On Octo­ber 26 – 27, the Intyal­heme Cen­tre for Future Ener­gy host­ed a Cli­math­on in Alice Springs at the Desert Knowl­edge Precinct. Cli­math­on is a glob­al hackathon-style chal­lenge to address cli­mate change impacts and devel­op grass­roots solu­tions to empow­er communities. 

More than 100 cities in 45 coun­tries par­tic­i­pat­ed, and the Alice Springs event marked the first time a Cli­math­on had been held in region­al Australia. 

The Alice Springs Cli­math­on facil­i­tat­ed a live cross with the Hong Kong Cli­math­on, and par­tic­i­pants gave each oth­er feed­back on their projects.

Three con­cepts devel­oped by the Alice Springs Cli­math­on were:

1. Using ​“spilt” solar pow­er to cre­ate hydro­gen, to then be used as a fuel source in the exist­ing Alice Springs pow­er stations.
2. A school-based pro­gram focus­ing on edu­cat­ing chil­dren on cli­mate change, with student/​teacher com­mit­ments to resolve some of the com­plex chal­lenges the com­mu­ni­ty faces.
3. A shared e‑bike scheme, that would be pow­ered by spilt solar pow­er, increas­ing the day­time demand. This con­cept also includ­ed a com­mu­ni­ty aware­ness pro­gram to edu­cate the pub­lic on the cur­rent lim­i­ta­tions and chal­lenges of solar in Alice Springs.

Intyal­heme is sup­port­ing par­tic­i­pants to devel­op their ideas, by facil­i­tat­ing meet­ings and shar­ing knowl­edge on tan­gi­ble next steps.