Surf Coast Energy Group in Torquay, Victoria | Community organisation

Surf Coast Energy Group

Locality: Torquay, Victoria

Address: PO Box 160 3228 Torquay, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.sceg.org.au/

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• Home improvement
• Non-profit organisation
• Community organisation
• Solar energy services

20.05.2022 Join E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation on Friday, May 20 for the latest discussion in the new series from the Half Earth Project. The conversation will focus on areas of great biodiversity in the United States and the pathways and people essential to protecting them. If you tune in, reach out to SCEG after via messenger and let us know your thoughts!

03.05.2022 Rewiring Australia have published a report on the benefits of home electrification for the Corangamite electorate. Research shows that Australia can lead the world by electrifying our homes and vehicles and powering them with renewable energy. Read more about it here: https://www.rewiringaustralia.org/community/corangamite

22.04.2022 Are you interested in a Community Energy Retailer that provides consumers with an ethical energy retailer option, keeping the benefits of renewable energy in the local community? Take to survey below to help potentially shape one for the future in the Surf Coast region!

11.04.2022 Corangamite Candidates Forum will be held on Thursday 5th May in Torquay. Community members are invited to hear from candidates in the seat of Corangamite about Surf Coast issues. Remember, Corangamite is a marginal seat held by Labor by only 1%. This gives our community a great opportunity to focus this election on the issues which are important to us. All are encouraged to come along to this event!

25.03.2022 This article is a must read for anyone who wants to judge the policies of the main parties in the lead up to the federal election. https://www.theguardian.com//australias-election-debate-on

25.01.2022 Community resilience came front and centre in 2020. More importantly our fragile reliance on a global mega network. Surf Coast Community this is your invitation to subscribe to Think Resilience 2021. A unique program delivered free directly to your mobile phone via sms. Short videos, extraordinary content. For more info visit www.sceg.org.au/TR

25.01.2022 This looks like an interesting opportunity for those interested in Permaculture.

24.01.2022 What's wrong with a green economy when it's based on growth and consumption? Details below:

24.01.2022 Moving towards our renewable future! MACS Update Six months on, Geelong Sustainability and MACS - Multicultural Aged Care Services Geelong are delighted by the outcomes of their collaborative project to implement the first community funded solar model in Victoria. The solar system is performing well and exceeding generation estimates significantly.... The 149kW rooftop solar system has generated over 140MWh since installation last August, which is well above system projections. MACS CEO, Joy Leggo stated, We are pleased the financial savings on our electricity bills are higher than projected. Residents appreciate that we are doing our bit for the environment by switching to renewable energy. CORE Geelong One Pty Ltd Director, Paul Savi said "the project is democratising energy as our 20 community investors will receive an investment return above term deposit rates". And most importantly of all, its a win for the environment as the clean energy produced has reduced the aged care facilities carbon emissions. The carbon offset last month was 14.7 tons, which is equivalent to planting an acre of trees. Geelong Sustainability President, Vicki Perrett acknowledged, the enabling grant provided through the Victorian governments New Energy Jobs Fund was pivotal to the projects coordination and establishment costs. Now the search is on for the next host site, we are keen to replicate the project. Project Coordinator, Dan Cowdell explained that, the community solar project is based on an innovative win-win model. MACS lease the solar system for a monthly fee over a ten-year period. The lease revenue returns principal plus interest to the investors and covers maintenance costs. At the end of the lease, ownership of the system will be transferred to MACS, and the community company will be wound up. Anyone interested, in knowing more about the project or being a future host site, should connect with Geelong Sustainability.

24.01.2022 We heard it hot of the press at yesterdays forums. With Libby Coker for Corangamite and Mark Butler MP. Richard Marles MP.

23.01.2022 Our friends at the repair cafe are ready to help tomorrow!

23.01.2022 The Anglesea Community Garden is hosting an Event on Saturday 13th April focusing on sustainability, growing our own food and reducing waste. There is a need for volunteers -morning or afternoon 10 to 1.00 OR 1.00 to 4.00 Or if people are not available then, setting up anytime from 7.00am to 10.am... Or breaking down from 4.00pm onwards. Excellent event to attend and help out.

