City of Adelaide cuts emissions by 19% in seven years

The City of Adelaide has slashed its carbon emissions by 19 per cent – 224,000 tonnes – since 2007, the council has announced, a result it has achieved despite having Australia’s highest average annual population growth by Local Government Area between 2008 to 2013.

The council attributes the achievement to South Australia’s leadership on renewable energy and the city’s record on efficient green buildings.

“Rapid uptake of rooftop solar and over $5.5 billion of investment in wind farms have transformed South Australia’s electricity supply into a clean energy system,” Adelaide City Council said in a media release.

“This ‘greening of the grid’ has reduced the carbon impact of South Australia’s electricity supply by 31 per cent between 2004/05 and 2013/14.”

As we have noted here on RenewEconomy many times, South Australia really is the renewable energy star of Australia, notching up several instances in recent months when wind energy has accounted for all, or nearly all, of the state’s electricity demand.

And at the start of this month, the combination of wind energy and rooftop solar provided more than 100 per cent of the state’s electricity needs, for a whole working day between 9.30am and 6pm.

“Results like this demonstrate the benefits of long term planning, industry leadership and a commitment to implementation,” said Adrian Stokes, Adelaide City Council’s Program Manager, City Sustainability and Park Lands in a media release on the city’s emissions cut.

“South Australia and the City community, particularly commercial property owners, have demonstrated that renewable energy and green buildings are highly effective strategies to reduce carbon emissions.”

Dr Stokes said energy efficiency upgrades in local government buildings and public lighting had reduced Council’s own energy consumption by 10.3 per cent since 2009/10.

In 2013/14, energy efficiency projects saved Council $406,000 on electricity bills and reduced carbon emissions by approximately 1,500 tonnes, he said.