The Knox Council has made steady progress in the last 12 months in reducing their carbon emissions, which have reduced by 2.7 per cent since the last financial year in 2021-2022.
The council has brought their levels down by an equivalent of 225 tonnes, now only producing 8367 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is comparable to removing over 100 passenger cars from the road for one year.
After adopting the Climate Response Plan on 27 September 2021, the council aims to achieve the net zero goal by 2030.
There have been some key achievements in the 2022-2023 financial year, such as the installation of 7 electric vehicle stations, and while 4 of them are used for the council fleet, 3 are available for public use.
The council has also planted 39,611 plants, with 38,000 of them being indigenous and 1611 trees.
Over 500 streetlights have been upgraded to energy-efficient LEDs on Boronia’s major roads. In addition, five council sites now have 100 kilowatts of rooftop solar and 76 kilowatt-hour batteries for use.
Businesses have also been invited to join a renewable buying group, with one business signing the agreement.
There has also been the addition of four My Energy and Water Saver kits which are available for loan at the council’s libraries.
Plans for the 2023-2024 financial year focus on further upgrading approximately 1500 more streetlights to LEDs and installing four more electric vehicle charging stations for the public.
Nine out of the 55 actions outlined in the Climate Response Plan have been completed as of now, but 26 actions are on schedule to be in motion.
