Last year certainly had its challenges but it was also a most rewarding year for Georges River Council, New South Wales, finishing with three sustainability recognitions.
Named state winner of the Renewable Energy award in Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Cities Awards, Georges River was also highly commended in the Towards Net Zero Emissions category of Local Government NSW Excellence in Environmental Awards 2020.
Performing creditably at a national level, Council was named among the finalists in the Cities Power Partnership Climate Champion Award for actions and commitment to achieving 100 percent renewable energy in its operations by 2025, and the implementation of mitigation initiatives to progress towards net zero carbon emissions.
Council has earned its credentials by embedding the concept of working towards net zero carbon emissions in all departments.
As part of its mitigation initiatives is the installation of solar panels on all Council facilities which has given it a combined capacity of 253 kW.
Two electric vehicles (EVs) have been added to Council’s fleet and a working group has been developed to plan the total transition to EVs.
Three major events last year were certified carbon neutral events.
Forty percent of all street lights in the Georges River local government area have been converted to LED since Council joined the Ausgrid accelerated conversion program.
A Revolving Energy Fund has been developed where a proportion of the financial savings from three sustainability projects will be reinvested in future projects.
Council has endorsed a target of net zero emissions and 100 percent renewable energy operations by July 2025.
The year 2021 will now bring with it exciting projects that continue to see Council implement sustainability, climate change and energy related projects to ensure it achieves the targets for 2025.
