COMMENT
Every regional centre in Australia is constantly looking for opportunities to stimulate and build their economy.
It is essential work because the genuine political focus of state and federal governments remains where the population is biggest - in cities.
Regional communities have necessarily learned to solve their own problems, and success is often driven from within.
This independent local thinking is the key to arresting the relentless centralisation of the economy and, subsequently, the population.
One of the pillars of independence and resilience lies in diversification.
It is vital there are industries that are not exposed to the same risks.
For example, many farming communities suffer an ubiquitous downturn during periods of drought because all their industries ultimately rely on the performance of the agricultural sector.
Even tourism is adversely affected when the landscape is unpleasant to look at.
For many regional communities, this means we need to embrace new ideas and technology to provide social and economic resilience.
It might surprise you to learn that one of the sectors that offers a genuine opportunity for regional resilience is renewable energy.
For this to occur, we need to change the way we think about renewable energy opportunities.
For too long, people have been duped into thinking the only opportunities in renewables are roof-top solar, or wholesale electricity supply into the national grid.
The national grid is a legacy of centralised coal-fired generation paradigms.
We need to shake-off those paradigms and develop a better understanding of the potential.
While we have a national grid there is certainly an opportunity, and a need, to supply wholesale electricity to it.
But renewable energy generation offers a much more flexible range of solutions to the energy needs of an emerging "green" economy.
Make no mistake here, the economy is evolving in favour of renewable technologies.
The greatest opportunity for regional Australia lies in a decentralised electricity generation model that can supply wholesale electricity locally.
Put simply, renewable technologies can provide local electricity cheaper and more reliably than can the national grid.
As a result, every regional centre in Australia has an emerging opportunity to supply local industry with electricity - while improving service and supply to attract and/or retain enterprises that may otherwise look to bigger centres.
Regional Australia should also be looking at renewable energy as an opportunity for vertical integration and value-adding to energy locally, rather than limiting its potential to a flailing wholesale supply sector.
If we consider renewable energy infrastructure as a foundation investment, then new opportunities emerge for secondary industry and infrastructure investment and development.
One key transformational opportunity in renewables is already hiding in plain sight.
Recently, there have been several high profile articles about hydrogen energy projects in Australia.
Hydrogen will likely be a key component in the re-imagining of the potential of renewable static power generation in our economy.
It will precipitate unimagined opportunities for regional Australia, in terms of fuel security, energy affordability and energy exports.
Regional Australia has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to seize and lead an economic recovery for the nation that will simultaneously underpin renewed prosperity in regional centres.
This will be based on a decentralised power generation system that uses much of that electricity where it is produced.
- Peter Mailler is a third generation grain and cattle farmer on the NSW/Queensland border.
