50,000 People Campaign – Help find others who want climate action too!
50,000 people x $100 = $5 million
Lots of people want climate action, and tangible climate results: Over 50,000 people nation-wide turn up to climate action rallies. 100,821 people signed GetUp’s Australians for Climate Action petition. Environment Victoria has 64,000 supporters, and that’s just in one state! The Climate Council has a reach of 2.5 million people. How many of these people are part of your circle of family and friends? Help us reach 50,000 people who want climate action so that they too can contribute to tangible climate results. What you can do
1. Be one of the 50,000 yourself and chip in to the Big Win solar thermal project.
2. Think of everyone you know who wants to see tangible climate results. Invite them to join you in being part of building citizen-owned renewable energy in Australia.
The ask is for either $100 or small recurring contributions, whichever suits best, and so far most people are doing one or the other. Do both if you want! However, any amount is very welcome of course.
What $5 million will do
The $5 million might help part-fund a commercial solar thermal plant with storage, or it might pay for Stage 1 of a citizen-owned solar thermal plant with storage. An overview of options is here. The amount of funds raised will determine what we can ultimately build, but rest assured all funds will be put to very good use even if it ends up being a smaller solar project. The funding model. See here for things you can do to help us reach 50,000 people. Helping reach 50,000 people…
Australia’s First Citizen-Owned Solar Thermal Plant: November 17, 2014
Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia Inc. (CORENA) is looking for 50,000 people to help fund what will be Stage 1 of Australia’s first citizen-owned solar thermal power plant, which will also feature molten salt energy storage. The campaign asks for either $100 or small recurring contributions. Stage 1 involves initial planning, approvals, site acquisition, and construction of auxiliary power generation facilities to provide on-site electricity during subsequent construction stages. CORENA says the location could be a site identified in the Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan; but a decision on the final location of the site will remain open for the time being. It’s an ambitious target – however, if the $5 million goal for stage 1 isn’t reached, the funding will be used to build a less expensive utility-scale solar plant or to purchase part-ownership of a commercial project. Should the campaign be successful, funding for stage 2 could begin. This stage would see construction begin with (for example), a central power block, molten salt storage tanks, and a 10MW power generation module.
This completed, the facility could commence operations as a peaking plant and sell electricity when prices are highest. The revenue would supplement voluntary contributions towards funding the second 10MW module. Resulting revenue from the first two modules would help fund the third, and so on. ” The fifth module might be almost entirely funded by revenue from the earlier modules. When all modules are completed, all profit from electricity sales, after operation and maintenance costs, would go straight towards building another citizen-owned renewable energy project,” says CORENA. Previous successful initiatives from CORENA include CORENA two rooftop solar PV systems installed for Tulgeen; a cheese packaging facility employing people with disabilities in Bega, New South Wales. More recently, $15,000 was raised for the Gawler Community House project; a joint initiative of the Transition Gawler group and CORENA. Donations for the Solar Thermal Big Win Project can be made here and further details viewed here.