Now established as public company limited by guarantee, CLEAN Cowra Ltd. was originally formed as Cowra Low Emissions Action Network (C.L.E.A.N.), a local community group in 2007. Since registering as an incorporated association in 2012, C.L.E.A.N. Cowra has advocated for a joint vision and strategic framework for the development of a model of a biomass-to-energy project.
This project is based around community involvement, decentralised energy, and aggregated biomass resources in supporting local agribusiness and industry collaboration. By emphasising those three aspects, this model could be replicated in other regional communities and become integral in stimulating regional economic development. CLEAN Cowra members possess diverse experience in agricultural extension services, industry and engineering, government agencies and professional practice.
This project is about empowering regional agricultural communities to generate their own energy from organic waste material. This is about developing a model that is scalable, and able to be replicated within regional communities. The problem arising is two fold: Regional agricultural communities , the food bowl of Australia , are under pressure to adapt. On one hand high input costs for food production. On the other requirements and expenses for waste management. The proposed solution explores the use of technology to convert this waste to multiple products of higher value. This project is unique for three reasons. Firstly, by combining several biomass waste materials to improve the amount of energy produced. Secondly, by distributing that energy through a localised network. And thirdly, creating a Community enterprise to reflect the potential for community investment.