The Hepburn Shire community has reached 42% renewable energy use.
A large portion of the power generation has come from household solar with a total of 17,840MWh over the year. Hepburn Wind generated a further 10,150MWh.
The Victorian state average is 29% renewable energy use. The difference between local and state-wide renewable energy use is, in part, a result of the Shire’s commitment to transition to zero-net carbon emissions by increasing local solar and wind power generation.
This news comes from Hepburn Z-NET, a collaborative partnership helping the Shire move towards zero-net energy by 2025 and zero-net emissions by 2030. They recently completed an electricity audit of the whole Shire, finding that net emissions from electricity in the 2021 financial year dropped 6,640 tonnes, to 35,640 tonnes of carbon over the year.
The audit also found that renewables were growing across each of the Shire wards, with growth of up to 6% being registered for 2021.
Hepburn Z-NET partnership programs have been helping the Shire to tackle emissions in various sectors, ranging from transport, land-use change, stationary energy and waste.
Hepburn Shire Mayor Tim Drylie said that Hepburn Z-NET was a game-changer for community-led energy transitions and climate action.
“Hepburn Z-NET is leading the way when it comes to tackling climate change head-on. Reaching 42% renewables across the shire demonstrates the commitment of residents to build a more sustainable future,” said Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie.
If you would like to find out more about Hepburn Z-NET and their recent achievement, you can view the website here: https://hepburnznet.org.au/program/tracking-progress