21.01.2022 ACE getting active in the press.

19.01.2022 The Surf Coast Energy Group wants to encourage more informed action within our community. That is why we are excited to announce Think Resilience- a 10 week series of workshops developed in the United States by the Post Carbon Institute. SCEG is partnering with the PCI to run this subsidised program. Importantly, we think its vital to understand the complex problems before us in this 21st century so that our response is commensurate with the challenges. Learn more and register your interest here- https://www.sceg.org.au/think-resilience/

19.01.2022 More action to care for our coast.

17.01.2022 Heres a great opportunity from our friends at Geelong Sustainability that looks at ways to address unaffordable housing costs in our region. Re-imagining Affordable Eco Housing in the Geelong Region is being held on March 5 at the Geelong Library and will provide information on how a collective model uses joint funds to enter the housing market and make it more accessible to many.

16.01.2022 Human impact on the environment results not just from population size, and not just from the per capita rate of consumption, but from both together. In Think Resilience we explore how adoption of tools, language, agriculture, and most especially fossil fuels allowed humans to temporarily overcome the carrying capacity of the planet to support our growing population and consumption, and why those trends can no longer continue. Surf Coast Community this is your invitation to subscribe to Think Resilience 2021. A unique program delivered free directly to your mobile phone via sms. Short videos, extraordinary content. For more info visit www.sceg.org.au/TR

16.01.2022 The Australian government estimates that food waste costs the domestic economy around $20 million a year. OzHarvest figures detail that four million tonnes of edible food is discarded in Australia every year. Meanwhile, two million Australians suffer from food insecurity. Check this film out!

15.01.2022 2040 the film- Torquay screening Thursday, 18 July 2019 | 06:00 PM to 08:30 PM Surf Coast Shire Council is proud to present a special Torquay screening of 2040, the new feature film from award-winning director Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film).... Damon Gameau will be joining us for a Q&A session after the film screening. He will be joined by special guests, Alex Marshall and Alison Marchant (Surf Coast community members) and Tracey Slatter (Managing Director, Barwon Water). About the film 2040 In the film, Damon embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them rapidly into the mainstream. Tickets available through the Shire Half of the ticket price will be donated to a project that establishes Australias first seaweed platform one of the key solutions to climate change featured in 2040 off Tasmanias eastern coast. Read more about the project here: https://www.theintrepidfoundation.org/seaweed-regeneration Location Boardriders Auditorium Torquay (at the former Quiksilver Head Office).

15.01.2022 Less than 20 days to the election from Cup day. Lets make our voice heard.

15.01.2022 Very excited to share my first podcast as host for Climactic! Looking forward to hearing more local stories over a cup of Roobois tea.

14.01.2022 The next repair cafe date for your diary!

13.01.2022 Thank you Larissa Waters and the Greens for not giving up.

12.01.2022 Get out of the cold and enjoy a thoughtful and entertaining evening at Boardriders Bar 61 with our friends Jan Juc Coast Action for our annual meetings. Were also launching a new series of forums in the Surf Coast - SUSTAINABILITY INDICATOR FORUM No. 1. The over extraction of water from the Barwon River...and now the consequences.... More details to follow.

12.01.2022 The Community of Leaders is a program funded through GORCC Coast Grant Program and focuses on building relationships with local places by going Out and About. Out and About is a project that focuses on spending time with the environment to build relationships that influence how we act and take care of the land, waterways, vegetation, animals, and insects. See www.goingoutandabout.net for more information.

