Port Augusta, Whyalla - Green Steel and Smart Energy

Climate Action Show

Climate Action ShowJune 27th 2022Produced by Vivien Langford PORT AUGUSTA, WHYALLA - GREEN STEEL AND SMART ENERGY Guests:Kurt Johnson - Journalist with Renew Economy https://reneweconomy.com.au/green-dreams-managing-the-transition-from-rust-to-renewables/ John Grimes - CEO The Smart Energy Council At the Smart Energy Conference in May, soon to be PM and Environment Minister Albanese and Bowen were fascinated by a new Solar Company. On display were 5B Mavericks. Mr Albanese was enthusiastic because they were very close to his electorate, employed many people and had expanded to USA, India and Chile. We asked them what 5B stood for and it turned out to be for the Five Billion Years of sun power ahead of us. The Mavericks are solar arrays the size of a roof. they can be folded up and deployed elsewhere and their inventors are Chris Mc Grath and Eden Tehan. Since the election many are expecting a great acceleration of clean energy and John Grimes says that the targets taken to the election could be more than doubled by 2030.Then we go to Port Augusta and Whyalla with Kurt Johnson who found there was such a boom for workers there he could hardly find a room for the night. There is a Renewable Energy Park there with wind , solar, ocean and energy storage.https://www.dpenergy.com/projects/port-augusta-renewable-energy-park/It's not a simple story however, and locals are somewhat resigned to big promises, booms and setbacks. One problem may be the difficulty of finding skilled workers and here is Kurt's article investigating that : https://reneweconomy.com.au/could-a-skills-shortage-stall-the-renewable-energy-revolution/He talks about the Sundrop Farm which uses solar power to desalinate the sea water from St Vincent's Gulf and grow acres of tomatoes.https://reneweconomy.com.au/good-taste-and-food-security-how-sundrop-rewrote-rules-of-tomato-crops/ - https://www.sundropfarms.com/our-facilities/TRAININGThe Smart Energy Council already has certificate courses: https://smartenergy.org.au/training/https://nswliberal.org.au/Shared-Content/News/2021/New-Training-For-Renewable-Jobs-Revolutionhttps://www.premier.vic.gov.au/ensuring-women-are-part-clean-energy-revolutionWe have our ears out to report on other training opportunities to turbo charge this energy transition, so please let us know by calling 3CR - [phone] - In France they do not have a Minister for Climate Change but a Minister for Energy Transition which sounds much more determined, and we hope to interview her soon. https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/three-women-to-steer-frances-new-super-green-ministry/