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Zero Net Emissions

The City of Whittlesea is committed to becoming a zero net emissions organisation by 2022.

We know how important it is to reduce our impact on the environment and do what we can to address climate change. Changing climatic conditions, such as increased variability and extreme weather events, pose many challenges for those living in the Whittlesea municipality and broader Victoria. Hotter and drier conditions are expected, affecting the health of plants, wildlife and people.

Council’s Zero Net Emissions Plan sets a clear pathway of clean energy actions and greenhouse gas emissions reduction to ensure that it can reduce its impact on climate change and become a zero net emissions organisation by 2022. 

Since 2011, Council has reduced our annual emissions by 19.7 per cent and annual energy costs by $1.175 million. A further 20 per cent of our emissions are offset each year. These achievements have helped the City of Whittlesea to become a leading Council in clean, sustainable living. We have a three-step plan to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and deliver a strong program of clean energy initiatives to ensure we are doing all we can to achieve a sustainable environment. The steps are: 

  1. Reduce energy use through efficiency measures
  2. Use renewable energy to power our sites and services
  3. Offset all our remaining greenhouse gas emissions 

We are well on our way to achieving this goal. Our accomplishment of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent and offsetting a further 20 per cent was achieved through: 

  • Auditing and upgrading dozens of Council buildings 
  • Upgrading over 12,500 streetlights with energy efficient LED and compact fluorescent lamps  
  • Installing over 1 Megawatt of solar power systems across more than 60 Council buildings 
  • Ensuring that our new buildings meet current best practice in energy efficiency and sustainable design 
  • Purchasing fuel efficient and electric vehicles for our fleet 
  • Trialling energy reduction technologies such as cogeneration, voltage optimisation and solar cool 

Our plan to achieve zero net emissions by 2022 will eventually involve purchasing 100 per cent of our electricity from a solar or wind farm through a Power Purchase Agreement and purchasing additional certified greenhouse emissions offsets. If you’d like to learn more about Council’s Zero Net Emissions 2022 plan you can download the Zero Net Emissions 2022 Report below.

Zero Net Emissions 2022 Report

 

Avoided GHG Emissions for Whittlesea Council since 2012

This graph shows the accumulative Greenhouse Gas emissions avoided by Council over the last seven years thanks to changes and activities across solar and batteries, street lighting and energy efficiency measures.

 

Council's greenhouse gas emissions reductions since 2010 (cumulative)

  2010/11  2011/12  2012/13  2013/14  2014/15  2015/16  2016/17  2017/18  2018/19  2019/20
Solar & Batteries  20 20 20 69 181  428  637 1012 1312  1663 
Energy Efficiency  0 96  97  223  568  810  834 834 835 837
Street Lighting  0 0 0 953 1906 2551 2639 2837 3111 3421
Total  20 116 117 1245 2656 3789 4110 4683 5258 5922

 

What you can do 

We are making great strides in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions at the City of Whittlesea. As a resident, you can take steps to reduce your impact on climate change too. Actions you can take include: