Latest News• Add My News • Search Old News Gippsland › Latest news › Latrobe Local NewsEnvironment to win from Energy ParkLocation of an Energy Park in the Latrobe Valley would enable huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions Location of an Energy Park in the Latrobe Valley would enable huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions if major new customers locate in Latrobe rather than elsewhere in Victoria, Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Tony Hanning, said today.Cr Hanning said it had been projected that industry utilising the Energy Park would save around 3% in greenhouse emissions relative to a Melbourne location or 6% relative to a Western Victorian location for high voltage/volume consumers. “The saving in Greenhouse gas emissions is far higher still if medium voltage/volume customers such as timber mills, textile mills or fabrication plants for example, locate in a Latrobe Valley Energy Park rather than use both the electricity transmission and distribution systems to transport electricity to Melbourne and beyond,” Cr Hanning added. Cr Hanning explained that transport of electricity from the power station via the high voltage transmission wires and the medium and low voltage distribution and reticulation systems inevitably resulted in ‘leakage’, a substantial loss of electricity between the generator and the customer. “Anyone who has tried to use a power tool at home on the end of a long extension lead will know what I mean,” Cr Hanning explained. “Imagine the effect for an aluminium smelter being supplied over hundreds of kilometres. The power loss is huge. Large quantities of electricity over and above what the facility requires to run its operation, needs to be generated to allow for the losses encountered in transmission. This is simply wasted electricity, and huge additional quantities of greenhouse gases are emitted for no good reason. “Australians are now in the unenviable position of being the number-one per capita producers of greenhouse gases in the world. We now have a global obligation to reduce these emissions where we can, and placing industry near the point of generation needs to be part of our strategy. “The greenhouse gas benefits of locating industry in a Latrobe Valley Energy Park are potentially huge. A transmission loss saving of 6% on 1,000MW of new load represents approximately 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which equates to some 1.25% of the annual emissions from Latrobe Valley power generators – a significant contribution to Australia’s international greenhouse obligations. “The Commonwealth Government’s approach to the greenhouse issue so far has mainly consisted of fiddling with existing industry plant, and measures such as tree planting,” Cr Hanning added. “This is all very well, but isn’t it time that we moved beyond the ordinary and encouraged the rational location of major industry? “The really big environmental gains are going to be achieved by encouraging industry to locate as close as possible to the power stations, and in Victoria virtually all of our electricity is generated within 15 kilometres of Morwell. “I am stating the obvious in saying that the environmentally responsible course of action is for the State and Commonwealth Governments to support the Latrobe Valley Energy Park,” Cr Hanning concluded. Media Enquiries: Cr. Tony Hanning, Mayor, Latrobe City tel. 0417 373 577 Cr. Brendan Jenkins, Deputy Mayor, Latrobe City tel. 0417 374 590 Ms. Penny Holloway, Chief Executive Officer, tel. 5173 1401 or 0417 557 103 Jeremy Bein, Public Relations and Communications Officer, tel. 5173 1468 Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: latrobecity@gippslander.com
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