Climate Change

The enhanced greenhouse effect is causing climate change globally and will have local impacts. According to a CSIRO study on the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on the Kiama Local Government Area commissioned by Council as part of the review of Council’s LEP, proposed climate changes are predicted to have an impact on agriculture, water availability, biodiversity, bushfires, human health and infrastructure.

According to a greenhouse gas inventory of the year 2001-2002 conducted as part of the Cities for Climate Protection Program (CCP™) in 2004, it is predicted that by 2010, emissions in the Kiama Municipality will increase 47.4%, with the greatest growth in emissions predicted to occur in the transportation, residential, and commercial sectors.

Energy Conservation

Conservation of energy not only places less pressure on our natural resources, but can also help reduce air pollution and save you money. Making some simple changes in our homes and workplaces can conserve energy especially in the areas of lighting, heating and cooling and purchasing appliances. Reducing the use of motor vehicles can have a positive impact on the environment and your health.

Current Projects/Policies

Kiama Municipal Council’s 10kW Solar Photovoltaic System installed on its Administration Building

The Kiama Municipal Council Administration Building 10kW solar photovoltaic system (PV system) was installed over May and June in 2011 and started producing renewable energy for the building on 1st August 2011.

The PV system is expected to produce an estimated 15,060 kWh of electricity per annum, which is approximately 5% of the Administration Building’s energy consumption. Over the next 30 years the system will produce approximately 408,400 kWh of electricity for an estimated cost of 13cents per kilowatt hour.

The energy produced by the photovoltaic system will be fully utilised within the Council Administration building and there will be no exportation of electricity to the grid. This will maximise the benefit of the system which will be producing its maximum output at the peak times of use at the site.

The 10kW photovoltaic system was installed under the Waste and Sustainability Improvement Payments (WaSIP) program. This program is administered by the Office of Environment and Heritage and encourages Councils to meet certain standards and requirements around waste and sustainability within the community and Council as an organisation.

Kiama Council 10kW photovoltaic system production:

Date	Kilowatt hours running total
November 2011	4,100
December 2011	5,600
January 2012	7,200
February 2012	8,600
March 2012	10,340

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on the Kiama Local Government Area

As part of the review of Council’s Local Environmental Plan, the CSIRO was commissioned to undertake a study on the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on the Kiama Local Government Area (pdf 726 KB). The report predicted that the following climate changes may occur in the Kiama area: increased temperatures, decreased rainfall, increased evaporation, more warm days and hot spells, fewer cool days and cool spells, changes to wind patterns, and an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme daily rainfall events. Such changes are predicted to have an impact on agriculture, water availability, biodiversity, bushfires, human health and infrastructure.

Council will be using these anticipated changes to inform the review of the Local Environmental Plan and undertake adaptation measures that will minimise adverse effects and maximise advantages of climate change.

Cities for Climate Protection Program

Council joined the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP™) Program in 2003. The CCP™ Program operates a five-milestone framework that enables Council to strategically identify sources and levels of greenhouse gases produced within Council's operations and the community. Once completed, Council can use the program to prioritise actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are locally relevant.

The five milestones of the CCP™ Program are:

Conduct an inventory and forecast for Community and Corporate (Council) greenhouse gas emissions.
Establish an emissions reduction goal.
Develop and adopt a Local Action Plan.
Implement the Local Action Plan.
Monitor and report on implementation of the Local Action Plan.

Council has completed Milestones 1 and 2 of the program.

Council achieved Milestone 1 in 2004. According to the greenhouse gas inventory of the year 2001-2002, the dominant source of greenhouse gas emissions from Council’s operations is from Council owned buildings, which contributed 42.9% of emissions. Contributions from the other Council sources included vehicle fleet (21.1%), waste (14.7%) and streetlights (11.3%). The dominant sources of emissions from the Municipality as a whole in the inventory year of 1996 was from the residential sector (32.7%) and the transportation sector (31.6%). Contributions from the other sources were industrial (13.5%) and waste (11.4%) and commercial (10.8%). If Council and the community do not act to reduce these emissions, it is predicted that by 2010, emissions in the Kiama Municipality will increase 47.4%, with the greatest growth in emissions predicted to occur in the transportation, residential and commercial sectors.

In November 2005, Council achieved Milestone 2, which involved committing to greenhouse gas emission targets of 15% for community emissions and 20% for council emissions by 2010. Milestone 3 will involve developing a Local Action Plan to work towards these targets and subsequent milestones involve implementing the plan and monitoring to evaluate what has been achieved.

More information about the outcomes can be found in the State of the Environment Report in Chapter 7: Air and at www.iclei.org/ccp-au.

Building Sustainability Index (BASIX)

From 1 July 2005 the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) came into effect in the Kiama Municipality. BASIX is a web-based planning tool for Councils and proponents of residential dwellings to assess the potential performance of their development against a set of sustainability indices, including energy conservation. For energy, a BASIX rating of 40 for energy conservation applies, potentially reducing greenhouse gases by 40%. More information about BASIX can be found in the Land Section.

External Links

Last updated: Wednesday 11 November, 2009