Uni backs bid for CQ 'Cleantech' zone as legacy of mining boom
Published on 04 June, 2010
CQUniversity is helping to coordinate a bid by regional stakeholders for Central Queensland to become a pilot zone for the State Government's 'Cleantech' vision*.
University researcher Dr Susan Kinnear laid out the region's credentials for the role during this week's visit to Rockhampton by Michael Choi, the Parliamentary Secretary for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Trade.
LINK HERE for Uni champions CQ as the place to power energy technologies
Presenting a substantial document, Dr Kinnear said the mining boom could provide a window of stimulus to set up Cleantech as a legacy industry.
Cleantech is a diverse range of proven technologies, products, services and processes
that measure, reduce, eliminate or remediate negative environmental impact
and/or improve the productive and responsible use of natural resources while returning a profit to the provider.
She said the CQ region was ideally placed to lead the way as it already had a diverse mix of industries and industrial infrastructure, including ports, as well as power systems and energy sources.
"With Cleantech, commercial viability should be an absolute driver. There's a huge demand for Cleantech in our region as we have strong mining, engineering and manufacturing who need to operate more sustainably, as well as smaller firms who need Cleantech to keep competitive with the big boys," she said.
"We should be growing up the CQ region to alleviate growth pressures in SEQ and Cleantech would ensure a 'clean and green' Fitzroy Catchment, helping to protect the nearby Great Barrier Reef," she said.
"We can benefit more from Cleantech because our transport systems already face a tyranny of distance, operating in the middle of such a large State. We already have trade skill sets that could be developed for Cleantech industries.
"We can aim for industry cross-fertilisation, building a critical mass of expertise and attracting people to the region to alleviate the skills shortage. The region can be marketed with Cleantech as a leading attribute to attract further industry.
"We already have supportive local government and an 'alphabet soup' of strong existing interest and initiatives in Cleantech."
Dr Kinnear said a Cleantech web portal would enable specialist collaborations, supply chains and even sharing of wastes as inputs for other industries.
She said CQUniversity would be keen to develop postgraduate programs in Cleantech, providing accreditations to weed out rogue operators offering sustainability or carbon counting audits. Small and medium firms would find sponsorship of research higher degree students a cost-effective way to produce intellectual capacity.
* The Queensland Government's Cleantech issues paper was released in April this year.