construction of Australia's first community owned wind farm.

The signing of the contract with REpower Systems AG marks a major milestone as the project moves from vision to a certainty. The major works are now in the hands of REpower, and we now have contractual certainty in regards to cost and timeline.

  Construction on Leonards Hill is scheduled to start in October and in 12 months time we expect our two 2.05 MW turbines to be producing more electricity on average than is used in all of Daylesford's homes.

  Now is the time to invest...

Our 1112 members have invested more than $7.5m to date. This, coupled with our loan and state government grant totals over $11.6m.

For our final fund raising, we are issuing 1.8m shares. Shares, at $1, are available to existing members, Victorian residents and others in certain circumstances. Joining and investing in the co-operative requires a minimum subscription of just $1000.

Our Membership and Share Offer has been completely revised and may be downloaded from our website: hepburnwind.com.au 

Members of our co-operative share the profits from the sale of the valuable green energy produced. Our environment benefits from an estimated 12,200 tonnes of CO2 abatement per year, and the community benefits from the $1,000,000 we aim to contribute to local sustainability initiatives over the next 25 years.

  Most Australians want to see a meaningful response to the threat of climate change, but aren't sure what constructive role they can play. By pooling our resources, our community has already begun the transition to a low carbon future. And we're showing that it is not difficult - our project works out to be about $5500 a house, no-one has lost a job (in fact we've already created two local jobs), and we'll be improving the local power grid in the process.

  This offer will close soon. If you've been waiting to join, now is the time. Invite your family, friends and colleagues to join this exciting project and together let's take confident strides towards a low carbon future.

 
Simon Holmes à Court
Chairman

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 MEDIA RELEASE from

Senator the Hon Penny Wong The Hon Greg Combet AM MP

Minister for Climate Change Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change

Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600 Tel 02 6277 7920 Fax 02 6273 7330 PW 46/10

26 February 2010

ENHANCED RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET SCHEME

The Rudd Government’s Renewable Energy Target scheme will be enhanced to provide greater certainty for households, employees and businesses within the renewable energy industry, as we build the low pollution economy of the future.

From 1 January 2011 the Renewable Energy Target, which guarantees 20 per cent of Australia’s energy in 2020 will come from renewable sources, will include two parts - the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET).

The LRET, covering large-scale renewable energy projects like wind farms, commercial solar and geothermal, will deliver the vast majority of the 2020 target. This will free these projects from uncertainties that may have been caused by strong demand for small-scale renewable technologies.

The SRES will cover small-scale technologies such as solar panels and solar hot water systems and deliver the remainder of the target. It will provide a fixed price of $40 per megawatt hour of electricity produced, providing direct support for households that take action to reduce emissions.

Under this fixed price, a Sydney household that installs a 1.5 kilowatt solar panel system in 2011 will benefit from an upfront subsidy of $6200. If the same household decides to install a typical solar water heater they will receive $1200 in support under the SRES.

These changes are expected to deliver more renewable energy than the original 20 per cent target and will ensure we build the clean energy future Australia needs.

Importantly, the Government’s revamped RET will support new jobs and investment in both large and small-scale renewable energy projects.

While these changes address some uncertainty in the current market, uncertainty around the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is also harming market sentiment. This illustrates why it’s critical to have a market-based, long-term response to reducing emissions to drive investment in the renewable industry.

The Government will shortly release an industry consultation paper and intends to legislate the changes in the Winter Sittings of Parliament.

The Government will continue to work with the states and territories on other issues being considered by the Council of Australian Governments’ Review of Specific RET Issues.

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Changes to Insulation and Solar Hot Water Rebates

Solar hot water rebates still available!

 As heavily reported in the media, the Federal Government’s Environment Minister,  Peter Garrett, has announced the discontinuation of the home insulation program and changes to the solar hot water rebate.  The Federal Government’s solar hot water rebate is reduced from $1600 to $1000 and the rebate for heat pumps reduced from $1000 to $600. 

The Federal Government’s solar hot water rebate is one of four incentives for solar hot water and applies only to residents replacing an existing electric hot water system with a solar hot water or heat pump system; along with RECs & VEECs rebates the overall rebate available to residents replacing existing electric hot water systems with solar hot water is now around $2500.

 For residents replacing gas hot water systems the State Government rebate applies and this remains unchanged; along with RECs VEECs rebates the overall rebate available to residents replacing existing gas hot water systems with solar hot water remains around $2450.

How the announced changes may affect you:

 ·         New solar hot water orders (after 19/02/2010) replacing existing electric hot water systems will receive the Federal Government’s new rebate amount $1000

·         Existing customers who have placed an order on or prior to 19/02/2010 are unaffected by the change*

·         Existing customers with installation in progress or completed are unaffected by the change*

·         State Government rebate for residents replacing gas systems remains unchanged

·         RECs & VEECs rebates (applicable to residents replacing electric or gas hot water systems) remain unchanged

·         Rebates are still available and significant- the financial (not to mention environmental) case for installing solar hot water is solid however the trend seems to be clear that rebates are shrinking over time so the time to ACT is now!

 * System needs to be installed and rebate application received by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts no later than 19 March 2010

 Changes to the Green Loans Program 

On 19 February 2010, the following changes to the governments Green Loans Program were announced:

 An extra 600,000 free Home Sustainability Assessments have been added to the 360,000 already committed to the program. 

