Bus tour to Wonthaggi desalination plant and Bald Hills Wind Farm, Tarwin Lower
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A bus of around 50 people visited the Wonthaggi desalination plant and Bald Hills wind farm. First up was a tour of the desalination plant with an accessible but very informative presentation explaining how the plant purifies the sea water using reverse osmosis and then pumps it through to Melbourne’s water storage system. Then off to the wind farm to see massive wind turbines powering off the Bass Strait coast and learn how they operate. “Fascinating!” and “So interesting!” were common responses to the day.
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“Energy Smart Cities:
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Paul Brown, Managing Director of Ironbark Sustainability gave a very information talk on “Energy Smart Cities”. 30 people attended. Paul discussed:
Transport (today’s teenagers will be the last generation to drive, by 2040 100% automation, flying cars/taxis by 2050 so planning and regulation required for parking etc). Energy (Renewables now in North East Victoria so impact on location of generators/transmission, plausible that by 2050 no brown or black coal, massive increase in solar and batteries, cost of energy esp cars will decrease) Smart City data (for example smart city lighting sensors, communication systems, improved software enable councils to measure change, manage assets, reduce costs and plan better in real time but also has huge co-benefits for safety, etc). There thus needs to be a collaborative approach by the State, local government and the community to address policy issues such as priorities, privacy issues and how to balance the benefits and risks. Paul suggests ECAM and the community are best equipped to advocate for and promote change eg solar bulk buys, etc. |
Beyond Zero Emissions’ talk on Energy Freedom, presented by Hugh Venables
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Hugh Venables presented Beyond Zero Emissions’ talk on Energy Freedom, which is defined as following many steps to improve the energy efficiency of a home until the remaining energy use can be met by a rooftop solar panel installation and the home will now have freedom from energy bills.
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“Is it time to buy an electric car?
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Bryce Gaton has been working in the EV sector for 10 years building and maintaining converted EVs, and is national editor for ‘EV News’ and regularly writes on EV topics for ReNew magazine. He shared lots of information about EVs that are on the market, what's right for each budget and what will hopefully be available soon in Australia. There was a great turn up - 54 attendees and the interest of those attending was well and truly on display as evidenced by their 45 minutes of questions!
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City of Whitehorse Sustainable Living Festival
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ECAM Committee member Hugh Venables, as one of the key speakers on the
night, delivered the BZE Talk on retrofitting your house to reduce
emissions. Approx 90 attended and Hugh’s talk was very well received
(best on night!). A Vic Government speaker explained the website Energy
Compare and, as it does not address whether energy companies get their
energy from renewables or not, ECAM will write to the government about
this. ECAM had a stall at which a Letter to the government parties re
Home Mandatory Energy ratings was available: Signed and posted were 14
letters to Minister Frydenburg, 11 to State opp leader Matthew Guy, 14
to State Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio.
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Mullum Mullum Festival
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ECAM was delighted to support the 18th Mullum Mullum Festival held over the weekends of Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 April and Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 May 2018. ECAM provided afternoon tea for participants at Currawong Bush Park conference centre on the Saturday and Sunday including for the talk by Prof. David Karoly, Leader, Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub, National Environmental Science Program, CSIRO, about Climate change and the Mullum Mullum: where are we now and where are we heading? A copy of David’s power point presentation including very interesting (and scary) graphs is available at https://mullummullumfestival.org.au/. Approximately 50 people attended this presentation.
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Solar Savers
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Speaker Karl Barnett outlined the terrific benefits available for
relevant pensioners, of the Solar Savers program, an initiative of
Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action, and sponsored by City of
Whitehorse. Many of the 70 attendees were new to ECAM. Solar Savers is a
pioneering approach by Victorian Councils to support pensioner
households to install solar with no upfront costs.
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AGM AND Whitehorse war on waste
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Approximately 35 people attending heard President Kathy Leitch speak to
her report saying it was heartening to say that ECAM was as strong as
ever helped along by the City of Whitehorse Grant of $1500, printing and
Sustainable News advertising. Paid up membership is now 50 and email
list is 410. Kathy thanked the committee and many other volunteers who
have enabled ECAM to conduct two very successful public forums: “Solar
and Batteries” with a wait list of 80 and “Will Renewables Cut Power
Bills and Save the Planet” both with wonderful speakers providing us
with hope for the future. Kathy particularly thanked Pam French, a
founding member of ECAM who is stepping down from the committee. Next
year ECAM will aim to run five bi-monthly events starting in March
including an awareness of the State Election late next year and
continuing to address our call for a “Safe Climate Now”. A committee of
nine was re-elected and others present were encouraged to join the
committee next year.
