Quest to slash emissions gains momentum

It may be early days in Council’s zero-net-emissions-by-2026 quest, but initiatives are already making a positive difference.

Mayor Tony Wellington said that much of the effort over the past year had been spent getting accurate baseline data of Council’s carbon footprint.

“This has involved analytical and investigative work by both Beyond Zero Emissions as well as ERM Business Energy. There’s no point in going hell-for-leather on reductions if you haven’t got an accurate picture of your starting point. Otherwise we would have no idea of how well we were travelling,” he said.

“It was a somewhat frustrating period waiting for the data to be collated and analysed, but we now know where we need to focus our efforts to get the best bang for our buck.

“We discovered that Council’s landfill gas emissions account for around 67% of Council’s total emissions. However, thanks to improved capping and gas capture, we achieved 9% lower emissions from the landfill in 2016/17 than in 2015/16. Council’s new garden waste recycling bin service will further reduce our carbon footprint by diverting an estimated 6,000 tonnes of organic waste from landfill annually,” the Mayor said.

“The move to LED lighting plus other efficiencies have already contributed to a 6% drop in Council’s total emissions from 2015/16 to 2016/17.

“We’ve commenced the procurement process for more solar panels to be installed on Council buildings, which will have long-term cost benefits as well as emissions reductions. We are also transitioning to more rechargeable battery plant and equipment, and we have replaced old fleet vehicles with three new Prius hybrids.

“Such measures are just the beginning of our emissions reduction efforts. Now that the basic groundwork is completed, we can make some real inroads as we head towards our 2026 target.”

29 September 2017