Logan City Council is Carbon Neutral
Logan City Council’s Journey
Located close to Queensland’s Brisbane, Logan city is bustling and home to over 350,000 residents living in including Beenleigh, Browns Plain and Jimboomba. Last year, Logan city in achieved a carbon neutral certification. With this certification Logan City Council joined the growing number of cities who value sustainability and our planet.
Emissions reduction in an area with such a large population, this presents a significant challenge for the Council, and accordingly an opportunity to focus on reducing emissions in electricity use and landfill gas; two of the largest sources of emissions in the area.
The journey to carbon neutral for Logan City Council included concentrating on solar power systems which were installed in libraries, sports centres and water facilities. The Council used gas from organic waste in 2021-2022 and subsequently utilised this for electricity generation.
In 2018 the Council set a target of achieving certified carbon neutral operations. By 2022, this goal was accomplished by using the following outline:
monitoring our carbon emissions
avoiding and reducing our carbon emissions
embracing renewable energy technology in our city
offsetting our leftover carbon emissions.
Logan City Council concentrated on solar power systems.
Logan City Council has undertaken various projects to achieve carbon neutrality, with a central focus on facilitating solar power, with over 2,000 kilowatts (kW) that assist in ensuring the facilities in the Council function. Such facilities include:
Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant (1.1 MW AC)
Council Administration Centre (200 kW)
Logan North Aquatic Centre (100 kW)
Marsden Depot (100 kW)
Beenleigh Library (100 kW)
Logan North Library (82 kW)
Mt Warren Sports Centre (70 kW)
Marsden Library (55 kW)
Browns Plains Recycling Centre (30 kW)
Supporting sustainability
The Mayor who led these achievements, was Mayor Darren Power. At the time, he had the following to say:
“We have had our eye on this important target for four years and it is fantastic to have reached our goal. Council takes climate change very seriously and is committed to protecting the environment for future generations to enjoy… Council is already investigating new methods to even further reduce our emissions in coming years.”
At the time that Logan City Council achieved carbon neutral certification, there was approximately 15 local governments that had been certified. It has been hinted to that this is not the last of the Council’s efforts to explore sustainability programs.
The city of Logan achieves carbon neutrality. Image: obtained from Logan City Facebook.
Logan Council will continue to review its emission reduction plan periodically to maintain carbon neutrality. Emissions reduction initiatives that Logan Council is considering comprise of:
City-wide, 16 per cent of streetlights are now LED,
Decreasing fuel use from Council vehicles – this has been reduced by 15 per cent on four years ago as a result of the Council’s innovative Green Fleet Strategy.
The City of Logan is taking active steps to further reduce electricity use, with focus on expanding the solar farm at the Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to 4MW.
Sources:
To find out more, please read here:
IGAQ: https://www.lgaq.asn.au/news/article/1394/logan-city-council-gets-carbon-neutral-certification
Logan Qld: https://www.logan.qld.gov.au/certified-carbon-neutral-1
SolarQuotes: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/logan-carbon-neutral-mb2804/