Deakin Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Martin was joined by Dr Alan Finkel AO, Special Adviser to the Federal Government on Low Emissions Technology, to turn the key on the industrial-scale Microgrid, the largest solar farm ever built on an Australian university campus. Professor Martin delivered an impassioned address, using American President John F Kennedy s Rice University speech in 1962 as an inspiration, likening NASA s Apollo program to the scale of ambition required to achieve global carbon neutrality. For further information see the IDTechEx report on Energy Harvesting Microwatt to Gigawatt: Opportunities 2020-2040.
Australia is in a strong position to benefit from moving rapidly in this endeavour, and at Deakin, we believe we have a duty to use our capabilities and assets to demonstrate both ambition and leadership on the issue of renewables, Professor Martin said.