1/ Greenearth energy ltd geothermal
2/ Alcoa meeting with Brendan Foran
3/ Debrief meeting with Anglesea group
Greenearth Energy Ltd Meeting 21/05/09
SCEG Anglesea would like to thank Mark Miller of Greenearth Energy for coming to Anglesea to speak with representatives of SCEG regarding the opportunity of geothermal energy in our region. This company has secured Geothermal exploration permits in three key locations in Victoria; the Latrobe Valley, Gippsland and of particular interest to SCEG was the GEP10 district which includes the Surf Coast Shire.
Interesting points:
• The Geelong Region per capita is one of the Australia's most carbon
exposed industrial communities - our major local industries are particularly dependent on electricity derived from coal burning-
Alcoa, Boral, Shell .....
• Greenearth Energy has completed geophysical surveys and resource estimation of GEP10.
• They found just north of Anglesea (Moriac area) a significant Hot Sedimentary Aquifer (HSA) exists which has the potential to be become an engineered geothermal system (EGS).
• The area is proximate to the Grid infrastructure and heavy industry.
• The proposed technology involves a closed loop system where hot water is bought to the surface and then pumped down again - no external water source required.
• The temperature of the water bought up from the sandy aquifer is expected to be 170 degrees at the surface.
• They would have to drill down 3.5km.
• They believe this area has the potential for a 380MW plant with a life expectancy of 50 years.
• To set this technology up they would begin with a 10MW demonstration plant and then upgrade via 5MW modules.
• To establish this resource they require the backing of 'keystone' investors, governments and community. They require $63 million dollars - $44 from industry.
• Note from Leo:
If 1000 houses in Anglesea had a 1kw solar system producing an average of 4.1kwh each per day:
1000 houses x 4100wh =4,100,000wh =4.1MW in a 24 hour period
Coal mine;
150MW per hour = 3600MW in a 24hour period
In transmision between Anglesea and Geelong smelter there is 5MW of losses more than 1000 houses could produce in 1 day. An enormous amount of power put into perspective the average house uses about 19kwh a day.
Alcoa Anglesea Meeting with representative Brendan Foran 22/5/09
We would like to thank Brendan for meeting with representatives from SCEG. This meeting was held in response to a letter sent to Alcoa voicing SCEG's concerns of coal burning in Anglesea adding to climate change and the continued air pollution of our community with Sulfur Dioxide. We addressed the issue of Alcoa investing and supporting in renewable energy as an alternative to burning coal.
Interesting points:
• The production of Aluminium from ore requires an extraordinary amount of electricity and in Australia the cheapest means of producing electricity is through the burning of coal.
• Anglesea coal mine provides power to Alcoa at a cheaper rate than what our government supplies it via the grid (which is highly subsidised by the Australian tax payer).
• 30% of the cost to produce aluminium is the cost of electricity
• Alcoa accept the science of climate change and have set a global target of being carbon neutral by 2017.
• This month Alcoa have spent $40 million on maintenance at the Anglesea Coal mine.
• The market price of aluminium has fallen by 57% in March 2009, and is currently at its lowest market level in history. There is an oversupply of aluminium in the world market.
• Alcoa support 'carbon sequestration using bauxite residue'
• They pursued the addition of wind turbines to the coal mine about 5
years ago but the local community said no (not sure who spoke for the
community on this). Brendan will forward us the report from 2003.
• Sulfur emissions from Anglesea coal mine continue to be too high and Alcoa load shed (reduce the amount of coal burning) during certain weather conditions to reduce sulfur fallout over the Anglesea community.
• The fundamental reason stopping Alcoa going to renewable energy is the cost.
• While our Government continues to supply cheap power options to Alcoa they will continue use it from what ever source it comes from.
Meeting Outcomes:
• A positive dialogue has begun between SCEG and Alcoa - it has been honest and open.
• We will continue to meet with Alcoa over these issues.
• Representatives from SCEG have been invited to a presentation / discussion by Tim McCauliffe - Alcoa Australia’s Sustainability Manager on June 3rd.
• A representative from SCEG has been invited to join the Anglesea Alcoa Community Consultation Network (CCN).
• Brendan has agreed to address the SCEG group as a representative of Alcoa in the near future.
SCEG has invited Brendan to attend a social evening we are planning to bring Melbourne members and Surfcoast members of the Repower Anglesea Campaign together.
SCEG Anglesea Meeting 22/05/09
We would like to thank Damien for coming to Anglesea for this meeting. A summary of the Greenearth Energy meeting and Alcoa meeting were given. (See separate minutes)
The Repower Anglesea Campaign Melbourne:
Damien reported that the Melbourne wing of the RA are really enthusiastic about the campaign. The draft of the 'flyer' they are working on was tabled and they invite comments, additions and subtractions. A draft of the petition was also tabled. General agreement was reached for the title ' Repower Anglesea - switch off coal'. The campaign also agreed with - 'The campaign aims to create public support for Alcoa and the State and Federal Government to replace the power station and mine with clean renewable energy.
There was some hesitation regarding the use of Alcoa in the subheading. While the campaign is aimed at switching off coal it will be difficult to remove it from the company that is mining it. The negative comments and actions against our group (the community house, the primary school and members of the community) in the past week has illustrated that the community are weary about action against Alcoa due to the financial support of the Anglesea community.
Financial support of the community by Alcoa was discussed. We will investigate which groups benefit from Alcoa support and by how much.
We will investigate the Bendigo Bank also. It was also mentioned that due to the economic crisis Alcoa may not be able to financially support the local art show as it has in the past.
It was suggested that the use of the petition in Anglesea should be delayed until we have had a chance to educate the community before they sign or do not sign the petition. The petition would be ongoing for 6 months and more.
It was agreed that a whole community forum needs to be arranged with special guest speakers. Suggested speakers: David Karoly (Climatologist) (Damien to check his availability), Brendan Foran (Alcoa), Mark Miller (Greenearth Energy), Damien and someone from SCEG. A tentative date would be July 20 – Sunday Afternoon. The petition could be launched at the forum.
It was agreed that a letter of introduction to all Anglesea community groups must be written that introduces the group and our aims and requests a 5 minute spot at their next meeting. We need to clarify that we are working with Alcoa and we invite them to attend the forum. The letter must be sent by the first week of June to coincide with the launch.
A joint media release (Melbourne and Surfcoast) - in as many papers as possible should be arranged for the first week in June. Tiff to ask Damien if he could word something so we can send it to our local papers and radio stations.
Launch Date 6th June.
The Arctic Challenge to victoria
SCEG website
Anglesea, has already achieved great things with 'Plastic Bag Free'!
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