After long government delays for assessors to make bookings, a new call centre has now been set up for them making the booking system more efficient.

The actual loan component of the Green Loans program will be discontinued from 22 March 2010, however assessments will continue to allow you to make informed decisions about how to improve the energy and water efficiency of your home.

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The Riddells Creek Sustainability group is a non-profit organisation with no political affiliations. Its focus is assisting the community of Riddells Creek to find ways of living more simply and working together in a sustainable manner.

We began as a group of interested residents with connections to Greening of Riddell, Riddells Creek Landcare and Clarkefield & District Farm/Landcare.

We are the local group that originally brought the Solar Power Neighbourhood idea to Riddell.

Current status: 76 houses in Riddells Creek have installed a 1 kW or larger system with many more households installing systems in the Macedon Ranges.

Sunday Solar Picnic – February 21, 3 pm at Wybejong Park, (car park is opposite the T intersection to Sunbury) Riddells Creek.  BYO afternoon tea to share, chair, ideas, power bills for discussion. 

We are inviting current and interested solar power/hot water participants to celebrate our project.  This gathering will also be an opportunity to discuss how we use the coordinators’ fee for a community project. 

Do you have an idea on how these funds can be used? Contact us with ideas about how the money can advance other sustainable projects in Riddells Creek, Julie: cdlc@hotkey.net.au

Currently Riddells Creek Sustainability can offer you

• A Solar Hot Water deal.  To apply logon to www.rezeko.com and apply to Riddells Creek 3.  You need to login and create a user name and password.
•  Solar electricity system. To apply logon to www.rezeko.com and apply to Riddells Creek 3.
• A Green Power deal through WISE
• Free home energy audit assessment

The intent of which is:

• Green energy through WISE (Woodend Integrated Sustainable Energy)  Details of WISE Power are available at the www.wisegroup.org.au
• Sustainable Food Projects
• Community Education Projects

Free Home Energy Audit Assessment

Want to reduce your bills and be comfortable in your home but don’t know where to start?

The program offers a free home sustainability assessment and report. The report recommends specific changes that can help you to save money, energy and water.  If you want to make any of the changes recommended in the report, you can apply for a Green Loan. Green Loans can be up to $10,000 and are interest free for up to 4 years.

Why do it?

• Find out what improvements are best for you
• Make changes that suit your home and your budget
• Save on energy and water bills
• Improve the efficiency of your home and reduce carbon emissions

The home sustainability assessment is free and involves a qualified assessor inspecting your home.  It will involve an inspection of energy and water efficiency, heating and cooling, lighting, refrigeration and waste management. This information is used to calculate your environmental impact and provide you with a tailored report advising the most effective changes for your home.

This advice may range from small and easy changes such as changing light bulbs, to major investments such as a solar hot water system or photovoltaic panels. The assessment takes about 1.5 hours to complete. 

For a free home assessment from your local assessor, phone Ian de Silva on 0424572722 or 5428 7823.

After your assessment, you may choose to apply for a green loan to make bigger changes around your home. It is not compulsory to apply for the loan. Your assessment will be valid for 6 months for the purpose of applying for a green loan.   Renters and home owners can apply.  Retrofitting can be sourced from EcoMaster 54288527.
Further details can be accessed at www.livinggreener.gov.au or call the  Dept Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Hotline on 1800 895 076.

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Walk Against Warming

Australia’s community day of action on climate change - organised by Environment Victoria for Melbourne.

Trains leave for Southern Cross from Riddells Creek at 9:34am Sunbury at 10:55am

Come and be part of a giant human sign to send a strong message to our leaders.

Saturday, 12 December 2009 @ 12pm, State Library, 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Walk Against Warming: 12 Dec 2009

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Coming climate community participation events

As the world moves towards a very uncertain outcome at Copenhagen, two events around Australia provide an opportunity for discussion of the issues and an expression of public concern at the lack of progress:

Run for a Safe Climate (2-29 November, from Cooktown to Melbourne via Adelaide)

http://www.runforasafeclimate.org

Walk Against Warming (Saturday 12 December, in capital and regional centres)  

http://www.walkagainstwarming.org

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The appliances that must have an energy rating in Australia and are listed on this website are:
   * Air-conditioners
   * Clothes Dryers
   * Clothes Washers
   * Dishwashers
   * Refrigerators / Freezers
   * Televisions

All products are searchable and sortable based on a number of factors based on your needs. It is a very useful website.

TVs coming soon - "The Commonwealth is now working with the states and territories to introduce regulations that mandate energy labeling and minimum energy performance standards for all televisions, targeted to come into effect from October 2009." This is now happening with all new products in shops having a rating sticker.

I sourced and bought a 6-star fridge from this website. We decided to go for a fridge with no freezer. This has halved our energy use for this appliance and, by my estimates, approximately halved our electricity consumption for this energy-hungry appliance.

The fridge by the way is the Electrolux ERM4307SCR:
http://www.electrolux.com.au/node38.aspx?productId=30609
http://www.theelectricdiscounter.com.au/asps/productpage1.asp?model=ERM4307SCR&extwarranty=3EWRFR3000

DID YOU KNOW - there is a new technology available for TVs called LED LCD. This technology almost halves the energy usage compared with LCD and Plasma TVs of the same size. This is great news. Go and have a look and ask to see "LED LCD TVs" (eg. at Retravision in Sunbury).

Russell B.

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