Guelph tooks steps towards being an even greener city on Monday.
First Guelph City Council endorsed a recommendation from Our Energy Guelph Task Force that the city strive to become net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and look into what can be done to help make that happen.
Net zero refers to offsetting carbon emissions, producing as much as is used.
Then council went one step further, voting in favour of a motion by coun. Leanne Piper that the City of Guelph corporation attempt to achieve 100 percent of its energy needs through renewable sources by 2050.
The decisions, which still have to be ratified by council at the end of the month, came during a committee of the whole meeting that included an update on the city’s Community Energy Initiative by Our Energy Guelph, a group of environmental experts that was created by the city 16 months ago to evaluate the city’s Community Energy Initiative first 10 years of work.
The CEI was set up in 2006 to establish a 25-year plan to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the city.
“We’re not here to sugar coat it, it’s a very high bar. But we believe it’s a bar that’s based in reality,” said University of Guelph professor Kirby Calvert, co-chair of the task force, on the net zero goal.
“This doesn’t signal we are going to tell homeowners to get off their natural gas furnaces,” he added. What it does is “enables actions.”
Policy, partnerships along with city and community actions are seen as keys to achieving the goal.
Next step is for city staff to report back to council early next year with specific corporate targets around greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption and recommend specific initiatives aimed at achieving the two goals.
Council wants the information early in 2019 so that the recommendations from staff might be considered as part of the 2019 budget.
“I hear experts in the field say it’s doable,” Piper said of 100 percent renewable.
She also told the representatives of the Our Energy Guelph that they had “set us down a path where you’ve challenged the corporation.”
Achieving net zero could include anything from buying carbon credits to retrofitting ones home so that it was more energy efficient.
Jonathan Knowles, co-chair of the task force, told council that “net zero” is “really about acknowledging that this is the way we should be moving towards,” and driving behaviour in the right direction.
Earlier in the evening, Evan Ferrari of eMERGE Guelph delegated, saying that “net zero is a great strategy as a step along the way” to 100 percent renewable.
Prior to the passing of Piper’s 100 percent renewable motion, Ferrari said “100 percent renewable is the motivating maple sugar.”
“The City of Guelph must make a bolder goal for itself,” Ferrari said.
And it did.
Our Energy Guelph plans on continuing its work, transforming into a not-for-profit organization not connected to the city, but working with them. That would be done with the city’s blessing.
