Activities

Since its incorporation in July, 2002 the Western Australian Sustainable Energy Association Inc. (WASEA) has worked to support and promote the growth of the sustainable energy industry in Western Australia.

WA SEA is an enterprise level industry body, and it continues to grow its political influence and relevance, as well as its depth of business networks as we grow and frequency and diversity of business events to match the diversity of members' interests. In particular, WA SEA has a strong reputation in Western Australia for authoritative commentary and advocacy on a broad range of energy efficiency and sustainable energy issues - many examples of our contribution can be found on our website. WA SEA's office has professional full-time staff working on advocacy and lobbying, and our enterprise members are obviously significant employers as well as project developers across all sectors with interests in sustainable energy.

WA SEA is the only industry body advocating substantive action on sustainable energy in WA.

 

 

This page under review as of 12 Mar 2009

 

HISTORICAL ACTIVITY REPORT

1st July, 2007 - 30 December, 2007

This 6 months have been an important time for the Association. WA SEA is growing rapidly, is increasingly more effective and respected, but it will only remain relevant if both of those things continue to happen with the growing support of members.

Johanna Gastevich, Executive Officer for five years, and a key force in the growth of the Association, left WA SEA in September 2007 to move to a new position in Melbourne.

Matthew Walsh was acting Executive Officer for 8 weeks from 20 September to 16 November 2007.

The Sixth Annual General Meeting was held - highlights included changes to membership structure and fees that lead to new, more affordable, business categories being implemented with a non-business category individual member reduced in price ($120), and business sole trader ($150), small company ($300) being added to the medium company ($600) and the existing large company ($1200).

Ray Wills was appointed Chief Executive by the Management Committee at its meeting of 12 November 2007 and Simon Avery stepped up as Chair of WA SEA effective as of 17 November 2007.

Membership has increased with 29 new members joining in that period, including three new corporate members, namely Synergy, Carnegie Corporation, and Western Power (Stanwell ceased their Corporate Membership in this time).

EVENTS

  • Sam Nelson, Director of Greenbase and Gaiatech Fuels 23 October 2007
  • Sixth Annual General Meeting of WA SEA, Monday, 15 October 2007
  • Dr David Worth, Convenor, Sustainable Transport Coalition 28 August 2007
  • How will climate change affect your business in the Peel Region?
    Breakfast in Mandurah featuring Dr Ray Wills and Hon David Templeman Minister for Environment; Climate Change and Peel 17 August 2007

ACTIVITY REPORT

1st July, 2006 - 30 June, 2007

Once again the previous 12 months have been a busy time for the Association. The focus was to increase profile and be identified as the peak body for sustainable energy in Western Australia.

EVENTS

The Association organised a number of events to give members and stakeholders an opportunity to network and be informed of any issues which may directly impact them. WA SEA held the following breakfast events from July, 2006 - June, 2007

  • Dr Alan Lloyd, Former Secretary, California Environmental Protection Agency discussed his role as Secretary of the Cal/EPA.
  • Mr Christian Langen, Managing Director, Conergy Pty Limited discussed the flourishing solar energy industry in Europe.
  • Mr David Rossiter, Regulator, Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) provided an update of the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) program outlining recent legislative changes
  • Dr Roy Green, Chair, Greenhouse and Energy Taskforce, specified how WA could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in the stationary energy sector.
  • Hon Tony McRae, Former Minister for Climate Change and the Environment discussed his vision for the Climate Change Portfolio
  • Rt Hon Helen Liddle, British High Commissioner to Australia discussed the British Prime Minister's response to Climate Change.
  • Hon Kim Chance, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry was the keynote address at the biofuels in Western Australia Seminar. He discussed the launch Biofuels Taskforce's final draft report
  • Christof Ruehl, Chief Economist, BP discussed BP's recent Statistical Review of World Energy

In addition, WA SEA held an industry briefing at Piney Lakes Environment Centre

  • Senator Rachel Siewert, Deputy Chair, Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee gave an overview of the Interim Report from Australia's future oil supply and alternative fuels inquiry

Following the success of the 2006 Biofuels and Bioenergy in Western Australia: Issues and Challenges conference, WA SEA once again partnered with the Sustainable Transport Coalition and organised a half day Seminar to examine what has happened over the past year in biofuels. The half day Seminar examined issues such as the economics of biofuels production, the future of biofuels in WA and Peak Oil.

