FAQs

The draft Plan is the result of an engagement process spanning more than two years. It has been timed to enable its alignment to and reflection of the Hobart - a Community Vision for our Island and the City of Hobart Strategic Plan 2019 -2029 and to accommodate a new generation of targets from 2020 onwards.

The City of Hobart reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by over 70% from 2000 to 2010.  This was mainly achieved by the installation of cogeneration at the McRobies Gully Waste Management Centre, which converts landfill emissions to electricity that is exported to the grid for residential use. 

Since 2010, the City has focused on reducing energy and greenhouse gas emissions across its corporate assets including buildings, recreation facilities, streetlights and fleet vehicles, trucks and heavy plant.  The City’s Energy and Greenhouse Program by 2019 achieved an overall reduction from 2010 levels of 17.25 % in emissions and 34% energy reduction.  The following shows energy corporate (council owned) reductions across :

Actions have included:

• Upgrading 98% of the street lights owned by the City to more efficient LED technology
• Installing a 1 041 panel photovoltaic solar system at the Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre
• Set a target of 40% canopy cover in urbanised areas by 2046
• Improved bicycle facilities to encourage active transport

To support ingoing emissions reductions from the McRobies Gully landfill the City has:

• Introduced composting packaging at the Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre with the aim of diverting 70% of waste from the Centre from landfill.
• Introduced the Food Organic Garden Organics (FOGO) collection service  
• Reduced the amount of waste it sends to landfill by two thirds (%)

Diverted the equivalent of 700 garbage trucks from landfill, with the introduction of the green waste collection service

The City has already successfully achieved two decadal (10-yearly) targets that reduce its energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from across its activities, buildings, streetlights and fleet.  The City of Hobart is now considering its next generation of targets.

To date the City has advanced a careful and strategic program to reduce emissions and energy use across its activities and operations: waste and buildings, fleet – cars, heavy and minor plant, public and street lighting; and services.  These are where it can directly control and make resulted in significant costs as well as emissions and savings.  

Targets in the community sector are more difficult for the City to achieve as it is not responsible for: private and public transport, energy supply and private energy use in households and businesses.  To be successful in achieving a community target requires collaborative action with energy and transport providers, the Tasmanian government and the community.

The Draft Sustainable Hobart Action Plan provides the opportunity for broader community (energy and emissions) targets to be investigated. 

The three actions relating to waste in the draft Sustainable Hobart Action Plan are additional to the City of Hobart's Waste Management Strategy; which sets out the plan to achieve a zero waste target by 2030.

Tasmanian emissions total - 8 200 000 tCO2-e*:

* All figures rounded to nearest thousand

* Tasmanian net emissions are actually negative due to a -10 M tCO2-e carbon sink due to land use changes. This negative offset has been excluded from the total to show emissions sources more clearly

Total Hobart community emissions 525 000 tC02-e:

The City of Hobart monitors corporate greenhouse gas from:

• Landfill where decomposing waste emits methane emissions (methane is 26 more times potent landfill gas than carbon)
• Vehicles and heavy plant (trucks and heavy vehicles) were the combustion of liquid fuels (petrol, diesel and natural gas) creates emissions
• Buildings (Hobart Town Hall, Hobart Council Centre, Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre) community halls and public and street lighting which consume electricity

What is the breakdown of the City of Hobart's corporate (operational) emissions?

The City of Hobart total corporate emissions is 19 000 tCO2-e*

• 77% waste to landfill
• 11% buildings, parks and car parks
• 9% vehicle and plant
• 3% street lighting

The total corporate emissions for the City of Hobart was 19 000 tCO2 -e in 2017–18. Waste-to-landfill emissions, including historical, make up 77 % (14 000 tCO2 -e) of these emissions. The source of the other 23 % (4,000 tCO2 -e) is shown in the chart below.

* Waste is 77% of the total emissions, the above graph represents the remaining figures. These figures arerounded up.

Not all the electricity used in Tasmania comes from renewable sources of hydro and wind. During droughts, when hydro dam levels are low, diesel generators supply electricity, or during periods of peak-demand Victorian coal fired electricity may be imported via Basslink into Tasmania. 

The Australian government collects data on Australia-wide energy use and uses this to determine the emissions associated with a State’s electricity supply on a yearly basis.  Tasmania has a low emissions factor compared to other States for example in 2016 –2017 Tasmania’s emission factor was 0.22 kg CO2e/kWh whereas Victoria’s was 1.16 kg CO2e/kWh.

