Can painted turbines and photographs help sell clean energy?

Beauty, as we know, is in the eye of the beholder. For every federal parliamentarian who finds the sight of wind turbines offensive, there are doubtless several others who consider them majestic and wonderful (not to mention clever and clean).

For those who are on the fence on the matter, there are a couple of Australia-based campaigns on the go at the moment to help people see the beauty in wind power and renewable energy.

In Victoria, the community-owned Hepburn Wind Farm is in the midst of a campaign to raise funds towards the painting of its number 2 wind turbine, “Gusto” with a professional mural.

The award winning wind farm — Australia’s first community-owned example – had its first turbine, “Gale”, painted at the beginning of last year by Melbourne artists Ghostpatrol (David Booth) and Bonsai, as part of the Sustainable Living festival.

Hepburn Wind is now calling on community donations to help pay for Ghospatrol and the team to do it all again.

If all goes to plan, Hepburn says the final touches of the mural should coincide with the ‘Sleep under the stars’ camping event on Saturday 15 November.

Meanwhile, Australia-based renewables developer Pacific Hydro has launched a clean energy-themed photography competition, to promote the positive attributes of the renewable energy and encourage Australians to support the industry.

Entrants (18+ only) are asked to submit a photo that best reflects ‘A clean energy future for Australia’, along with a written description of up to 60 words explaining how their entry captures this theme.

Entry to the competition is free and through the website, and first prize is $1,000 cash.