sustainable e-news 10 Nov 2007
Posted on 10 November 2007 by e-news
MASG spring calendar event summary:
9th & 10th Nov: Renewables Expo – Dr Mark Diesendorf opening night
11 November: Walk Against Warming – MASG goes to Melbourne
3rd – 11th Nov: Castlemaine Garden Festival – MASG Garden open
16th November: Movie Fundraiser – The Bicycle Thief
MASG NEWS – a busy Friday and Saturday!
On Friday night, Dr Mark Diesendorf addressed almost 200 people on Greenhouse Solutions with Renewable Energy at Campbells Creek Community Centre (slides pdf). Other speakers talked about wind and solar installations. Simultaneously, another 200 people heard Farmer, John Peterson, from the USA, talk about organic community supported agriculture at Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal.
LOCAL INVENTION POWERS RENEWABLE EXPO: The Friday night presentations were successfully powered by renewable energy from burning wood in a gasifier made by research engineer and local resident, John Sanderson. The gasifier will be on display on Saturday as well – details below.
Earlier in the day, Dr Diesendorf led a briefing of local leaders from industry and government, hosted by MASG and KR Bacon. Such was the enthusiasm and interest, the planned 1 hour workshop extended to two hours.
Simultaneously, MASG hosted Senator Lyn Allison, who was visiting Bendigo and Castlemaine and who wanted to know more about the work of MASG. More details in next week’s e-news.
SATURDAY:
The Renewable Expo show continued through Saturday 10th with exhibits and speakers all day. Some comments so far: “The Expo was superb.” “The Expo was fantastic – a whole afternoon of useful and important information!”
From 10-4 on Saturday, about 500 visitors came to the Renewables Expo that showed the latest in renewable technology that you can use now. Questions such as: What role is there for solar PV, solar hot water, biomass and electric cars in your domestic, school and business life? were answered. With improvements all the time this was a great chance to talk to the manufacturers and get involved in the renewable future.
AND model solar race-cars on the big track: the solar model racing cars are sun-powered and really flew. Built by students at the Castlemaine Secondary College, MASG is grateful for their exhibiting at the Expo.
Saturday presentations:
10.15 Origin – Origin solar PV and solar hot water, Marie Hinde, Manager, Origin Solar
11.00 Energy from wood, Andrew Lang, SMARTimbers,
11.45 Greenhouse solutions with sustainable energy Dr Mark Diesendorf
12.30 A bulk purchasing option for solar hot water, Nick Lanyon, BREAZE and Chris Waldron, Apricus Solar
1.15 Small scale wind technology, a practical guide, Demain Khan, Enhar
2.00 Entrepreneurialism in the renewable sector, Eric Zimmerman, Beyond Building Energy
2.45 Carbon Trading, a local perspective, Paul Dettman, Greenhousebalanced
MASG would like to thank the official expo sponsors for their support: Keynote Speaker Sponsor: EcoMaster; Exhibition Sponsors: Solahart, The Solar Bloke, Conergy; Origin Energy; and Beyond Building Energy; and the Expo is carbon neutral thanks to the support of the North Central Catchment Management Authority.
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Cycling’s Big Night Out: Friday, 16th November, 7.30 for 8pm start. A great night for lovers of film and comedy, as well as all supporters of a more sustainable Castlemaine. We are very fortunate to be able to bring together three of Castlemaine’s most popular performers, Team Henderson, Justin Shortal and Andree Cozens. Whilst their act is a well-kept secret, we do know that Team has been visiting some of the veterans of cycling in Castlemaine, Justin has been honing his interviewing skills, and Andree has been seen in the local bike shop asking difficult questions about the health and safety implications of various bike seats. The comedy will be followed by the drawing of our bike raffle and, of course, the showing of the classic film The Bicycle Thief. Tickets selling well and still on sale for $20 and $16 at the House of Fergus Frog (Barker St). Info: Neil on 54 723 094.
Walk Against Warming – Sunday, 11th November. Walk Against Warming event in Melbourne. Take 10.10am train to Melbourne: book your seat with Vline on 136 196.
The Castlemaine Garden Festival is underway – by mid-week there had already been 75 visitors to the MASG demonstration garden. Thanks to Judy Laycock for the amazing gateway decoration. The garden is open for the whole festival – please come by and admire the hard work and beauty of the garden and the archway!
Greening the Meaning of Christmas – as a result of Finding Our Power, Lucy is still looking for tips, stories, experiences and anecdotes around the theme of ‘Greening the Meaning of Christmas’, before Nov. 16th. Please send to lucy@cch.org.au, or call Lucy on 5472 4842 at the Castlemaine Community House.
Grass-Roots Eco Action Networking (GREAN) Conference – a gathering of like-minded climate action groups in Albury: 24-25 Nov. Keynote speaker, Ian Lillington. Hear what other groups from the riverland and country NSW are doing – all MASG members welcome – car sharing options possible. Program/booking form from ian@masg.org.au
OTHER EVENTS and NEWS, not endorsed by MASG
Sawpit Gully Food and Wine Festival, moving towards being a carbon neutral event. Elphinstone, Sunday 11th November, 10am-3pm, rain or shine – one of the best food and wine festivals in the State. This Festival is committed to reducing energy and waste, and will be reducing the use of non-recyclable and non-perishable products: 5473 3363.
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Federal Election : Candidates Forum: Wed 14th Nov, Agitation Hill, Castlemaine, 7pm.
Federal Election Policies Overview
QUOTE:
Billionaire George Soros says the US credit crunch is likely to get worse before it gets better. “I think we are definitely in for a slowdown that I think will be a bigger slowdown than (Fed Chairman Ben) Bernanke is seeing,” … the U.S. economy is “on the verge of a very serious economic correction after decades of overspending”.
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