Did you know that Concentrated Solar Thermal plants can store the heat captured during the day and continue to operate at night, thus generating 24-hour base-load power? Or, that such power plants are already operating successfully in other, less sunny parts of the world? Did you know that photovoltaic technology is set to be cheaper to install than coal power by (or before) the middle of this decade?
However, thinking so big sometimes seemed a bit abstract. I must admit, even I had my doubts. Shouldn’t we be concentrating on local issues? These doubts were completely dispelled as Larni Gryphon and myself joined a team of 30 volunteers from around the country in 45 meetings with MP’s and Senators at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday May 28th.
As we entered into the meetings in groups of two or three, we got strength from the fact that we were there to represent the work of hundreds of volunteers from over forty community groups around the country. And we were
there to represent the over 94% we had polled who said that the Government should be supporting big solar.
We presented to politicians a report titled “12,000 Voices: Australia’s vision for big solar.” We made specific asks
of them and were left in no doubt that we have made an impact on the political debate around renewable energy in Australia. So watch this space!
By Jamie David, Renewable Energy Campaigner
