'Solar City' going green
Published Tuesday, 27 May, 2008 at 05:03 PM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
A company that has been helping commercial businesses around Queensland become eco-efficient has set up an office in Townsville, Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister Desley Boyle said today.
Tropical Energy Solutions is behind a series of ‘Going Green’ workshops for commercial businesses to highlight the advantages of using environmentally-friendly business practices in energy, water and waste.
“For a town already recognised by the Federal Government as Queensland’s ‘solar city’, choosing to set up shop here is no surprise,” Ms Boyle said.
“The workshops will target up to 800 companies in the engineering, tourism, retail and agribusiness sectors and will help their profitability and sustainability for years to come.”
Ms Boyle said the new office space on The Strand would give Tropical Energy Solutions the room it needs to expand and would allow them to operate in a true tropical climate.
“This company is a perfect example of the vision we had for the region via our Centres of Enterprise initiative which focuses on Tropical Science and Expertise,” she said.
“Our other Centres of Enterprise initiative for the area is Mining and Mineral Processing and this company, through its workshops and other services, can greatly assist that sector in improving the use of its resources.”
Ms Boyle added that the company would also benefit from Townsville’s inclusion in the Federal Government’s Solar Cities project.
“The Townsville: Queensland Solar City project, in which the Queensland Government is a consortium member, is extremely exciting,” Ms Boyle said.
“Its aim is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions through initiatives like the installation of solar energy systems on a large number of homes on Magnetic Island to meet additional energy demand and reduce pressure on the electricity grid.”
Mr Frank Dallmeyer, founder and director of Tropical Energy Solutions, said he has found a strong desire in the region to learn about practical ways to conserve energy.
“We realised that our role was not only to develop our own business but also to assist others in the adoption of renewable energy systems,” Mr Dallmeyer said.
"Our initial market was the remote off-grid power systems on the Great Barrier Reef Islands. The need to replace the expensive and emission-intensive power generation from diesel generators with photovoltaic systems gave us many opportunities to design systems that meet the specific requirements in tropical environments.
“But we also developed the tools and experience to optimise the electricity loads in these installations and that opened up new fields of work for us.
“Our accreditation as Ecobiz facilitators will ensure our ongoing participation in the market segment of energy auditing and training but at the same time we are now looking at increasingly larger engineering projects for off-grid power systems.
“For the coming years we predict a shortage of staff rather than a shortage of projects for us. Townsville's many links to various Pacific Island nations and our expertise in engineering for tropical conditions gives us a good starting point for overseas sales activities, too."
27 May 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Marcus Taylor (3225 1005 / 0419 025 326) or Kirstie Maier (3224 2007 / 0448 135 195)
Tropical Energy Solutions: Frank Dallmeyer, 4772 7394 or 0420 68 54 69
http://www.tropicalenergysolutions.com.au
Tropical Energy Solutions is behind a series of ‘Going Green’ workshops for commercial businesses to highlight the advantages of using environmentally-friendly business practices in energy, water and waste.
“For a town already recognised by the Federal Government as Queensland’s ‘solar city’, choosing to set up shop here is no surprise,” Ms Boyle said.
“The workshops will target up to 800 companies in the engineering, tourism, retail and agribusiness sectors and will help their profitability and sustainability for years to come.”
Ms Boyle said the new office space on The Strand would give Tropical Energy Solutions the room it needs to expand and would allow them to operate in a true tropical climate.
“This company is a perfect example of the vision we had for the region via our Centres of Enterprise initiative which focuses on Tropical Science and Expertise,” she said.
“Our other Centres of Enterprise initiative for the area is Mining and Mineral Processing and this company, through its workshops and other services, can greatly assist that sector in improving the use of its resources.”
Ms Boyle added that the company would also benefit from Townsville’s inclusion in the Federal Government’s Solar Cities project.
“The Townsville: Queensland Solar City project, in which the Queensland Government is a consortium member, is extremely exciting,” Ms Boyle said.
“Its aim is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions through initiatives like the installation of solar energy systems on a large number of homes on Magnetic Island to meet additional energy demand and reduce pressure on the electricity grid.”
Mr Frank Dallmeyer, founder and director of Tropical Energy Solutions, said he has found a strong desire in the region to learn about practical ways to conserve energy.
“We realised that our role was not only to develop our own business but also to assist others in the adoption of renewable energy systems,” Mr Dallmeyer said.
"Our initial market was the remote off-grid power systems on the Great Barrier Reef Islands. The need to replace the expensive and emission-intensive power generation from diesel generators with photovoltaic systems gave us many opportunities to design systems that meet the specific requirements in tropical environments.
“But we also developed the tools and experience to optimise the electricity loads in these installations and that opened up new fields of work for us.
“Our accreditation as Ecobiz facilitators will ensure our ongoing participation in the market segment of energy auditing and training but at the same time we are now looking at increasingly larger engineering projects for off-grid power systems.
“For the coming years we predict a shortage of staff rather than a shortage of projects for us. Townsville's many links to various Pacific Island nations and our expertise in engineering for tropical conditions gives us a good starting point for overseas sales activities, too."
27 May 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Marcus Taylor (3225 1005 / 0419 025 326) or Kirstie Maier (3224 2007 / 0448 135 195)
Tropical Energy Solutions: Frank Dallmeyer, 4772 7394 or 0420 68 54 69
http://www.tropicalenergysolutions.com.au