Decentralised Energy
Electricity produced from burning coal accounts for about 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Sydney and is a major contributor to global warming.
It is also extremely inefficient – with only about 30 per cent of the energy from burning coal in the Hunter Valley actually reaching Sydney homes.
Already carbon neutral in its own operations, City of Sydney plans to turn Sydney into a low carbon city using energy in the most efficient way with locally-produced electricity from the sun, wind, marine, Green Power and waste gases.
The City’s Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan commits Council to:
- Produce 70 per cent of the electricity (330 megawatts) supply by 2030 from trigeneration – converting natural and waste gas into electricity, heating and cooling
- Ensure by 2020 that 25-30 per cent of energy use comes from renewable energy (solar, wind, marine, geothermal, Green Power and renewable fuels);
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent by 2030; and
- Divert 66 per cent of domestic waste from landfill by 2014.
A number of essential reports have been adopted by City of Sydney to progress the City’s Sustainable Sydney 2030 plans including:
- A Renewable Energy Master Plan tender
- Alternative Waste Technology plant tender
- A Combined Cooling, Heat and Power (trigeneration) report for Prince Alfred Park Pool.
The City has also greened its own operations. For more information on Council projects, visit www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/2030
Renewable Energy Master Plan
On 21 September Council resolved to appoint the international engineering and design firm ARUP to develop a Decentralised Energy Master Plan for renewable energy.
CBD roof-space and its capacity to produce solar power will be one component of the plan, in addition to harnessing wind energy including off-shore, hydro and marine renewables.
Another vital resource will be the use of renewable gases potentially sourced from household, commercial and industrial waste, and other sources including sewage, agricultural, landfill and low carbon coal seam gas. These gases can be harvested and converted into locally-produced electricity providing low-cost heating and cooling for buildings from a trigeneration network across the City.
ARUP will look at a range of renewable means of generating electricity and methods to implement it. The Plan will become the roadmap to converting 25-30 per cent of the City’s electricity use from coal-generated electricity to renewable sources.
Council concerns on the environmental and social impacts of coal seam methane extraction
Council formally resolved on 6 December 2010 to oppose coal seam methane extraction and to ask the NSW Government for an independent investigation into the full environmental and social impacts of coal seam methane exploration and extraction.
Gas exploration licences are issued by the State Government. The City believes that no new gas exploration licences should be issued until applications have been independently assessed by environmental experts and the community is fully consulted.
Combined Cooling, Heat and Power (trigeneration) Master Plan
The City recently sought tenders for its Combined Cooling, Heat and Power (Trigeneration) Master Plan for the Local Government Area.
The plan, is expected to detail specific information about the locations, size and scale of a network of trigeneration machines – similar to what energy expert Allan Jones implemented in Woking, Surrey and London, in the United Kingdom.
The City has already commissioned a study into the first such trigeneration or cogeneration plant to be located at Prince Alfred Park Pool in Surry Hills. Council is now proceeding with a business case to develop the system.
For more information on low carbon energy, visit www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/2030/
Waste to energy
Council has appointed the international engineering and design firm ARUP to develop a business case to establish an Alternative Waste Technology Facility (AWTF) in or near the City of Sydney.
AWTF’s take general household waste and recover reusable materials such as recyclables or organic mater. The plan will also include the potential to capture gases produced during the recovery process to help power the trigeneration network.
An AWT could greatly reduce waste going to landfill and will help the City deliver on its target of diverting 66 per cent of waste from landfill.
For more on waste visit www.zerowaste.org.au
Last Updated: Tuesday 6 September, 2011
