Wind power lights up district

Northern District Times
Wednesday 6/6/2007 Page: 5

WIND farms in rural areas produce a small part of the electricity used to light the streets, parks and council buildings of Ryde and Hornsby. Most electricity in NSW comes from coalfired power stations, making the power sector the biggest emitters of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Councils are big users of electricity, with more than a third of their power bill going to street lighting. Both Ryde and Hornsby councils buy a modest 10 per cent of their electricity from a renewable GreenPower source.

Audited by the NSW Government, GreenPower electricity is produced mainly by wind turbines and solar power plants. The 10 per cent mix of GreenPower electricity falls short of the renewable energy targets needed to prevent runaway climate change.

Greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 60 per cent by 2050, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. To meet the target, almost a third of our energy should come from renewable sources by 2030.

Both Ryde and Hornsby councils have been busy installing low-energy light bulbs and other energy-saving measures. Hornsby set itself the target of reducing Greenhouse emissions by 20 per cent by 2010, compared to 1996 levels. The council has already achieved a 23 per cent reduction in emissions across all its activities, saving 2344 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Ryde Council also gave itself a target of a 20 per cent reduction by 2010, but this was set against the more bloated baseline of the 2004 financial year. At the smaller Hunters Hill Council, a spokeswoman could not point to any GreenPower or energy-saving schemes.