The virtues of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast have been showcased in what’s claimed to be the world’s first solar powered ad.
Visit Sunshine Coast (VSC) is the Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) for a large area incorporating Glass House Mountains in the south, to Rainbow Beach in the north, and the Hinterland and Mary Valley to the west. VSC is charged with the task of getting the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Gympie council regions in front of folks and encouraging them to visit.
It’s big business, with tourism contributing close to $3 billion in Regional Gross Product to the Sunshine Coast economy and supporting an estimated 26,000 jobs.
VSC’s latest promotional effort is the “Sunshine Moments” campaign:
And there you have it. The ad was filmed in nine locations across the region, but what it doesn’t show is what went into making it. The sunshine was put to good use not just for visuals but also powering the making of the ad.
A mobile solar setup hitched to a production vehicle powered all the equipment on set – cameras, laptops, lights, drones, battery chargers and even hair dryers.
The VSC news item doesn’t go into much detail on the mobile solar power rig, and the company providing it, Total Generators, has little information on their web site. But here’s a better look:
VSC mentions it being a “5kw solar generator”. With only 8 panels on the trailer, they would need to be 625 watts each. Such panels exist these days, but are huge and usually used on solar farms – and these don’t look to be that type.
It appears the drones also had their own solar panels, unless that’s just a prop or some other device attached.
Offsetting Removing Other Emissions
As for other emissions created as a result of scooting around the region and accommodation and waste associated with production, VSC worked with EarthCheck to figure these out and then engaged Reforest to “remove these emissions”.
“Remove” is an interesting choice of word as usually with these sorts of arrangements the term “offset” is used. But Reforest says while what it offers is similar to an offset, it’s a “much more tangible and powerful way to drive real change.”
Reforest connects businesses with local reforestation projects where they can buy trees to restore local ecosystems. The cash provided pays for the preparation, planting, care and legal protection of the trees under conservation covenant for at least 100 years.
“With Reforest you pay for new trees to be planted in a local project of your choice; trees that you can see and track over time, and which will help to restore native forests and biodiversity,” says the organisation. “Your trees are planted in certified reforestation projects, so they are carefully managed and audited to ensure they are removing CO2.”
Anyway, the ad was an interesting project – but it’s a shame the solar power aspect didn’t get a look in for the final cut as that could have been a nice hook.
More on the making of Sunshine Moments:
And on a related note, if you live in the region and want to take advantage of its solar energy resources, there are some great solar installers servicing the Sunshine Coast.
About Michael Bloch
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Every little bit helps.
Hapless household energy consumers in the UK are currently anticipating their overall retail electricity costs (including standing charges) to reach 500 British Pounds per month, from 1st October 2022. That’s after ‘capping’ and represents an approx 65% increase in their bills.
Your guess is as good as mine as to how accurate that number is. To some limited extent the increase is due to wider international influences which may or may not prove to be ‘temporary’.
It is also unclear as to how the current UK “Tory” Party political leadership will respond to this ‘energy crisis’, as no-one currently seems to have any idea at all as to who those people are.
This CNN article from late August 2022 gives some background to the overall UK price increases anticipated and it’s effects.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/24/energy/energy-crisis-uk-cost-pandemic/index.html
The situation is considered so serious for the UK, that there is growing concern about it’s economic collapse and the potential for basic humanitarian assistance such as food,, clothing and accommodation from other countries to be required in the not too distant future.
Meanwhile here in OZ…
The future outlook for coal powered generation in Australia in order to supposedly ‘firm-up’ supply seems even more dire than we thought.
This article below outlines the situation in WA concerning the ‘Blue Water’ project.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-31/power-plant-seeks-control-of-indian-owned-wa-coal-mine/10139115
This link to Energy Facts Australia outlines Australia’s current energy policies and planning and may assist in forming your own view as to whether sufficient action is being taken locally.
https://www.energyfactsaustralia.org.au/explainers/energy-policy/