THE scale of the challenge facing the City of Ballarat to hit a target of carbon neutrality by 2025 has come under the spotlight recently.
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One senior council officer has said electric vehicles were still "not financially viable" while another document suggests the municipality will only be able to cut landfill carbon emissions to 30 per cent below 2015 levels by the time the target date arrives.
However, the deputy mayor Cr Belinda Coates, one of the main advocates behind the carbon neutrality and 100 per cent renewables plan that councillors approved last April, said the target remained the same. Council officers have also said other projects in the pipeline, particularly for energy procurement, could "go a long way" to helping the City of Ballarat towards its goal.
READ MORE: What's the deal with zero emissions?
The electric vehicle issue was raised at the most recent ordinary council meeting when a member of the public asked how far the council had progressed with acquiring a suitable fleet.
Investigating the potential for electric vehicles was one of the strands of the carbon neutrality and 100 per cent renewables plan councillors approved last year.
It needs absolutely everyone on board
- Deputy mayor Cr Belinda Coates
In response, the City of Ballarat's director of business services Glenn Kallio said: "At this stage, purchase of electric cars for our fleet is not financially viable.
"At the moment we are heavily investing in hybrid cars, especially vehicles being used around town."
Mr Kallio said those hybrid vehicles operated on electricity "most of the time". The council could have a total of up to 13 hybrid vehicles by the end of this financial year, a separate council release suggested.
Meanwhile, a council submission to the state government's climate inquiry highlights the issues facing the biggest source of carbon emissions in the area: the City of Ballarat landfill site in Smythesdale.
Landfill gas emissions account for well over half of the council's total, which stood at around 39,000 tonnes in the most recent report. The council's contribution to the inquiry specifies landfill emissions were only likely to be reduced by 30 per cent from 2015 levels.
This is despite the introduction of a new generator at the site, which now helps convert the majority of the methane created into energy that goes to the grid. However, the resulting renewable energy is not attributed to council but to LMS, the company contracted to manage the gas produced at the site.
Steps have been taken, meanwhile, towards a potentially ground-breaking energy deal that could have a substantial impact. The City of Ballarat has joined forces with 48 other councils in a bid to procure energy entirely from renewable sources.
Led by Darebin Council, and championed by the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance, it is an ambitious bid - the largest of its kind among local governments in Australia. It won't happen overnight - the procurement logistics involving that number of organisations is complex. Due to its scale, the process has had to go through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, with further progress hoped for later this year.
The City of Ballarat's director of infrastructure and environment Terry Demeo told The Courier that the renewables power purchase agreement, once finalised, would go "a very long way" to helping council hit the target.
Other steps taken by council since the plan's endorsement include the recent appointment of a sustainability officer at the City of Ballarat, tasked with ensuring the principles of carbon neutrality are followed.
Several contracts have been issued to switch council lighting to more energy-efficient LED models.
Other elements that would help cut emissions remain up in the air. While the City of Ballarat introduced a garden waste bin in 2016 - which instantly had a big impact diverting organic waste from landfill - there remains no food and organics waste collection. Similar services have already been introduced by other regional councils, including Greater Bendigo and Warrnambool.
Other questions remain about the viability of a waste to energy facility - long advocated by council - despite its apparent endorsement in the state's recent circular economy waste management plan.
And there has still been no public progress on the proposed All Waste Interchange and Materials Recovery Facility at the BWEZ industrial estate. Supporters say this would improve the quality of recycled materials, divert from landfill and potentially develop markets.
So while the challenges have taken shape in the months since the plan was passed, the full potential of council's ability to cut emissions remains unclear. Until the moving parts settle into place, the extent it will have to rely on carbon offsetting to reach its target can only be guessed.
For Cr Coates, community support will be key. "It needs absolutely everyone on board," she said.
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