WA SEA organised the book launch of Dr Mark Diesendorf's latest book Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy. This book critically assesses the various technologies that have been put forward as solutions and proposes feasible scenarios and policies for the implementation of those technologies which are ecologically sustainable.

WA SEA invited Dr Peter Lyons, a physicist and the co-creator of the Window Energy Rating Scheme (WERS) plus thermal modeling programs for skylights and window films, to speak to industry about Thermal comfort. The Seminar covered such topics as glazing energy performance, windows and comfort, the BCA and modeling tools.

The release of Al Gore's documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth' saw the community connect with Climate Change. The Association worked with the film distributors United International Pictures (UIP) to organise the first public screenings of the movie. Invitations were extended to all Members of Parliament, heads of Government departments, members of the Greenhouse and Energy Taskforce, industry heads, stakeholders and WA SEA members.

WA SEA also supported the World Renewable Energy Network (WREN) 2007 Conference: Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development in the Asia Pacific Region. To tie in this international conference with the local community, WA SEA organised a community screening of Al Gore's ‘An Inconvenient Truth'. Advertised through the local Community newspaper, over 500 community members and conference delegates attended the free screening at the Hoyts Millennium cinema in Fremantle.

The Mayor provided a welcome to the audience members and after the movie was screened the audience were invited to stay and listen to a presentation on how climate change is affecting Western Australia by Dr Ray Wills. A question and answer session was then held with the audience and panel members who included:

  • Dr Ray Wills, WA SEA Chair and Manager - Sustainability Services Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC).
  • Hon Alannah MacTeirnan, Minister for Planning and Works.
  • Matt Porter a lawyer with Minter Ellison who recently completed training with Al Gore. He is now qualified to give the same Climate Change presentation as seen in the movie to groups.
  • Mr Rob Gulley, co-ordinator of Environment House.

Members of the public were invited to ask questions relating to climate change and greenhouse.

WA SEA also supported the International Day of Action on Climate Change. This event saw over 5,000 community members to walk in support of action in response to climate change.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT

Regular emails and the WA SEA website have proven to be effective tools in communicating with members on a regular basis.

The WA SEA website includes media releases, event information, downloads, submissions and general information of interest to members. Information is updated on a weekly basis. WA SEA website has recently been redesigned and will enable easier navigation and further information.

In July 2006, WA SEA completed its SEDO grant and published the last edition of THIRTY/TEN, a 20 page industry publication which contained stories on Sea Level rise in WA, BASIX, the Western Australian Renewable Energy Target (WARET) etc. This publication was posted to over 800 industry stakeholders.

Over the last few months WA SEA has been meeting with Members of Parliament to discuss issues relating to energy efficient building design, government grants and initiatives, sustainable energy policy development and renewable energy access just to name a few. More recently we have been setting up meetings with all Cabinets Ministers to discuss how climate change is relevant to their particular portfolio. The aim is to clearly demonstrate that Climate Change issues are not only relevant to the Minister for Climate Change but are relevant across all portfolios.

Ministers met in 2007 include:

  • Hon Kim Chance, Minister for Agriculture and Food; Forestry; the Mid West and Wheatbelt; Great Southern
  • Hon John Ford, Minister for Regional Development; Fisheries; the Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne
  • Hon Fran Logan, Minister for Energy; Resources; Industry and Enterprise
  • Hon David Templeman, Minister for the Environment; Climate Change; Peel
  • Hon. Michelle Hopkins Roberts, Minister for Employment Protection; Housing and Works; Indigenous Affairs; Heritage; Land Information

WA SEA was invited to participate in launch of the Five Star Plus initiative with Hon Michelle Roberts. WA SEA provided industry support for this initiative and looks forward to strengthening this initiative.

