The engine room of Queensland's economy has released a plan that aims to give the community a future beyond fossil fuels.
Gladstone, Australia's "carbon capital", knows it is vulnerable as the nation and key trading partners look to transform heavy industries and economies to cut carbon emissions.
Gladstone Regional Council on Tuesday launched a detailed 10-year roadmap for change that it says builds on its proud industrial heritage.
Positioned alongside the Southern Great Barrier Reef, Gladstone's skyline is dominated by coal and gas ports and smoke stacks from alumina and chemical refineries.
Gladstone is home to Queensland's biggest coal-fired power plant and Australia's busiest multi-commodity port, which handles 125 million tonnes a year from mines and farms.
The port exports a quarter of the world's liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 40 per cent of Australia's coal, with coal exports rebounding as the world tries to replace Russian goods.
The council has been working with experts on industrial and social change, not simply a new electricity grid, as locals forge their own future.
The new Alpha HPA high-purity alumina plant across the road from the Orica chemicals refinery was a "prime example" of a low-carbon company and new success story in manufacturing, Deputy Mayor Kahn Goodluck said.
"This is what the transition plan is all about," he said.
Amanda Cahill CEO of The Next Economy said no one wanted another boom-bust cycle amid the rush for change.
"It's a different task. This is about building manufacturing off renewable energy - it's not just renewable energy, it's what you do with it," Dr Cahill told AAP.
"It's trying to get people to understand what's happening - you want some options so that people will make the best decisions for themselves," she said.
The new plan also calls for a new Regional Transition Authority to be set up, supported by the state and federal governments, to co-ordinate and ease economic pain and disruption.
"It's not going to be overnight. We're going to need coal and gas for quite some time," Gladstone Port Corporation CEO Craig Haymes said.
But fossil fuel industry workers will get support to be redeployed to other energy operations, retrain for new careers or retire early.
"This is such a big transition we have to make sure no one is left behind," CQUniversity hydrogen and alternative energy Professor Murray Shearer said.
As part a broader Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan announced six weeks ago, workers at state-owned coal-fired power stations already have a "job security guarantee" of a public sector job in energy or other roles.
The first of thousands of wind turbine parts have started to arrive, forcing roundabouts on key port exit roads to be cut through as the trucks carrying the massive blades need a straight route.
"You can't get an 80-metre blade around a roundabout," the deputy mayor said.
Under Gladstone's new plan for a bigger and more diverse workforce, there will be more apprenticeships and traineeships in the region and they will target women, First Nations, young people and older workers.
The region is already home to fourteen hydrogen initiatives gearing up to meet expected demand from Asian and European markets.
One of the world's largest plants for making hydrogen equipment is already in the works for Gladstone as billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest places his biggest bet yet.
New jobs in agriculture, health, advanced manufacturing, tourism and waste projects are also in the offing.
The reporter travelled to Gladstone as a guest of Gladstone Regional Council and The Next Economy.
