The group sent an email to Prime Minister Julia Gillard after her appointment, calling on her to stop a deal between Trade Minister Simon Crean and the Vietnamese government for the export of Victorian brown coal.

Instead, the group is proposing Bendigo become home to a solar thermal base load plant that it believes is the future of renewable energy in Australia.

Group president Karen Corr said the Vietnamese deal showed the federal government was not serious about acting on climate change.

“Brown coal is a major emitter of greenhouse gas,” she said.

“They are looking more at making money, they’re not serious.’’

Ms Corr said the solar thermal base load plant was included in a report by not-for-profit climate change group Beyond Zero Emissions as a viable option.

The technology uses reflectors or mirrors to focus solar energy and generate heat which can be stored or used to generate steam which is used to turn turbines and generate electricity.

“We’d love for Bendigo or Central Victoria to have the first in Victoria or Australia,” she said.

“Our focus is what we can do locally to reduce emissions. It’s an option to transition to renewable energy.”

Trade Minister Simon Crean signed off on a $100 million deal on Friday, but said it was a good news story with Australian technology being used to deliver a more environmentally sensitive energy solution to the Vietnamese people through the transformation of brown coal into black coal equivalent pellets.

Federal Member for Bendigo Steve Gibbons said he was interested to hear the group’s proposal.

“There’s no chance of stopping an arrangement that has already been put in place,” he said.

“Whether its idea is viable, I’m prepared to sit down and have a look at it with them,” he said.