WA SEA has also been involved with work being undertaken by the Health Department of WA in identifying the impact of climate change on community health and working towards developing adaptation measures to minimise the negative impacts of climate change on Western Australians. WA SEA has been involved in Stakeholder consultation during this process.

WA SEA assisted the Greens in developing the Western Australian Renewable Energy Target (WARET) Bill which was passed in the Upper House late last year. If legislated, this would see a licence requirement will be placed on all energy retailers to source a percentage of their energy from renewable energy sources. The Association met with various members of Parliament and discussed how this legislation would assist industry.

WA SEA also established its own Photovoltaic Working Group. Members of the PV industry meet on a regular basis to discuss issue relevant to them, including; feed in tariffs, RRPGP fringe of grid program, net metering etc. The Association also lobbied for the Minister for Energy to form a PV Industry Working Group to identify what are the barriers to the take up of PV and how these can be overcome. Three WA SEA Inc. members are part of this Taskforce as well as representatives from Synergy, Western Power, Horizon and Office of Energy.

WA SEA continued to represent our various members on various Working Groups such as:

  • High Level Stakeholders Group on Greenhouse
  • BASIX Industry Reference Group
  • Sustainable Energy Roundtable
  • WARET legislation working group
  • State of the Environment Energy Working Group
  • Minister for Energy's PV Working Group

SUBMISSIONS

WA SEA drafted a number of submissions on behalf of our members in response to a number of reports. These submissions included:

  • Draft Rural Renewable Energy Program (RREP) - Guidelines for Small Projects (up to 30kW).
  • Draft Rural Renewable Energy Program (RREP) - Guidelines for Medium Projects (typically 30kW to 2MW).
  • Possible Design for a National Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme
  • High Level Stakeholder Group on Greenhouse Feedback - Next Energy & Offsets Working Group Reports
  • Proposed draft drafting instructions for possible legislation to accommodate geothermal resource exploration and production in Western Australia
  • National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Bill 2007 (the Bill)
  • Western Power's proposed improvements to the Mid West region's transmission network.
  • Feedback on the Draft Report on Study of Grid-connect Photovoltaic Systems - Benefits, Opportunities, Barriers and Strategies

PROMOTION

WA SEA has drafted over 30 media releases in the past 12 months (all these media releases can be found on our website http://www.wasea.com.au/.)

The topics covered in Media releases have included:

  • The State and Federal budget
  • Climate Change
  • Support for initiatives such as World Environment Day, the National Carbon Test, Turn off your lights campaign etc
  • Housing efficiency
  • Mandated renewable energy

Dr Ray Wills has also given a number of presentations for various organisations including:

  • Conservation Council of WA
  • Glyde in Community Centre
  • WA Power Conference organised by Terrapinn Media
  • Department for Industry and Resources
  • Chamber of Minerals and Energy
  • Princess Margaret Hospital
  • Department of Agriculture

These presentations discuss issues such as climate change, how climate change is affecting WA and sustainable energy.

Supporting activities

 

The Perth Home Ideas Centre is building a ‘Sustainable Home' within its City West premises. The ‘Sustainable Home' will be a one stop shop where householders can visit and access information on good design plus energy and water efficient products and services. WA SEA is involved in targeting our members to be part of the display and also generally promoting the display.

WA SEA is involved in developing a climate change game targeted at school children. The game works by using a blue tooth enabled mobile phone, which participants will use to receive clues direct to their mobile phones and go on a journey throughout the Perth CBD and learn about how climate change is affecting certain areas in Perth (the game will deal with issues such as sea level rise, temperature increases, decreasing rainfall etc).

WA SEA supported the inaugural walk against warming.

 
corporates.jpg