The report, A Just Transition to a Renewable Energy Economy in the Hunter Region, was commissioned by environmentalist lobby group Greenpeace and put together by the University of Newcastle’s Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE).
The report found there would be environmental and economical benefits for the region if a renewable energy hub was created.
According to the report, if the Hunter region switched to clean energy it could become Australia’s Silicon Valley of renewable technology and lead to 14,300 new jobs which would replace the estimated 1300 direct jobs and 2300 indirect jobs lost through the phasing out of coal-fired electricity in the Hunter/Wyong region.
But the move needed to be embraced by the Federal Government, said report author and CofFEE director Bill Mitchell.
“The number of potential quality, high skilled employment opportunities that we have identified could transform the Hunter region into an innovative renewable energy hub,” Mitchell said.
“While the phasing out of coal-fired electricity generation will be hard in the short to medium term the opportunities that are available in renewable energy will underpin a prosperous future for the Hunter.
“It is essential that state and federal governments implement new policies to smooth the transformation of the Hunter labour market from coal-fired power to renewable energy.”
The new jobs would be in research, design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance and the export of the renewable energy technologies.
Six of NSW’s eight coal-fired power stations are located in the Hunter region.
Greenpeace spokesman Stephen Campbell urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to start phasing out coal-fired power and support coal communities through the transition.
Last week Greenpeace gatecrashed the 2008 McCloskey Coal USA conference in New York, under the banner of a fake energy company, Reuters reported.
Greenpeace paid $US8500 to be a co-sponsor of the coal conference where the group handed out anti-coal paraphernalia and briefly addressed the conference.
Gerard McCloskey, the conference’s namesake and consultancy chairman, told Reuters the conference delegates were receptive to Greenpeace.
“Maybe the coal industry’s excessively polite,” McCloskey said.
