Climate Change Newsletter

Latest news from the Tasmanian Climate Change Office.

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OCTOBER 2019

Welcome to the October 2019 edition of the Tasmanian Climate Change Office’s Newsletter. We’re always interested to hear about your climate change adaptation or emissions reduction projects, events and ideas, so please feel free to send us an email with the details for us to include in future editions or share on Facebook.

Out and about

Welcome to all our new subscribers! It's great to have your support. We've been very pleased to meet you at recent events around the State.

LGAT Conference

TCCO team members enjoyed the opportunity to chat to many of you at our booth at this year's Local Government Association of Tasmania Conference. It's always good to put faces to names, and to have the chance to talk to you about what's important in your community. There was a lot of interest in local-level climate information for regions across Tasmania. You can access the Local Government Area Climate Profiles on our website.

Curious Climate Tasmania

As part of this year's National Science Week, four Curious Climate Tasmania events were held in Queenstown, Launceston, St Helens and Hobart. The events were an opportunity for Tasmania's world-class scientists and researchers to answer some of the most popular climate change questions from Tasmanians. Over 500 people came to the events across the State, and stayed on after the presentations to ask questions.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their questions through the ABC, and who came along to hear from the scientists and researchers in person. Curious Climate Tasmania is a collaboration between the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, the University of Tasmania, ABC Radio, the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, supported by the Tasmanian Climate Change Office and National Science Week. Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to make these events such a success.

Did you miss the events? Don't worry! Videos of the presentations will be published on the Curious Climate Tasmania website. There's also a collection of ABC Morning - Climate Change Panel Discussions and other publications available to download:

What can you do about climate change?

"It's not about a few people being 'perfect' at taking action, but... almost all of us having a go 'imperfectly' and doing what we can."
Professor Gretta Pecl

ChargeSmart Electric Vehicle Charging Grants

Tasmania is well on the way to a statewide electric vehicle charging network. We had a great response to our recent Electric Vehicle ChargeSmart Grants Programs for fast charging and destination charging. By 2020, the Tasmanian Government will have provided over $600,000 over three years to support the installation of electric vehicle chargers for local residents and visitors who wish to tour the State using electric vehicles. This includes the installation of four ultra-fast 350kW charging stations that are capable of charging the next generation of electric vehicles in less than 10 minutes. Visit our website for a list of the successful applicants.

News of the EV chargers has made the international travel press! A story on travelandynews.com (based in India) highlights the first customer to charge their electric vehicle at the newly installed charger at the Bischoff Hotel in Waratah. Read the travelandynews story: 'Electric vehicle charging station installed: Australia hotel gets its first customer', or the story in The Advocate: 'Bischoff Hotel at Waratah welcomes its first electric vehicle customer'.

Preparing our government fleets for electric vehicles

The Tasmanian Government’s Smarter Fleets Program is supporting local and State government in preparing to integrate electric vehicles.

Smarter Fleets Program - Tasmanian Government

The Program for the Tasmanian Government is well underway, with agency fleet managers participating in an introductory workshop earlier this year (including a chance to drive an electric vehicle) and fleet data assessments are being undertaken.

The next step is the development of a tailored Electric Vehicle Transition Plan for each agency. The focus will then move to implementation, which will coincide with a number of new electric vehicle models being introduced into the Australian market.

To learn more, download the Smarter Fleets - Electric Vehicles in the Tasmanian Government Information Sheet (PDF).

Smarter Fleets Program - Local government

The local government Program has recently concluded and received positive feedback from the participating councils. The 10 participating councils received fleet data analysis and tailored assistance to help them in considering introducing electric vehicles into their fleets.

TCCO would like to thank the participating councils for leading the way in preparing for electric vehicle uptake.

Resource guides are being developed to share the key learnings and information from the Program. The guides will be available on the TCCO website in the coming months.

Power$mart Businesses - funding available

Energy costs make up a significant proportion of the operating costs of Tasmanian businesses. The Tasmanian Government's Power$mart Businesses program offers funding to review the energy use of your business and help find ways to reduce it. Improved energy efficiency can help lower your business power bills, protect against future energy price rises, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Visit our website to learn more about Power$mart Businesses.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report

Tasmania's latest greenhouse gas emissions figures have now been released, in the Tasmanian Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report. The report explains where Tasmania's emissions come from, and how our emissions have changed between 1990 and 2017.

In 2017, Tasmania's emissions were 0.87 megatonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent. This is a 95 per cent decrease from 1990 levels, which confirms Tasmania's status as a very low emitter.

Tasmania has a legislated target to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to 60 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. This is the sixth year in a row where we have exceeded that target.

Visit our website to ream more about Tasmania's greenhouse gas emissions.

Upcoming Events

E-bike Expos

TCCO is supporting Bicycle Network Tasmania to present two electric bike expos, in Launceston and Hobart. The expos will provide information about e-bikes - what they are, new styles and options, your local suppliers and how to look after an e-bike. There will also be an opportunity to take an e-bike for a test ride.
Date: 27 October 2019 (Launceston) and 24 November 2019 (Hobart)
Venue:

Launceston - Royal Park, 78 Paterson Street
Hobart - The Regatta Ground, Hobart, between McVilly Drive and the Cenotaph

Information: Bicycle Network Tasmania

Don't forget to check our events calendar for more upcoming events!

Other news

Climate Adaptation Australia

A new Australian climate adaptation resource is now available. This research project aims to enable social innovation for local climate adaptability. The project hub provides case studies and stories of innovative local climate initiatives, and diverse ways of building local knowledge. Climate Adaptation Australia is part of the Australian Research Council Discovery Program.

NABERS Annual Report published

The latest NABERS Annual Report confirms that the Australian building sector is undergoing a sustainability transformation. NABERS, the National Australian Built Environment Rating System, measures and compares the environmental performance of buildings. The program is helping the built environment reduce its emissions, use water more responsibly, get closer to zero waste and create healthier places for people to live and work. Find out more good news and useful insights in the NABERS Annual Report.