QUEENSLAND PARTY CALLS FOR CAIRNS TO BE TRIAL ZONE FOR SOLAR LIGHTS

The Queensland Party Candidate for Cairns D.J.HUNT has called for Cairns to be used as a trial zone for renewable energy sources to power its street lights and return power to the electricity grid.

Mr Hunt said "Recent studies have shown that Queensland is better placed than anywhere else in the world to harness commercially viable solar power generation. We now have the technology developed in Australia to put solar collectors on top of power and light poles.”

Mr Hunt’s statements came after details were released of the report compiled in association with former US president Bill Clinton’s Climate foundation that found Queensland was perfectly positioned to harness solar power options.

“Imagine if we put a solar collector on every light pole in Cairns. All the lights could be powered from the energy collected. Just to reduce the power used for our street lights alone would save the government $millions in energy costs that could be applied to other areas such as health. It would reduce green house gas emissions and reduce the need for fossil fuel driven power stations.” Mr Hunt said.

Mr Hunt stated “The excess power collected from these cells could then be returned to the electricity grid. By placing the cells on light/power poles the infrastructure costs are minimal because the transmission lines, poles etc are already in place. You just slide it over an existing light or pole structure.”

“The Queensland Party is committed to sensible environmental policies and there are basic steps such as these that the government could take for the long term benefits of all Queenslanders.” Mr Hunt said.