Our journey
What council has achieved in the past in energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transport or broader sustainability
The City of Launceston has a long, proud history of renewable energy production. It was the home of the nation’s first hydroelectric power station at Duck Reach.
In keeping with this precedent, over the past decade the City of Launceston has undertaken a range of projects and strategies to improve our sustainability.
Our energy efficiency measures have included fitting solar panels on Council-owned facilities, LED lighting in public areas – including street lighting, provision of both public and Council electric vehicle charging stations, and smart system installation to better manage heating and lighting in facilities such as the Queen Victoria and Art Museum and Launceston Aquatic Centre.
Flagship efforts however, centre on our waste management program achievements, which include our kerbside FOGO (food organic and garden organic) composting facility (reducing emissions and increasing nutrient recovery through diversion from landfill), landfill methane capture for power generation, Uptipity (our social enterprise-operated tip shop) and recycling improvements.
What council hopes to achieve in the future in energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable transport or broader sustainability
The Council made a commitment to work towards organisational carbon neutrality by 2025, with 100 per cent renewable energy sources used by this time, through a climate emergency declaration made in August 2019.
To achieve this, the City of Launceston has adopted a Sustainability Strategy, which forms the framework for action planning in partnership with the community.
The first step in this process is to update an understanding of Council’s baseline emissions and energy use, and following earlier public consultation, will undertake action planning with stakeholders in late 2019.
The goal of this process is to identify those actions that Council can take in both the short and long term for emissions reductions, while benefitting our local community.
It’s worth noting that Launceston is uniquely placed in that, like all Tasmanian councils, we have access to fully renewable energy sources, both hydro-electric and wind generation.
What council hopes to gain from being a member of the Cities Power Partnership
The City of Launceston believes membership in the Cities Power Partnership is an opportunity for shared learning and a collaborative approach to a journey that all Local Government Areas in Australia are facing.
While Launceston is fortunate in its unique advantages in renewable energy access via the state’s exclusive hydro-electric and wind power generation, it is hoped that membership results in further improvements in sustainability and community resilience to climate change impacts.