Sweden’s sustainable cities a lesson for Australia

The involvement of local government has been essential to Swedish city’s remarkable carbon reduction success, experts say.

26 October, 2018

Recognising councils’ action on climate change

A council’s floating solar farm and a museum’s energy upgrade project are among local government climate change initiatives recognised in awards.

22 October, 2018

Landmark renewable energy deal to slash emissions

Major agreement will see 18 NSW councils secure more than a third of their retail energy from a renewable energy generator.

14 October, 2018

Partnership powering councils’ climate change action

A not-for-profit initiative supporting local government efforts to reduce emissions and adopt clean energy has been ‘overwhelmed’ by the interest from councils.

23 July, 2018

Councils are “leading action” on climate change

Local governments are increasingly adopting corporate emissions reduction targets but are challenged by a lack of resourcing, report finds.

21 May, 2018

Online tool to help governments plan solar use

A new platform that calculates the solar power potential of rooftops promises to help local councils and urban planners make decisions about investments in solar.

12 April, 2018

Councils, industry call for national waste and recycling plan  

Local government is scrambling to avoid a “recycling crisis” as China clamps down on accepting foreign waste, which threatens to derail councils’ collection of kerbside recycling, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

19 March, 2018

States leading the way on energy storage

The Tesla battery farm in South Australia Australia’s states, and in particular South Australia, are leading a battery and energy storage boom which will transform the way energy is used and distributed in Australia. The Climate Council has released a new report on the technology: ‘Fully Charged: Renewals and Storage Powering Australia’. The report says […]

19 February, 2018

International Energy Agency gives Australia low marks for energy policy

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its first detailed analysis of Australian energy market in five years. It is not complimentary. Australia’s energy policy, it says, is uncoordinated and falling behind the rest of the world on many measures. The IEA is not given to overstatement. It is an OECD agency established in 1974 […]

15 February, 2018

Local Government Super wins environmental awards

Local Government Super (LGS), the industry superannuation fund for NSW local government employees, has won two environmental awards for its property portfolio. It has been awarded a 5-Star Green Star rating for its entire direct property portfolio – the first portfolio in Australia to achieve the rating. It has also been named Australia’s ‘Best Green […]

11 February, 2018

National Electricity Market ‘broken’ – Tasmania wants out

The National Electricity Market (NEM) is under fire from many quarters. A new parliamentary report has criticised many aspects of its operation, and now Tasmania’s Liberal Government has said that if returned to office after the 3 March election it will withdraw the state entirely from the NEM by 20121. Tasmania, which has abundant hydroelectric […]

5 February, 2018

Cities Power Partnership doubles in size

The Cities Power Partnership (CPP), a consortium of Australian local government authorities to encourage the use of renewable energy, has increased its number of members to 70, exactly double the number that signed up when the group was formed in July 2017. Numbers are likely to grow even more after the next round of applications […]

28 January, 2018

Opinion – Hot summer, but no end to climate wars

Record-breaking temperatures across Australia have seen no end to the continued bickering over climate and energy policy in Australia. The release of Keating-era cabinet papers from 1994 show that the Governmnet was struggling with how to address the issue even then. In 1992, Environment Minister Ros Kelly had signed Australia up to the new UN […]

11 January, 2018

Audit Office slams Government’s clean coal and carbon capture efforts

The Federal Government’s current energy policy says it is ‘technology agnostic’, and that carbon fuels will have a continued role as energy sources well into the future. It talks often of ‘clean coal’ and of carbon capture, technologies that are intended to reduce the emissions of exist fossil fuel energy sources. Despite these technologies being […]

13 December, 2017