Paul Bibby
Two hundred tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions will be saved each year at the Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre in Murwillumbah thanks to the installation of a 486-panel solar system.
Coming in at a cost of $198,202, which came from the State Government, the system is the largest to be installed on a Tweed Council facility.
Alyce Togo from Kingscliff at the formal ‘switching on’ of the new solar system at the Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre in Murwillumbah
It will meet 42 per cent of the Centre’s power needs, saving it $42,500 a year.
‘Council is committed to protecting and enhancing the Tweed’s beautiful natural environment for current and future generations,” Tweed Deputy Mayor Chris Cherry said.
‘One of the ways we are doing that is by committing to produce 25 per cent of our own electricity from renewable sources by 2022, and 50 per cent by 2025.
‘With this installation, half of the Council buildings targeted for solar have now had panels installed, saving 750 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere. ‘
The system will save 4,725 tonnes of CO2 emissions over it’s lifespan, the equivalent of 40 passenger vehicles’ driving for one year.
Joining the deputy mayor at the announcement was 11-year-old local Alyce Togo, who recently campaigned to have compost bins placed in all classrooms at her school and participated in the recent Clean Up Australia Day at Chinderah.
Re: The pool/council solar system “will save 4,725 tonnes of CO2 emissions over it’s lifespan, the equivalent of 40 passenger vehicles’ driving for one year.”
The average vehicle emits 4.6 t/y of CO2 (and 1.8 t of water). 40 passenger car emit 184 t/yr
The rough amount is easy to guesstimate: the CO2 emissions will be 3.67 x the weight of the C in the car fuel, and petrol is 86% C (and 14% H). So CO2 emissions are 3.16 x weight of petrol consumed. 4.6 t/yr of CO2 means 1.46 t or ~2000 L of petrol was burned (20,000km at 10L/100km). I display this because the writer was not thinking; and many people may not be aware that several times more pollution is thrown into the common atmosphere from an operating petrol car than the weight or volume of petrol put into it.
So 4720t saved in the system’s lifetime is 1000 passenger cars per yr, which sounds better.
However the comparison is irrelevant. We have to eliminate essentially all car emissions, electricity generation, and building emissions, and most of those emissions are easy and profitable to eliminate. We can’t, and don’t need to, offset one against another. So why make a spurious comparison, and why then make it seem like the system is accomplishing so little?
Re: The pool/council solar system “will save 4,725 tonnes of CO2 emissions over it’s lifespan, the equivalent of 40 passenger vehicles’ driving for one year.”
The average vehicle emits 4.6 t/y of CO2 (and 1.8 t of water). 40 passenger car emit 184 t/yr
So 4720t saved in the system’s lifetime is equivalent to 1000 passenger cars driving for one yr, or 40 passenger cars driving for 25 years (the life of the solar system). That sounds better.
It is easy to estimate the rough amount of CO2 emitted by a car: the CO2 emissions will be 3.67 x the weight of the C in the car fuel, and petrol is 86% C (and 14% H). So CO2 emissions are 3.16 x weight of petrol consumed. 4.6 t/yr of CO2 means 1.46 t or ~2000 L of petrol was burned (20,000km at 10L/100km).
I display this because many people may not be aware that several times more pollution is thrown into the common atmosphere from an operating petrol car than the weight or volume of petrol put into it.
However the comparison is irrelevant. We have to eliminate essentially all car emissions, electricity generation, and building emissions, and most of those emissions are easy and profitable to eliminate. We can’t, and don’t need to, offset one against another. So why make a spurious comparison, and why then make it seem like the system is accomplishing so little?