After the AGM, Melanie Kerr, Senior Waste and Sustainability Officer, City of Whitehorse gave a very information talk on “Whitehorse War on Waste”, outlining the composition of waste collected (35% of which is food wastage), how Whitehorse disposes of its waste and giving many practical ideas as to how we can reduce and reuse, etc. Whitehorse will be conducting a major review of all waste issues in 2018. An End of Year Supper Celebration followed. |
Can renewables cut power bills and save the planet?
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An audience of approximately 75 people was privileged to hear from two inspiring environmental specialists in Amanda McKenzie from the Climate Council and Kate Nicolazzo from Moreland Energy Foundation. While reiterating the need for the world to act fast on climate change, Amanda gave us encouragement and hope that we can address the challenges we face and that there are states and cities leaping ahead in implementing their own action on climate change to meet the Paris Agreement. Kate’s enthusiastic sharing of all the practical action that is being achieved especially with business and councils demonstrated that help is available for each of us to implement our own measures to access renewables, reduce carbon and save on costs. An inspiring night. The event was live streamed to ECAM Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/easterncag/videos/1602401353167802/ |
Solar and batteries –
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A very successful event with 200 plus attendees at the Waratah Room Whitehorse Centre. Moderator Rob Gell set the current environmental context and the need to reduce emissions, before introducing renewable energy expert Pat Tale, Sustainability Consultant - Enviroshop.. Pat gave a refresher on how solar works and outlined the various types of batteries available and what one needs to consider to best meet specific requirements. Economist Bruce Mountain, Director Carbon and Energy Markets then gave an outline of the economics and cost/benefits of batteries both on an individual home scale and how batteries will impact the bigger picture of decarbonizing the grid and energy security. Questions from the floor were lively and well addressed by the panel. Attendees perused stalls by Enviroshop, Gridedge, Ecomaster and Whitehorse Council. The event which was sponsored by Bendigo Bank to the tune of $1000 was attended by Mayor, Cr Denise Massoud, Councilor Bill Bennett and Robert Clark MLA. The event was streamed live to Facebook so the 60 plus people on the waiting list who could not be fitted in were able to view the event as it was happening.
The video is available via: https://www.facebook.com/easterncag/videos/1400872103320729/?hc_ref=PAGES |
Annual General Meeting
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Our AGM was held at the Field Naturalist’s Club and 28 people heard the outgoing president Peter Moon report on the busy year of ECAM events. Peter also mentioned that ECAM was awarded the City of Whitehorse 2016 Sustainable Community Leadership Award, and he thanked the City of Whitehorse for their support. ECAM currently has 50 paid-up members, With 400+ on the ECAM News email list and 292 facebook likes both continue to grow steadily. We have worked with many like-minded organisations. Peter thanked the committee and all the volunteers who assisted with letterboxing and at the events for their hard work and he thanked the community for supporting the work of ECAM. Committee Members for 2017 were elected and all present including Mayor, Cr Denise Massoud and Councillor Bill Bennett enjoyed a celebratory supper.
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How to cut your energy bills –
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Forty five attendees heard Hugh Venables and Richard Keech share their
expertise and experience on how to save money on energy bills, reduce
emissions and make our homes more comfortable. In his home efficiency
presentation Hugh outlined the steps to take in our homes as detailed in
the Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) publication, the Zero Carbon Australia
Buildings Plan. Richard, the primary author of the BZE book “The Energy
Freedom Home” then presented a case study of his own home where he has
implemented the BZE plan very effectively. Over supper, Ecomaster,
Enviroshop and BZE staffed stalls and provided advice on the practical
implementation of energy saving strategies.
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Local Climate Action in the Eastern Suburbs and in particular Whitehorse.
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Scott McKenry, the Regional Coordinator - Eastern Alliance for
Greenhouse Action (EAGA) outlined the goals and actions of EAGA, is a
formal collaboration of seven Councils in Melbourne’s east who work
together on regional programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
facilitate regional adaptation. After that, Cr Andrew Munroe, City of
Whitehorse Councillor for Central Ward brought us up to date with some
of the things happening in Whitehorse. there were 35 attendees.
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Combined ECAM and Lighter
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The Box Hill Town Hall buzzed with close to 600 people – a strong demonstration of just how seriously the community takes the need for serious action on climate change. A Lighter Footprints started off the night with a video that was both a bit of fun and a serious reflection on the damage to the Great Barrier reef as “the canary in the coal mine”. Boroondara Young Citizen of the Year Kathleen Hanson spoke about youth concerns for the environment. With Rod Quantock as MC, The panel members Peter Christoff (setting of the context for climate change as an international issue), Josh Frydenberg MP (Lib), Senator Janet Rice (Greens) and Mark Butler (ALP) spoke briefly and took questions about their main climate change platforms.
