Reassembling Flows
In the words of Peirce Lewis, Latrobe has become "our unwitting autobiography, reflecting our
tastes, our values, our aspirations, and even our fears, in tangible, visible form"1 (Lewis 1979).
Current industrial land use practices in Latrobe, such as mining operations and dairy farming,
come with tremendous environmental costs. Recent reports state that Australians, on average,
produce over 20 tonnes of C02 emissions per person per year, ranking the country as the
world's highest carbon dioxide polluter. Beyond greenhouse gas emissions, mining operations
are a large source of surface and groundwater pollution. Large amounts of water are extracted
from local aquifers for mining operations and irrigation-based agriculture, causing destabilization
of soil conditions, increasing the chance of river bank failures, and making the area more prone
to flooding and seismic activity. Moreover, intensive cattle and dairy farming operations produce
enormous amounts of manure which is currently disposed of in inadequately sized and lined
lagoons or storage structures that allow pathogens to escape into the surrounding environment.
The result is an unsustainable landscape that privileges short-term economic gain over human
and environmental health.
However, Latrobe's identity on both the local and global level is one that is so deeply rooted in
its mining tradition that to deny its significance in the valley's future is equally short-sighted. By
proposing a gradual shift over time from the current coal oriented energy economy and opening
up its remnants to its people, this project honors the rich and storied history of the region while
responding to the need for cleaner energy alternatives. Reassembling Flows thus aims to
change this paradigm by repurposing existing infrastructures, optimizing resource utilization,
and structurally integrating ecosystem services into design processes across multiple scales.
Understanding Latrobe Valley as a complex system of interconnected flows of industrial
processes, ecological systems, and cultural networks allows for the transformation of currently
discarded "waste" byproducts from these processes into valuable resources--creating
opportunities from liabilities. No longer an exploited landscape of extraction, Latrobe becomes a
key part in an extensive network of social, environmental and economic exchanges that extends
throughout and spatially connects the Gippsland Region.
1. Energy Production
Whereas current energy generation relies on the extraction of non-renewable resources, the
proposed network incorporates renewable energy technologies that operate on various scales,
addressing both regional power demands and off-grid opportunities. Wherever new systems
reuse existing mining pits, geosynthetic clay liners topped with limestone aggregate are installed
to limit and remediate groundwater pollution from acid mine drainage and other negative
ecological impacts associated with open-cut mining.
1
Peirce F. Lewis, “Axioms for Reading the Landscape: Some Guides to the American Scene,” in The Interpretation
of Ordinary Landscapes edited by Donald W. Meinig (Oxford University Press, USA): 1979.
A. Pump Storage Hydroelectricity:
Capitalizing on the abundant rainfall in West Gippsland and simultaneously acting as a
flood control mechanism, water from the Morwell River, Middle Creek and Billy Creek is
collected, stored and used as part of the new Hazelwood Pump Storage Hydroelectricity
Power Station. The power station takes advantage of the great difference in elevation
between the existing Hazelwood cooling pond and the bottom of the Hazelwood mine to
generate and store electricity and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The system will allow
approximately 70% to 85% of the off-peak electrical energy used to pump the water into
the upper Hazelwood cooling pond to be regained.
B. Hydrogen Electricity and Composting Facility
The western part of the Yallourn Mine is reimagined as a Hydrogen Electricity Facility.
With the closing of the mine, the existing network of underground waste water pipelines
can be used to transport liquid manure from surrounding dairy farms to the facility. At
high temperatures (700–1100 °C), steam (H2O) reacts with methane (CH4) captured
from the liquid manure to yield syngas. Additional hydrogen is generated through the
lower-temperature water-gas shift reaction. Moreover, by pumping waste through
separators, liquids can be used as fertilizer, while the solids are used for compost and
fertilizer.
2. Flood Control and Water Storage
In the summer of 2012, heavy rainfall caused the collapse of the artificially constructed Morwell
River, supposedly capable of surviving a one-in-10,000 year flood. As a result, the Yallourn coal
mine was inundated with 60 billion liters of water, enough to fill nearly 24,000 Olympic
swimming pools. In order to mitigate flood events such as these in the future, Reassembling
Flows incorporates a system of riparian buffers and flood control parks along major rivers and
creeks within critical flood plains to capture, detain, store, cleanse and reuse water for
ecosystem developments and energy generation. Loy Yang and the eastern area of Yallourn
Mine are repurposed as enormous wetland machines and flood control parks. Taking the form
of open limestone channels, the wetlands are designed to neutralize acid mine drainage,
offering a low maintenance, inexpensive, and long-term solution for cleansing water.
3. Cattle/Dairy Farming and Agroforestry
Milk, beef and veal are Gippsland’s most important agricultural products, contributing up to 75 %
($975 million) of the region’s gross product. More than just food sources, farms become
important components in Latrobe's alternative energy program, converting methane gas from
cow manure into electricity that can be sold to local power grids. Manure is collected and
pumped into anaerobic digesters, in which bacteria break down the organic matter in the waste,
producing a mix of methane and other bio-gases that are burned to generate electricity. In this
way, the waste of a 1,000-cow operation can produce 250 to 300 kilowatts of electricity daily, or
enough to power 300 to 350 homes.
4. Urban Development & Research
Latrobe City has difficulties attracting and retaining a diverse population mix, which is crucial for
the creation of a well-educated, well-trained workforce. The closing of the coal mines and
introduction of innovative energy production facilities provides great opportunities for urban
development. Here, the decommissioned coal mine railroad tracks are retrofitted into a highspeed tram line, linking the urban centers of Morwell and Moe. This system becomes the central
spine into which new cultural, education and research hubs can be connected. One such
example is a proposed university campus that specializes in education and research in
alternative energy, food processing, agro-forestry and horticulture.
5. Recreation and Natural Resource Management
Located on the main axis connecting Melbourne to the Gippsland Lakes and Wilsons
Promontory National Park to Alpine National Park, Latrobe Valley is uniquely positioned to
become a major node in this regional tourism network. Our proposal ties in to and amplifies the
existing hospitality industry of Latrobe and includes the development of regional recreation
trails, camp sites, bed/breakfast establishments and hotels to make Latrobe a perfect overnight
or short-term destination. The spaces below existing transmission lines are transformed in linear
parks, celebrating the power trail that connects existing and future urban centers to the new
alternative energy developments. Furthermore, the system of reclaimed mining sites and
riparian buffers function as important wildlife corridors, connecting and providing continuity to
habitats currently cut off by mining operations and agricultural practices.
Towards Social-Ecological Futures
Reassembling Flows is best understood as a network of overlapping social-ecological systems.
Existing resources and waste flows are redesigned to create synergies and sustainable regional
growth through an integrated set of ecological, social, and economic systems across a range of
scales. By purposefully focusing on concepts of flux, rather than fixity, Reassembling Flows is a
dynamic vision for the region capable of responding to short- or long term changes. As a result,
rigid boundaries or single use zoning give way to inclusive landscapes that are work together to
create a dynamic region uniquely positioned to respond to unpredictable social, economic and
environmental futures.