AGL Loy Yang A

AGL Loy Yang A

Innovation research in New Energy for the LaTrobe Valley

DesignThinkers Group Australia 2017 Prepared by Mark Watson Managing Partner

DesignThinkers Group Australia Design Thinking is the glue between all disciplines.

DesignThinkers Group is one of the leading ‘design driven’ Innovation Agencies facilitating organizations around the world making the transition from being strictly product orientated and sales driven, towards being service orientated and humancentred. We are a Global Agency, represented in 18 countries and train, develop and facilitate creative multidisciplinary teams and communities to drive positive change.

Design Thinking is a mindset to develop and deliver innovative ideas, change and solutions to complicated problems. It is an activity-based process with a strong emphasis on teamwork and co-creation. Our mission is to provide space and time for teams and individuals to be inspired and challenged, to ‘learn-by-doing’ and strengthen their ability for creative problem solving and help organizations build the necessary environment and mind-set.

Coal Fossil fuel as a source of energy is not finding friends in the new millennium. A faithful and bountiful servant to the Victorian people for well over half a century.

“The way the world gets its energy is changing with astonishing speed. As renewable energy becomes cheaper to generate, it is experiencing an explosion in demand. At the same time, demand for the dirtiest source of power ­ coal ­ is dropping off a cliff.”

(WEF 2017)i As the cost of energy production escalates and coal attempts to clean up its act, the landscape is shifting and the generation industry struggles to balance shareholder interests with customer shock.

New energy There is lots of talk on new energy sources, the list grows daily with Victoria’s abundance in Wind and intermittent Solar, augmented by new technologies in batteries and storage disruption the tradition of the ‘poles and wires’ marketplace.

An over view of the worlds energy supply is presented through an innovative infographicii From wave energy to bio fuel, from renewables to clean energy the research technologists are lining up for launch into serious R & D. Research & Innovation The energy sector has had a long-standing connection to Science through research with engineering playing a major support role in the important task of providing the essential element of power to service the needs of the Victorian community.

Innovation within this sector has not been matched by depth of knowledge investment within science and engineering. Identified as ‘executives of the “old economy’” (HBR 2017)iii there is a need for new collaborations and engagement with new thinking.

There is a new multi-disciplinary approach to research being embraced world-wide in an attempt to attain growth. The traditional research methods proving impotent to the unravelling the wicked problems in contemporary fields.

Design and Design Thinking are areas emerging in discourse in the Boardrooms across the world with industry and government alike embracing the more holistic approach that borrows from Science and Social Science to deliver solutions that are disruptive and abductive in their reasoning.

Victorian Government With the closure of Hazelwood the Victorian Government has launched into action in the quest for new ideas and approaches to ease the concerns of the residents and industry workers in the Latrobe Valley.

It is assumed that this new push would open up discussion on innovative solutions to the supply of energy to the Victorian and Australian communities.

The New Energy Unit within the Victorian Government the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Group, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is well positioned to facilitate engagement and interaction in bringing about these important changes.

LaTrobe Valley There is a need to think differently in attempting to carry the community forward into the twentyfirst century while supporting the needs of the generations to follow in providing the essential services in a way that does not threaten their existence.

Leadership There is a need for leadership in undertaking the task of reimagining a future for those generations and a responsibility for energy corporates to engage in community aspirations and GeoThermal example In closing we think it is appropriate to expand on initial conversations in new energy in this instance the potential of geothermal energy, while not renewable, within the new economic environment of pwer generation it is emerging as a viable although elusive target within the Latrobe valley and across Victoria. The following maps iv are a tantalising window into potential resources that bear reflection as strong candidates for serious R & D and innovation in service delivery.

Illustration 2: Contour Heat map Depth to 150 degrees C (not to scale) Illustration 1: Heatflow map Victoria. Source GeoVic Vic Govt DEDJTR

Illustration 2: Depth to 150 degrees Celsius. Source GeoVic Vic Govt DEDJTR Endnote

i WEF 2017 htps://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/06/world-coal-production-just-had-its-biggest-drop-on-record/ ii Desjardins 2017 http://www.visualcapitalist.com/energy-sources-power-world/

iii HBR 2017 https://hbr.org/2017/07/innovation-is-as-much-about-finding-partners-as-building-products? iv Victorian Government 2017 http://earthresources.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0006/1196133/GeothermalHeat-Flow.jpg