Break-out groups with candidates from the electorates of Chisholm, Koonong and Deakin provided a good chance for people to question their candidates. |
Climate change & health with
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Dr John Merory MB.BS.FRACP.M.Env. Sci., a lifelong environmentalist and member of Doctors for the Environment explained and demonstrated evidence of the rising heat on earth 1850-2016. He outlined how deadly the impact of heat is on increased deaths, more hospitalisations, more ambulance call-outs, etc. Describing the symptoms of heat stress and the impacts on our health, he then outlined what measures we can take to protect ourselves and our neighbours. 55 people attended with positive appreciative feedback.
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Electric/Hybrid Vehicle Expo
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110 people attended this car show with ten exhibitors, all of whom were
eastern suburb residents or businesses, except for the Powershop Tesla
and the Enviroshop Battery installation exhibit, Demonstrations and
talks with attendees about the benefits of their electric or hybrid
vehicles took place in the car park abutting the Hall. All then moved
into the hall where the owners gave a short presentation and answered
questions. Feedback was extremely positive, noting it was a well
organised and informative event, that the short, to the point,
presentations was a very effective way to get key info across, and it
was great to see such interest in EVs. Cr Andrew Munro attended and in
his Report to Residents described it as the best event he had attended
as a City of Whitehorse Councillor
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Peoples Climate March
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ECAM members marched under the new ECAM banner to support one of the largest climate rallies held in Melbourne.
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Mullum Mullum Festival
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ECAM assisted with one of the activities at the Mullum Mullum Festival at Currawong Bush Park. At this session climate policy strategist, David Spratt spoke on “Local conservation and a warming climate: what gives?”
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Annual General Meeting
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At the AGM President Peter Moon summarised the year to date and the
outcomes of the Planning Forum. Cr Bill Bennett addressed the audience
congratulating ECAM for their community work in climate action and
reassured us that history will show we are on “high moral ground” in
doing so. Outlining his own long history in environmental awareness and
action, he spoke to some of the Whitehorse Council’s current activities,
took questions and outlined some ideas as to how to work with council
staff and councillors to inform them of our concerns and activities.
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Divestment Forum and Expo
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250 people attended Box Hill Town Hall to hear Dr John Hewson AM speak
on “Climate Change – Threats and Opportunities for Business and You”.
Presentations and displays by businesses in superannuation, power and
banking provided information on divesting from fossil fuels to mitigate
the risks from climate change. 46% of those who attended returned
evaluations rating the evening at 90%+ and 79% said they would take
action in response to their new knowledge. “Brilliantly organised and
run”
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Lakeside Walk and Talk
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Held at tranquil Blackburn Lake, about 35 people walked through the bush
to the shore of the lake with ECAM members explaining the impacts of
climate change and sharing ideas to mitigate its affect. Feedback was
overwhelmingly positive, with comments such as “I was involved in
climate change 20 years ago and have become very depressed about it all,
but it is so good to see local people doing something about it. I will
keep in touch.” “Really enjoyed it”. “Thanks so much for all that
information”
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State Election Environment Forum 30 September 2014
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Noted environmentalist Rob Gell moderated while the three candidates for
Forest Hill presented their plans for action on climate change and took
questions from the floor. 150 enthusiastic attendees were thus better
informed about how to vote for climate action. Audience comments
included “an inspirational night”, “excellent evening. Well organised,
well attended and went like clockwork”, “the candidates will be well
aware that the environment is of great importance to the Forest Hill
electorate”,
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Cut Your Energy Bills Big Time
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150 people turned out on a cold winter night to hear Hugh Venables presenting the BZE Housing Plan, Richard Keech, explaining how he has implemented all the plan’s recommendations on his own house and the great benefits gained, and Maurice Beinat Chief Technical Officer ecoMaster demonstrate the importance of "filling those gaps" to ensure heat stays in and cold stays out. Practical, inspirational and fun!
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Rooftop Solar Forum
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People love hearing about the benefits and practicalities of solar energy! Thus 140 came to hear solar installers demonstrate how effective solar power is, how much it can save them and how much it will cost, and what they need to consider to ensure a practical and efficient installation. A great supper ensured many stayed and chatted with various stall holders after the event.
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Lakeside Walk and Talk
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At ECAM's first public venture ECAM speakers presented their well-researched explanations as to how and why climate change is occurring and what its devastating impacts . The 40 attendees were encouraged to act both personally and politically so that fossil fuels become a thing of the past, emissions can be brought down and a safe climate restored.
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