2018-01-15 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                 15 JANUARY 2018


Council processes and procedures have a significant impact on the carbon footprint of the
organisation. The inclusion of ZEN considerations in policies such as procurement, design and
project management presents an opportunity to reduce emissions at the commencement of a
project or purchase decision. Council policies will be reviewed to incorporate ZEN as appropriate.

2.    Reduce Emissions - Scope 1

Scope 1 emissions include fuel for transport and stationary uses, refrigerants and emissions from
landfill. The ZEN Action Plan identifies actions that Council will undertake in relation to converting
its own transport and plant fleet to alternative fuels as the technology becomes economically
available.

The emissions from the Council controlled landfill comprise over 65% of Council’s total carbon
footprint. Further information is required to enable a comprehensive emissions reduction strategy
to be developed for the landfill which will consider the cost-benefit analysis of further emission
reductions and offset opportunities. The ZEN Action Plan includes an audit and the development
of an overarching strategy to reduce the landfill emissions including the reduction of organic
matter to the landfill and increasing the capture of the landfill gas, potentially leading to the
generation of electricity. Other emission reduction options will also be explored as technology
emerges.

3.    Reduce Emissions - Scope 2

Scope 2 emissions are as a result of the use of electricity for Council’s operations and Council
owned street lighting (Rate 3) which includes decorative street lighting and navigation lights at
structures within man-made canals.

Whilst Scope 2 emissions comprise just 6% of Council’s total footprint, improving energy
efficiency and increasing the use of on-site renewable energy will decrease Council’s reliance on
electricity from the grid and reduce exposure to increasing grid power prices.

The ZEN Action Plan utilised the Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) developed from the
energy audits conducted by ERM Power in April 2017 to prioritise the energy efficiency and
renewable energy projects across Council’s large electricity consumption sites, including:
   Retrofit of inefficient lighting with LEDs;
   Upgrading of air conditioning units and control systems;
   Installation of on-site solar systems.

The timing and capital funding allocation for these projects has been determined in accordance
with the following criteria:
    Emissions reduction per $ spend;
    Building works status of each facility;
    Capital cost; and
    Total emission reduction achieved.

The attached ZEN Action Plan identifies capital projects from 2017–2020, however, it should be
noted that the timing of these projects is subject to change as a result of changes to other capital
works which are linked to the ZEN initiatives or as Council determines the annual capital works
program.




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