Energy down under

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE NEXT big thing in renewable energy is right beneath our feet, according to a Dandenong geothermal company.
Dr Donald Payne and his colleagues from EnergyCore Australia in Dandenong South are this week celebrating the company’s win in the RMIT University 2008 Business Plan Competition.
The company installs geothermal heat pipes which they say can provide renewable energy for cooling, heating and hot water tanks all year round and slash up to 50 per cent of home or business energy use.
Dr Payne said the earth was an all-year-round renewable energy source that government policy makers had overlooked when setting emission reduction targets.
“The science is relatively simple,” he said.
“Basically, when it’s hot up top, it’s cold beneath the ground.
“And when it’s cold and frosty above, it’s relatively warm underground.”
Dr Payne said the technology cost as much as $20,000 to be installed, with the bulk of the cost attributed to drilling as deep as 30 metres to send a geothermal heat pipe down to an acceptable temperature level.
He said it would require government help before the technology became a standard household fitting.
“To get it to the masses, we’d be looking at wanting something like a rebate scheme,” Dr Payne said.
“But right now there are applications where (the costs are) paid back within three years of savings.
“A good example is commercial swimming pools, or anywhere where there is a 24/7 use of energy.”
Dr Payne is a member of the Australian Geothermal Energy Association where he is passionate about lobbying governments to support the renewable energy source.
“I’ve been helping to drive geothermal energy at a policy level,” Dr Payne said.
“We’ve spoken to Mark Ferguson, the Federal Energy Minister, and Peter Batchelor, the state minister. “They’ve been pretty good about it once they can see the very simple numbers stacked up alongside other renewables.”
To find out more visit www.agea. org.au.