12.01.2022 Repair your items and keep them out of landfill this weekend!

12.01.2022 Wonderful opportunity next week on a range of home product refills.

10.01.2022 Why are we stripping our life support systems? In a world of increasingly complex issues, survival cannot be left to political opinion it has to be guided by our best scientific and technological minds, writes David Shearman. Read the full story http://www.abc.net.au//climate-change-insects-lif/10230188

10.01.2022 Solar solutions for renters The Surf Coast Energy Group is exploring opportunities for a solar garden in the Surf Coast Shire. A solar garden is a large solar PV system in which individual panels are owned by electricity consumers. The electricity generated by the solar panels is credited to the owners household electricity bill, even though the panels are located elsewhere. While any electricity customer can participate in a solar garden, they enable people in rental acc...ommodation to enjoy the benefits of owning solar PV. In terms of scale, a 2 MW solar garden on approximately ten acres of land could enable 500 rental households to own their own 4 kW solar system. A recent study of six proposed solar gardens in Australia, however, concluded that these projects are not financially viable without a significant capital grant. This is largely because these projects cannot access the federal and state government subsidies and rebates that are available to owner occupied households who install rooftop solar. Similar financial support for renters buying into solar gardens is required to put them on equal financial terms with homeowners. Without this support, renters buying panels in a solar garden will have to pay nearly three times as much for solar than homeowners installing rooftop systems. Until the financial incentives for homeowners are extended to renters who invest in solar gardens, renters who want to install rooftop solar must strike an agreement with their landlords. To assist, Solar Victoria will administer a new program to help landlords and tenants share the costs of installation. Under the program, the Victorian Government will cover 50% of the costs while the landlord and tenant will cover 25% each. To contribute their share, tenants will pay a small monthly levy over four years. The program will enable tenants to enjoy the benefits of solar PV at half the cost of owner occupiers (thanks to landlord contributions) but tenants will only receive the benefits for as long as they rent the property. To determine whether or not this investment is worthwhile, renters will have to calculate their annual electricity bill savings, see how long it will take them to recover their investment and consider how long they intend to remain in the property. Solar gardens offer an alternative solution. When renters move to another property, they continue to own their own solar panels and receive credits on their new electricity bill. To make solar gardens viable, SCEG calls on state and federal governments to extend the solar subsidies and rebates that are paid to homeowners to renters who invest in solar gardens. https://www.uts.edu.au//our-res/energy-and-climate/social-

09.01.2022 Do you want to connect with Surf Coast locals to explore how to make our community sustainable, resilient and equitable? Hi all, Im writing this invitation as a committee member of the Surf Coast Energy Group (SCEG). An online FREE course (https://education.resilience.org/prod/self-directed-course/ ) with 20 short videos (between 12 and 18 minutes long) explains not only the complex disruption issues confronting us and their history, but provides important understandings fo...r all of us about appropriate responses and why those responses are best tackled at a community level. The course originates from the Post Carbon Institute in the United States but has been deliberately designed for international use. So, if you really want to be an agent of positive change then the community where you live is arguably the most important place to invest your energy. This course will give you the skills to show you how. SCEG is keen to gather a network of passionate locals, support them in completing the Think Resilience online course, and together explore how we can make positive change, not just for people but for nature, to create a more sustainable, resilient and equitable Surf Coast. Well do this by hosting regular online catch ups as you work through the course in May and June (think of it a bit like a book club), followed by some facilitated sessions at the end to work through ideas for local solutions. What you need to do: 1. Sign up to do the course. (https://education.resilience.org/prod/self-directed-course/ ) Feel free to do it as an individual but well do much better if we work collectively. 2. When youve signed up send me an email to let me know. I will put you on a register so that all participants can then catch up as an online group in the first session; then informally throughout the course as we please; and then again at the end when we can collectively discuss community responses. The first session will be guided by our professional facilitator, Nicole Hunter through the online platform ZOOM on Wednesday May 20, 6pm-7pm. (Note: We will arrange all that for you.) The last two sessions will also be facilitated by Nicole. The dates for those are Wednesday July 15 and Wednesday July 22nd from 6-8pm If you have any questions about this drop me a line. 3. For registration details click on either link shown above or on the link below. Regards Graeme Stockton M: 0425 752 648 E: [email protected] ________________________________________ TAKE THE COURSE FOR FREE

