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Reviewing Key Issues

[Licensing arrangements: Except where noted this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia licence. You are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work, so long as you attribute Environment Victoria and the use is for non commercial purposes. A copy of this licence is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc/2.5/au/ or by writing to info@creativecommons.org.au. This excludes organisational logos and charts, diagrams or images which are listed as being sourced from another person or organisation (for these you will need to check the copyright requirements specified by this person/organisation).]

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Energy

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Where does our energy come from?

Approximately 95% of electricity generated in Victoria currently comes from burning coal

Most of the electricity used to power homes and businesses in Victoria is generated in the Latrobe Valley. Hazelwood power station in the picture is the oldest of these power stations and quite inefficient by modern standards. The coal that is burnt is brown coal and is mined near the power plant.

[Image source: Environment Victoria]

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Australia’s total emissionsSource: State and Territory Greenhouse Gas Inventories 2006, published by the Australian Government

(Emissions from extracting oil & gas)

(emissions from electricity generation)

Definitions of these sectors and other terms are as follows:> The ‘Stationary Energy’ sector is mainly greenhouse gas emissions from the production of electricity and other direct burning of fossil fuels in industries such as manufacturing and construction.> The ‘Transport’ sector comprises greenhouse gas emissions from air, road, rail and shipping transportation.> The ‘Fugitive Emissions from Fuels’ sector comprises the greenhouse gas emissions from the extraction and distribution of coal, oil and natural gas.> The ‘Agriculture’ sector comprises the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide only (that is, greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide) from livestock, crops, agricultural and forest soils, and agricultural burning including the prescribed burning of savannas.> The ‘Land Use Change’ sub-sector includes greenhouse gas emissions from the conversion of forests to grassland and cropland.> The ‘Forestry’ sub-sector is carbon dioxide removals (that is, carbon sinks) from plantations established on agricultural land since 1990, referred to as ‘afforestation and reforestation’ in the Kyoto Protocol. See the Australian Greenhouse Office web site at http://www.greenhouse.gov.au for more detail.

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Vulnerability to climate changein key sectors

2080 + 5.4 °C

2050 + 2.7 °C

2020 + 1.0 °C

[Image source: Adapted from Figure 11.4. Vulnerability to climate change aggregated for key sectors in the Australia and New Zealand region, allowing for current coping range and adaptive capacity. & Table 11.4 in Australia and NewZealand. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report]of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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Where does most energy get used at home?

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Energy used in the home

Source: Victorian Energy Efficiency Action Statement, Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2006

•Energy in the residential sector (houses) is mainly used for space heating and cooling (i.e. heaters and air conditioners), and water heating.•While appliances only account for 17% of energy consumed in Victorian homes, they generate 40% of household greenhouse pollution as most appliances use electricity rather than gas.•Energy use in the residential sector is predicted to grow by 53% by 2029-30. This is driven by the trend of increased appliance use and appliances which use 'standby' power.

[Figure from http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/1820-energy-use-by-sector-.aspReference: Residential sector energy services 2004-05 - Victorian Energy Efficiency Action Statement, Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2006.

Copyright information from the Sustainability.vic.gov.au website:Copyright of materials present on the Sustainability Victoria website resides with the State of Victoria, Australia. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under copyright legislation, no part may be reproduced or reused for any commercial purposes whatsoever. Copyright in the material that appears on the website is subject to the operation

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Waste

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490 kg garbage per house per year199 kg per person per year

490 kg

From 2005 to 2006, Victorians generated an average of nearly 500 kg of garbage per household per year. Each person generated an average of 199 kg per year, which is a 7 kg decrease from 206 kg per person the year before.

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The waste hierarchy

2 Reusing materials 

3 Recycling & reprocessing materials

4 Energy recovery before disposing 

5 No conservation of resources 

1 Maximum conservation of resources

Aim to do things at the top of the waste hierarchy first, and things at the bottom only when you really need to.

Avoidance – it quicker, easier and better to avoid the waste in the first placeReuse – if it has been made then it is then better to reuseRecycle – can we turn the waste into something useful?Recover energy – when something can’t be recycled, it can often still have the energy in it recovered, for example by burning it for heat, or composting it to give energy to plantsDisposal – needs to be a last resort. We need to start thinking about why we should even make something that just gets disposed of.

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Water

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Which catchment management area are you in?

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River health in Melbourne’s  water catchment

In 2002, an assessment was made of the overall health of Australia’s more intensively used catchments. The assessment looked at land, water and biodiversity in each catchment, including problems such as salinity, erosion, sedimentation, pesticide use, pollution, roads, native tree-cover, human population and pests. The survey, done by the National Land and Water Resources Audit, found:5% of catchments are in the poorest condition15% are in low range condition50% are in mid-range condition, and 30% are in better condition.These stats suggest that the condition of 70% of Australia’s most populated catchments is merely average or worse than average.This map shows the health of the river catchments around Melbourne.

Map credit: http://www.melbournewater.com.au/images/rivers_and_creeks/maps/irc_main_lrg.gif

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Source: Our Water, Our Future: The Next Stage of the Government’s Water Plan, June 2007

Declining river flows

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How much water do we use?

• Average daily water use per person info for your area is available from:www.ourwater.vic.gov.au/saving/towns/household‐water‐consumption

• E.g. Ballarat 151L/person/day; Geelong 178L; Melbourne 159L; Mildura 436L

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Where do we use our water?

Average household water use

Bathroom51%

Laundry22%

Garden19%

Kitchen8%

(Note: This breakdown is technically for a new four person home. The actual figure will vary from household to household, and is particularly affected by if there is a garden or not.)

Figures from the Dept of Sustainability and Environment