Tuesday 12th May saw the Brisbane Chapter host an internationally attended webinar of over 300 delegates on disruption in asset management. This informative session was provided by Denise Brown from Powerlink.
It has been said many times before that we are living in extremely challenging times. The terrain of enforced shut down caused by the coronavirus pandemic across towns and cities globally is unchartered. Nobody knows precisely what is best. Decisions made represent a fine balancing act between the health of people and the economic stability of the country. These are not mutually exclusive; most readers will be aware that economic stability in any country vastly improves the health of that country’s inhabitants.
Renewable energy seems to be an answer to the current climate crisis. The coal-fired plants are aging and many believe they are responsible for excessive greenhouse gas emissions. However, what happens when the wind isn’t tickling the leaves on trees, or the sun isn’t shining in the sky? Reliance on intermittent energy sources is problematic, as power cannot be generated during those times of darkness or stillness.
The small county town of Denham, Western Australia, about 100kms from Carnarvon, looks to become a model host to a new energy solution.
Denham is home to about 700 Australians. For the past twenty years, Denham’s electricity has been sourced from a combination of diesel and wind-generated power. Horizon own and operate the diesel facility, with the wind farm owned by Synergy. Both the current assets are aging, ready for disposal.
The Australian government, through its Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), is to provide $18 million dollars in grant funding to develop Australia’s second energy-from-waste plant, based in Western Australia.
The facility in East Rockingham is expected to process 300,000 tonees of residual waste from non-recyclable waste, delivering 29MW of baseload electricity capacity. That’s enough to provide power to more than 36,000 homes1.
There is a lot in the news at the moment regarding climate change and the state of emergency the world is in. The effects of greenhouse gases (GHG) already emitted are considered wholly irreversible, and unless there is a targeted, collective approach to lowering carbon emissions, the world is doomed. Exactly how the world is doomed is unclear: no scientist or futurist is able to give a definitive forecast of how the earth will look if the advice to lower carbon emissions remains unheeded.
But to do nothing is to risk everything.