To find out more information on greenhouse gas measurement and reporting go to https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/climate-change/climate-change/climate-science-data/greenhouse-gas-measurement/publications/national-greenhouse-accounts-factors-august-2019.html

The City of Hobart collects data from its energy bills: electricity, natural gas and liquid fuel (petrol and diesel) and uses the methods determined by the Australian Government to work out its annual emissions and energy use.  It also receives annual reports on the savings from cogeneration plant at McRobies Gully landfill that converts landfill emissions to electricity and calculates savings from its composting operations. It reports this information annually to the Council and also uses it to track its progress towards its energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets. 

To find out more information on how the City measures its greenhouse gas emissions and use reporting go to: https://www.hobartcity.com.au/City-services/Environment/Sustainable-Hobart/Reducing-the-City-of-Hobarts-energy-use 

Governments at all levels, as well as businesses, households and the community each have important, complementary and differentiated roles in responding to climate change. 

State and Commonwealth Governments are primarily responsible for creating the right conditions and incentives for private parties/communities to manage risks from climate impacts and make efficient investment decisions, and for managing risks to public assets and service delivery. 

Councils are on the frontline in dealing with the impacts of climate change. They play a critical role in ensuring that local circumstances are considered in the adaptation responses and in supporting the local communities to take climate action. 

Councils are well positioned to inform State and Commonwealth Governments about the on-the-ground needs of local and regional communities, to communicate directly with communities, and to respond appropriately and in a timely manner to local changes. Specifically, the role of Tasmanian local governments is to: 

• Administer relevant Tasmanian and/or Australian legislation to promote climate action, including the application of relevant codes, such as the Building Code of Australia, City of Hobart Planning Scheme, Emergency Management Act 2006 
• Provide leadership and collaborate across councils and with the Tasmanian Government to act on climate change  
• Manage risks and impacts, and consider opportunities, to assets it owns and manages and services it provides  
• Ensure policies and regulations under its jurisdiction incorporate climate change considerations and are consistent with Tasmanian and Australian government approaches to adaptation and mitigation  
• Facilitate resilience building and adaptive capacity in the local community by providing information on local climate change risks and mitigation  
• Work in partnership with the community, local non-government organisations, businesses and other key stakeholders 
• Implement adaptation and mitigation initiatives contribute appropriate resources to prepare, prevent, respond and recover from detrimental climatic impacts and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

The private/community sector also have a role to play in responding to climate change by: 

• being aware of the risks and their responsibility for managing them; 
• taking steps to understand the magnitude and nature of the specific risks to their assets such as residential houses, businesses and activities; and 
• developing and implementing strategies and actions to manage the risks 

For more information please see: 

• Australian Government https://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/adaptation/publications/national-climate-resilience-and-adaptation-strategy 
• Tasmanian Government http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/climatechange/what_you_can_do 
• City of Hobart https://www.hobartcity.com.au/City-services/Environment/Sustainable-Hobart/Local-Climate-Impacts

Tasmania is fortunate to have the highest resolution climate modeling conducted in Australia. The UTAS Climate Futures for Tasmania (CFT) project provides a sound knowledge base for identifying climate related risks at a local level and subsequently in informing appropriate decisions to manage the risks.  

The City of Hobart worked with the University of Tasmania to develop a climate change profile specific for our municipal area and can be found here. 

Climate profiles have been prepared for each local government area in Tasmanian and can be found on the Department of Premier and Cabinet website. 

To learn about how Tasmanian climate models are made you can view the following video here:  https://stca.tas.gov.au/climate-change-in-southern-tasmania/

In 2016 the City of Hobart formally adopted the Climate Change Adaptation Policy and the report Hobart Climate Change Information for Decision Makers.  The report provides detailed information for a range of climate variables at 30-year time intervals up to 2100. Copies can be found here: https://www.hobartcity.com.au/City-services/Environment/Sustainable-Hobart/Local-Climate-Impacts

You can find information on what climate risks you may be exposed to through several sources including: 

• The Land Information Services Tasmanian (the LIST) https://www.thelist.tas.gov.au/app/content/home 
• The Tasmanian government: http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/climatechange/what_you_can_do/homes/tips/climate-ready_home 
• The City of Hobart: https://www.hobartcity.com.au/City-services/Environment/Sustainable-Hobart

Tasmanian councils are required by the Local Government Act to provide for the health, safety and welfare of their communities.  Although not specifically detailed, it is self-evident that climate change impacts on communities not only in terms of increased temperatures and weather related events but also in terms of efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions as we transition to low carbon future. 

Therefore councils, as well as considering climate matters in their programs and services, also have a key role in supporting communities to ensure relevant information is available to enable informed decision making. The provision of current and accurate energy and greenhouse data by councils helps the community to know where they can most effectively act as society transitions to a low carbon future such as whether to invest in an energy upgrade or renewable energy technologies or participate in activities within their communities to facilitate change.