Page 460 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 June 1989
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arrangements can best meet our need for energy efficiency and for non-polluting heat.
Many people, as I have said, are becoming increasingly concerned with the impact of wood burning appliances because of that obvious pollution effect, but we must acknowledge that that form of heating amounts to only a very small proportion of the energy consumed in the ACT. So I think it is very important that we do as Mr Moore has indicated, take a broad ranging view of energy use in the ACT and not perhaps concentrate unduly on what is a relatively small proportion of the total energy use, namely wood burning stoves.
The other aspect of wood burning stoves is that they are a drain on forest reserves in the region. There has been an effort made to combat that by evolving some wood plantations in the ACT. That program was first commenced in 1985, and I hope that we can see it develop because it is one of the ways in which we can redress the balance between consumption and production of wood as an energy source in the ACT.
The use of solar power in the ACT has not been extensive, as I think everybody has noted. Mrs Grassby has given us the benefit of her personal experiences with solar heating, and it appears there may still need to be some work done on the efficiency of that form of heating. But both passive and active solar energy can be used to decrease the amount of energy used in ACT homes.
As I think Mr Moore and other speakers have pointed out, the passive solar design used in the ACT, which has been provided for in the planning guidelines, is one way in which we can ensure that homes need less heat. If by their design, by the use of that passive solar energy, they are able to use less heat, that is an extremely efficient way of reducing our reliance on imported energy sources.
Another aspect of the forest resources in the ACT is the fact that there are, I believe, about 14 rare or threatened species of flora in the ACT. And the more we use forest resources, the more we use exotic plantations like pinus radiata, the greater the threat to the endangered species must be. I welcome this motion from Mr Moore. It is very much in line with the Labor Party's policy on environment, it is very much in line with the comprehensive motion carried at our ACT conference over the weekend, but I do hope that in looking at the issues that have been put before the Standing Committee on Conservation, Heritage and Environment, its members will indeed take a broad view and not just concentrate on one aspect of energy.
I would make just two further quick points along the same lines. I think that the committee might be well advised to look at alternative sources of power supply. I have been advised that the ACT tips are of a size which could be managed to collect methane gas for power generation, and I
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