A major Goulburn Valley business has called for waste generated by local agriculture and horticulture businesses to be investigated as an energy source for the broader community.
Watters Electrical business development manager Reg Hickey made the comments at a climate summit hosted by Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell in Shepparton on February 23-24.
Watters is based in Shepparton, Albury and Wangaratta, employs around 240 people and is said to be the Goulburn Valley’s largest solar company, installing residential, large commercial and industrial systems, as well as large-scale solar farms.
Mr Hickey said his company was working with the region’s big power users on future energy generating options beyond solar.
“Waste is a fuel source,” he said.
“That can be cheap power.
“My mind is (turning) to how we get us all to come together so the whole community benefits, not just the individual companies that have got the capital to invest.
“That’s the social and community dilemma that we face with this.”
He said the Federal Government should consider shifting subsidies from encouraging solar adoption to supporting battery installations.
Mr Hickey added that even greater solar uptake could be encouraged by penalties being introduced for new house builds that did not include solar.
A broad spectrum of experts and Goulburn Valley business leaders gathered at the Shepparton Brewery for the summit.
Climate Change Institute director at the Australian National University Mark Howden said there needed to be an urgency about developing solutions for climate change, as regions such as the Goulburn Valley would be impacted, just like the rest of the world.
“Often when you reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, you save money at the same time and similarly, looking at climate risks and how you can manage those climate risks,” Professor Howden said.
“It might be flooding or it might be intense rainfall or hail, and starting to think about what are the things you can do to remove some of those risks.”
Beyond Zero Emissions is a think tank that aims to show how Australia can prosper in a zero-emissions economy.
Its chief executive, Heidi Lee, was also at the conference and said around half the energy currently generated was wasted at the power stations, so savings could be made if it was created near the customers who would use it.
“There’s an enormous opportunity in businesses collaborating together so that we can generate energy right near where it’s used, and waste an awful lot less of it,” she said.
Charlotte Connell is director of Climate Salad, a network of climate tech companies, and said there was huge scope for “unicorns”, or businesses that see enormous growth from the world’s move towards net-zero emissions, to emerge from the regions, especially those in fields related to climate or agriculture technology, known as climatetech or agritech.
Mr Birrell said he hoped the two-day conference would help find local solutions that would protect the way of life in the region.
“There are people out there who want to improve their standard of living, and the government coming in telling them that they’ve got to be cold, or they can’t have a job because the factory they’re in can’t operate anymore because of soaring energy prices, that’s not an option,” he said.
“So we’ve got to find technological solutions, and hopefully that’s what these two days are about.”