Lane Cove Council Solar Made Simple Workshop 19 March 2024

    By
    Jacky Barker
    -

    Do you want to reduce your household carbon footprint?

    Come to the Lane Cove Council Solar Made Simple event at the Diddy (aka the Longueville Sporting Club) on Tuesday, 19 March, 2024, at 7 p.m. A team will guide you through the steps and show you just how simple and money-saving the switch to Solar energy can be.  You can register here.

    Lane Cove Council Declares Climate Emergency

    In September 2019, Lane Cove Council became the 50th Australian council to declare a climate emergency. The council voted to acknowledge climate change as a threat to the future of our cities.

    As a result of this motion, Lane Cove Council committed to reducing emissions in our Local Government Area as follows:

    • 80% reduction in emissions by 2036 based on 2016/17 levels; and
    • 20% reduction in emissions by 2024 based on 2016/17 levels.
    Lane Cove Council Area Data Source Lane Cove Council’s Sustainability Action Plan 2022 – 2025

     

    What Changes Can You Make?

    Making a few key changes to your home will help with the rising cost of living and you will be contributing to the Lane Cove Council’s community goal of emissions reductions.

    • Investigate switching to a renewable power company such as Diamond Energy
    • Install rooftop solar. Check out our local business directory for a local solar installer – Evolution Solar and Energy
    • Switch to reverse cycle air conditioning – for heating and cooling. An energy-efficient system may lower your power bill by nearly 50%.
    • Reduce hot water use by a third. Try water-saving shower heads and washing clothes in cold water.
    • Use a hot water heat pump.  According to Sustainability Victoria 
      “Heat-pump hot water systems use a refrigeration cycle to extract heat from the surrounding air. They then use a heat exchanger to heat water in an insulated storage cylinder. These systems typically use around 60 to 75% less electricity than a conventional electric hot water system. This is because the electricity is used to operate the heat pump and doesn’t heat the water directly with an element.”
    • Leave the Car at Home – walk to the Lane Cove Village or investigate buying an electric bike (but make sure you source the bikes from a reputable company – see our story on Lithium Ion Batteries here) or look into the benefits of electric vehicles.
    • Install home insulation. A properly insulated home can cut heating and cooling bills by 30-40%. When building a new home, look to use double-glazed windows for high insulation.
    • Start to Compost – Methane has 25x the global warming impact of CO₂. Lane Cove Council has partnered with Compost Revolution to offer Lane Cove residents 50% off selected compost bins, worm farms, and bokashi bins, with free delivery. To become eligible for the 50% discount, you need only complete a tutorial and take a quiz about composting. Find out more here.
    • Switch to LED lightbulbs.  The NSW government has an LED replacement plan that assists with the cost of replacing lights with LED lights as part of their Energy Savings Scheme.  Switching to LEDs will help you reduce the amount of energy you use. This means you can expect to see long-term cost savings on your bills. For example, if you change 20 halogen downlights to LED downlights, you can save up to $210 a year on energy costs. Other benefits include reduced maintenance because LEDs last longer than other lights. They will also lower your environmental impact.

    Why Install Solar?

    According to the CSIRO, emissions of CO₂ from fossil fuels make the largest contribution to climate change. About 90 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels, mainly for electricity, heat, and transport.

    Fossil fuel burning to produce electricity is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia (Department of Energy and Environment).

    According to the Australian Government Solar Consumer Guide website, the benefits of solar are:

    • reduction in your household electricity bills
    • protects you from electricity price rises
    • reduces the cost of charging an electric vehicle
    • helps reduce the cost of getting off gas (and eliminate gas bills altogether)
    • significantly reduces your household greenhouse gas emissions.

    There are several ways to pay, including paying up-front, adding your solar installation cost
    to the mortgage or taking out a low-interest green loan. Plus, you can take advantage of solar rebates (state, federal, and local government incentive rebates are available to eligible applicants).

    Batteries Can Also Reduce Costs

    The following is an extract from the Australian Government Solar Consumer Guide website

    Next Tuesday’s workshop will be presented by Zero Emissions – find out more here.

    Register For the Workshop Here

    Thank you to Councillor Kathy Bryla for helping us out with this article.  Councillor Bryla is on the Lane Cove Sustainability Advisory Committee

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