09.01.2022 Mondays announcement

08.01.2022 In nature, waste from one organism is food for another. However, that principle sometimes breaks down and waste becomes poison. Humans aren’t the only possible sources of environmental pollution. But these days the vast majority of pollution does come from human activities. That’s because we humans are able to use energy and tools to extract, transform, use, and discard natural resources, producing wastes of many kinds and in ever-larger quantities. Surf Coast Community this is your invitation to subscribe to Think Resilience 2021. A unique program delivered free directly to your mobile phone via sms. Short videos, extraordinary content. For more info visit www.sceg.org.au/TR

08.01.2022 Depletion is an inescapable fact of life: As soon as you’ve taken one sip of your coffee, or one bite of ice cream, you’ve begun to deplete that resource. Economists will tell you, No problem. You can just run to the store and buy more, or find something else just as good as a substitute. But does that work on a finite planet, and are all resources so easily substitutable? Surf Coast Community this is your invitation to subscribe to Think Resilience 2021. A unique program delivered free directly to your mobile phone via sms. Short videos, extraordinary content. For more info visit www.sceg.org.au/TR

07.01.2022 Get involved next week. RSVP for Mondays forums with the links below:

06.01.2022 Victorias Renewable Energy Action Plan supports community energy projects - but it finishes at the end of 2019. Were calling on the Andrews Government to deliver a plan that will secure Victorias place as the national community energy leader. To help our sector thrive, sign the petition to show your support for community-driven clean energy.... https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/vic_lead_on_community_energy See more

05.01.2022 Energy is key to everythingit’s an essential driver of the natural world and of the human world, and it will also be pivotal to the societal transformations we’ll be experiencing in the 21st century and beyond. Surf Coast Community this is your invitation to subscribe to Think Resilience 2021. A unique program delivered directly to your mobile phone via sms. Short videos, extraordinary content. For more info visit www.sceg.org.au/TR

05.01.2022 Kathleen McInnes leads the Climate Extremes and Projections Group in the Climate Science Centre at CSIRO Ocean and Atmosphere. Her research addresses how climate change will affect severe weather events and coastal extreme sea levels particularly in Australia and the South Pacific. She has developed climate projections to assist local government manage coastal hazards and adapt to climate change. She was part of a CSIRO team that developed a wave energy atlas for the Australi...an Wave Renewable Energy Industry. She has published over 60 refereed publications and over 80 other reports and articles. Her contributions to this work were awarded Eureka awards in 2003 and 2009 and she is a Fellow of the Australian Meteorology and Oceanography Society. She has co-authored several IPCC assessment reports including an upcoming IPCC Special Report on Ocean and Cryosphere. See more

05.01.2022 The Shire recently launched Powered by Positive to help empower Surf Coast residents and small businesses to take action, use less energy and consider taking up renewable energy. Listen to SCEG member talk about her experience with getting solar installed on her home.

04.01.2022 SCEG is proud to support this great placed-based initiative in the Surf Coast. The day is an extension of the Out and About research project, a collaboration between St Therese Catholic Primary School (Torquay), Clare Court Childrens Service (Yarraville), and Victoria University. In response to the devastating state of the environment and the lack of relationship between people and the planet, the Out and About project supports children, educators, families, and the community to build deep relationships with environment, plants, and animals. These relationships are the way to re-think our actions and how to engage as custodians of the land and places where we live.

03.01.2022 http://chng.it/XSTWLSqMGW In terms of energy invested, the most important leverage point for positive change is at a local level. If you live in the Surf Coast decisive action on climate is greatly advanced if the Shire declares a Climate Emergency. Help them help us by giving them a community mandate. Sign and share the petition. Image below is Whites Beach. Global sea level rise is currently averaging 3.4mm annually. Up from around 1mm in the 1990s.

03.01.2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXJ3vmOWATk&feature=youtu.be Saving nature is as much about mathematics as anything. This video about E.O. Wilson and his pioneering work on nature conservation inspires big picture thinking on what we could do on the Surf Coast if we have resolve. Think about Spring Creek and its connection to nature. Alternatively, imagine Torquays permanent town boundary fringed by Grassy Woodland. Here at SCEG were thinking about how to do just that. Well be in touch...

02.01.2022 Anyone have time this Saturday? See event details and contact organiser.

02.01.2022 A critical point in time for the Surf Coast. Please get involved.