Media
release
09 July 2010
A major solar panel installation involving
300 solar panels will be launched today
on the roof of a cutting-edge industrial
building in Adelaide.
An initiative of the
Adelaide Solar City project, the Keylink
Industrial Estate is one of eight well-known
local buildings selected to use the sun’s
energy to generate electricity.
Solar projects have
already installed at sites such as Adelaide
Central Bus Station, the Playford Aquadome
and Rundle Lantern under the Adelaide Solar
City project.
“The rooftop solar panels
will provide 20 per cent of the energy requirements
of this cutting edge industrial building,”
Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency
and Water, Senator Penny Wong, said.
“Today’s innovative
project on the MTU Detroit Diesel buildings
in the heart of the Keylink Industrial Estate
will generate 70,000 kilowatt hours of energy
a year once completed,” Member for Wakefield,
Nick Champion, said.
“Large industrial estates
like Keylink have the scale to become clean
energy hubs that apply sustainable measures
and deliver environmental and economic benefits,”
Senator Wong said.
“This building is also
becoming sustainable and energy efficient
through the use of solar heating, energy
management technology and full connection
to the North Adelaide Aquifer Storage and
Recovery System to minimise fresh water
use and maximise water reclamation.’’
The $696,000 project
– jointly funded by the Federal Government
- demonstrates the commercial application
of solar energy to the private sector. The
project will include education programs
on renewable energy and sustainability targeted
at school children and the wider community.
Adelaide was the first
of seven Solar Cities across the nation
chosen to trial new approaches to producing
and using energy. The $94 million Solar
Cities initiative encourages households,
industry and the community to work together.
To date Solar Cities
projects have completed 6,300 energy audits
and installed over 2,700 kilowatts of photovoltaic
solar panels.
The Adelaide Solar City
initiative is delivering energy efficient
products and services to more than 11,500
homes within the project area.
For more information
about the Australian Government’s Solar
Cities Program please see Solar Cities.
+ More
Great Keppel Resort
proposal to undergo rigorous environmental
assessment
Media release
5 July 2010
Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett
today said a proposal for a tourist resort
and facilities on Great Keppel Island must
undergo a thorough assessment under the
national environment law-the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999.
"This second proposal
from GKI Resort has the potential to significantly
impact on several nationally protected matters,
including the world and national heritage
values of the island and its surrounds,
the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, nationally
threatened and migratory species, and Commonwealth
marine areas," Mr Garrett said.
"Because of those
potential significant impacts, I am requiring
the company's plans to undergo a rigorous
environmental assessment through an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS), before deciding
whether the project can proceed.
"The assessment
and approval process spelt out under the
national environment law is stringent and
thorough and includes a requirement for
expert scientific advice.
"Importantly, the
process is also open and transparent, providing
the public with an opportunity to have a
say in this process, in particular to comment
on both the EIS guidelines and the draft
EIS that GKI Resort will be required to
publish.
"The EIS process
will take some time, and once it's completed,
I will then be in a position to carefully
consider all of the facts including the
assessment material, the advice of my department,
and the public comments provided through
the process before deciding if the proposal's
environmental impacts can be managed sufficiently
to allow it to go ahead," Mr Garrett
said.
This is the second proposal
from GKI Resort for a resort development
on Great Keppel Island. The Minister found
that the first proposal, which had greater
impacts than the current proposal, was 'clearly
unacceptable' under national environment
law because it would have unacceptable and
permanent impacts on the island's world
and national heritage values.
