LED street lights will soon be installed across the Mountains as part of council's drive to reduce its energy usage and carbon footprint.
The $800,000 project to replaced 2,781 mercury vapour lights with LEDs is part of a package of energy-saving measures council proposes to implement this financial year.
Other projects are:
- Replacing inefficient lighting in council facilities with LEDs;
- Installing solar panels and LED lights at the two council-owned caravan parks (Katoomba Falls and Blackheath);
- Renewal of an existing gas boiler at council's Katoomba headquarters with a high efficiency condensing boiler;
- New LED lights at the Hope St, Blaxland, facility; and
- LED lights at the South Street, Katoomba, council depot.
The whole package will cost council $1.09m dollars but will lead to annual savings of $238,100. It will also mean carbon savings of 1,104 tonnes/year.
Money for the project will come from council's carbon revolving reserve (CRR). This is a fund to be used solely to invest in projects that reduce council's carbon emissions and reduce long-term operational costs.
The money is used to implement the plans then the financial savings made, from electricity savings for example, are diverted back into the CRR until the initial investment and a 10 per cent administration fee is repaid.
A report to last Tuesday's council meeting showed council was on track to meet a target of 30 per cent reduction in emissions. It has achieved a 22 per cent reduction in combined emissions. The combined total includes scope 1 (gas released from landfill sites, bottled and mains gas use, fleet fuel usage), scope 2 (indirect emissions from consumption of purchased electricity or heat) and scope 3 (all other indirect emissions produced outside council but as a result of council's activities).