2030Yea Community Energy and Yea Wetlands recently partnered to present three community talks. We were privileged to hear from some of the country’s leaders speak.
These talks were supported by a Victorian Government DELWP Community Mini grant.
You can find recordings of these talks on the Resources page.
Fern Hames
Fern Hames, Director of the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research presented the first of the three talks – Leadership Lessons From Penguins. She spoke about the Institute’s climate change research and also her part in Homeward Bound. This group sponsors leading young female scientists from around the globe to view results of climate change where they are most dramatic, in Antarctica, while providing leadership training.
Saul Griffith
Saul Griffith, Australian inventor and entrepreneur presented the second talk – The Big Switch with Saul Griffith – via Zoom and live streamed at the Yea Wetlands Discovery Centre. Saul recently launched The Big Switch: Australia’s electric future (Schwarz Books 2022). His view is that we deal best with greenhouse gases by arranging our infrastructure, so we don’t have to think about climate and energy issues every minute. Yea is on the way to doing that with 41.7% solar PV coverage, but we need to up the ante and increase our energy generation close to home and use it in our own community. Andy McCarthy presented a summary of the work that RACV Solar has been doing in Yea and elsewhere.
Glen Morris and Lucinda Flynn
Glen Morris and Lucinda Flynn presented our third talk – Energy Efficient and Sustainable Communities. Glen is the General Director of Smart Energy Lab, Solarquip, and Solaris and road tests most of Australia’s renewable hardware at the top of Mt Toolebewong. The Moora Moora community, where he lives and works, is powered by one big Microgrid, all stitched together by Glen.
He was joined by Lucinda Flynn who runs Going Green Solutions and has worked in the sustainability and energy efficiency industry for more than 10 years. She discussed all the things Yea residents can do to make their homes more energy efficient and sustainable, no matter their budget.
