One hundred years after the first street light was installed in Moreland City Council, the Victorian local government authority is celebrating another major milestone – carbon-neutral certification.
The Australian Government’s official certifier, Low Carbon Australia, has certified Council as carbon neutral against the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).
Moreland City Mayor, Councillor Oscar Yildiz, said Council had been working towards carbon neutrality since 2007, when it endorsed a Climate
Action Plan.
“We’ve worked hard since then to adopt energy efficiency measures that have reduced our energy use,” he said.
“Today, street lighting is one of the major sources of carbon emissions for council, and it is fitting that in the 100th year since street lighting was first introduced, we’ve been able to reach this carbon-neutral achievement.
“What’s more, we’ve achieved it at a time when our local government area is in a major transition. Our industries are changing, our demographics are changing and our community expectations are increasing.
“Our carbon-neutrality will address some of those changes, by helping reduce our operating costs through reduced energy use and by helping improve our environment through our adoption of more sustainable business practices.”
As part of Council’s carbon neutral journey, it undertook a detailed study of energy use, including electricity, gas consumption, paper use, flights, taxi use, vehicles, greases, oils, and refrigerants from air conditioning units.
Energy efficiency projects included lighting upgrades in Council-owned buildings, improvements to the heating ventilation and air conditioning at the Coburg Civic Centre, and the redevelopment of the Brunswick Baths, including a cogeneration system that produces onsite electricity and heat.
“We’re working towards reducing the amount of emissions our lights generate with a plan to replace two-thirds of our streetlights with more efficient lighting in the current financial year,” Mayor Yildiz said.
Moreland also recently purchased an electric vehicle that has been decorated with the carbon neutral logo and will be used as a ‘mobile billboard’ to spread the word about Moreland’s carbon neutrality achievement. The Council is also installing Victoria’s first public electric vehicle fast charge station at the Coburg Civic Centre.
Mayor Yildiz noted that, “Reaching carbon-neutrality isn’t a final destination. We will continue to improve the energy efficiency of our leisure centres, libraries and Brunswick Town Hall, which will help us reduce the cost burden of operations for our ratepayers.”
