New South Wales

Population:	6.927 million (2007)
GHG Emissions:	162.7 MtCO₂e (2007)

Targets and Goals

A 60% cut in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 in line with the Federal Government targets.
The NSW Government has committed to become carbon neutral.

Top Actions

Energy Efficiency

NSW has a target to implement 4,000 gigawatt hours ofannual electricity savingsthrough NSW energy efficiency programs by 2014.
The NSW Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme (GGAS)requires electricity retailers to meet mandatory GHG reduction benchmarks through improvements in energy efficiency, for example, through the distribution of energy efficient light bulbs and water efficient shower-heads. GGAS resulted in more than 20% of households in NSW being retrofitted with efficient compact fluorescent lamps as well as 91 million tonnes of GHG emissions being saved or offset in the first six years of its operation.GGAS will cease when the Commonwealths Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) commences.
The Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) will help NSW families and businesses cut their electricity use and save money on their power bills. The ESS works by setting an energy savings target for electricity retailers. Retailers meet their target by obtaining and surrendering energy saving certificates (ESCs) which represent delivered energy efficiencies such as lighting or air-conditioning upgrades, or providing discounts to householders for high efficiency appliances. The ESS target will start from 0.4% and increase to 4% of total annual NSW electricity sales by 2014. The ESS builds on the success of the energy efficiency component of the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme.
The NSW Climate Change Fund (CCF) provides AU$700 million (US$644 million) in funding to stimulate investment in water and energy infrastructure, assist people and businesses to use less electricity and water, and put downward pressure on bills and the demand for water and energy resources.
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has approved a staged approach to mandating a national roll-out of smart meters, in areas where the benefits are shown to outweigh the costs. Smart meters record the amount of electricity used by customers and the time of day when that usage occurs. This allows retailers to charge more during times of peak demand and less at other times. The objective is to change consumer behaviour by charging higher prices for electricity consumed during periods of peak demand.
The Australian Energy Market Commission has a number of projects looking at how to facilitate demand management in the National Electricity Market. The NSW distribution businesses have financial incentives for investing in demand management through their regulatory pricing processes.
The National Strategy on Energy Efficiency will accelerate the development of energy efficient commercial and residential buildings. Within the Strategy is the National Framework for Energy Efficiency which establishes mandatory energy performance standards (MEPS)and Energy Rating labelsfor consumer and industrial equipment. The work program for this project will significantly broaden the range of covered products and increase the level of stringency.
The Building Sustainability Index (BASIX)requires all new residential homes or renovations in NSW over AU$50,000 (US$46,000) to achieve a 40% reduction in GHG emissions, compared to the average NSW home (saving an estimated 9.5 million tonnes of GHG emissions by 2020). From 2005-08, 42,570 housing approvals saved 5.7 billion litres of water and 173 million kilograms of CO₂e.
The NSW Government has committed to reduce emissions from building use to 2000 levels by 2020. NSW Government agencies will have their buildings audited and brought up to 4.5 star NABERS Energy and Water ratings by 2011. Moreover, the NSW Government Sustainability Policy also includes requirements for water savings, cleaner car fleets, and waste and reduced resource use.

Renewable Energy

New South Wales has a target to achieve 20% renewable energy consumption by 2020 in light of the Federal Governments expanded Renewable Energy Target.
The NSW Government has established six Renewable Energy (Wind) Precincts across NSW and has introduced state-wide regulatory reforms to attract new renewable energy investment. The reforms will facilitate wind farms through a strategic approach to grid connection, streamlined planning approvals processes, and enhanced community consultation processes.
The Renewable Energy Development Program (REDP) under the NSW Governments AU$700 million (US$648 million) Climate Change Fund provides AU$40 million (US$37 million) funding over 4 years for the demonstration and early commercialization of new renewable energy technologies. This Program includes new emerging technologies such as solar thermal systems and geothermal technologies and new designs for other more established technologies using the sun, wind, waves and tides to generate energy. The REDP is expected to deliver annual savings of more than 418,000 tonnes of direct GHG emissions. Seven projects were allocated AU$27.3 million (US$25.3 million) in 2008.
The Solar Bonus Scheme is a net feed-in tariffmodel and will pay the owners of eligible solar photovoltaic (PV) systems AU60 cents (US55 cents) per kilowatt hour for the renewable energy they feed into the national electricity grid. The new Scheme is set to commence on 1 January 2010.

Clean Transport

The Cleaner Vehicles Action Plan will improve air quality in NSW and reduce fuel consumption, oil dependence and GHG emissions by developing the market for cleaner new motor vehicles. Key elements of the Plan include:
- NSW Clean Car Benchmarks which rate new light vehicles according to their emissions of noxious and GHGs.
- The Green Vehicle Guide, a consumer guide to the environmental performance of new cars and light trucks, which has been developed into a national scheme.
- The Cleaner NSW Government Fleet Program, which requires NSW Government agencies to purchase vehicles with lower average fuel consumption (resulting in significant reductions in GHG emissions and millions of dollars in annual fuel savings).
- A requirement that NSW Government fleet vehicles are compatible with E10 blends (or other alternative fuels).
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles To demonstrate the potential of electric vehicles to reduce emissions, the NSW Government commissioned the University of Technology Sydney to convert a Toyota Prius into a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle that can feed power back into the grid. The vehicle was released in April 2009 and is being trialled as a Government fleet vehicle. The Government is also taking part in trial of Mitsubishis Innovative Electric Vehicle (MiEV).
The NSW Government introduced Australias first biofuels mandate in 2007, requiring that ethanol account for a minimum of 2% of the petrol sold in NSW. This will be progressively increased to 10% by 2011.
The NSW Government has contributed more than AU$300 million (US$277 million) to bike paths, creating 200 km of new cycleways every year in NSW since Action for Bikes: BikePlan 2010 was released by the Government in 1999.
The new NSW BikePlan will establish a whole-of-government approach to providing both the infrastructure needs, and the education and information campaigns required to support more people to cycle more often, more safely.
Sustainable Mobility Initiatives for Local Environments (SMILE) aims to achieve behaviour change through research into the drivers of transportation choice and then implementing programs according to the needs of specific target groups.
The Government is implementing a new website tool the Voluntary Green Registration programme to give drivers a better understand the GHG impacts of their car and identify how they can offset their emissions.
NSW FleetWise Partnership is a voluntary program that aims to reduce GHG emissions and other air pollutants from fleet vehicles in NSW. NSW is also working to have FleetWise rolled out on a national basis and on a voluntary basis by participating jurisdictions.
NSW is developing an environmental rating scheme for heavy vehicles to recognise better environmental performance and new leading edge technologies used in trucks and buses.
NSW is improving rail services though The Rail Clearways Program (due for completion in 2010) and bus services through bus reform, including the Passenger Transport Amendment (Bus Reform) Act 2004.
NSW is also working to pilot a SmartWay-style voluntary emissions reduction program involving the freight industry. This may involve establishing networks of organisations that give priority to accredited SmartWay carriers and working with heavy vehicle fleet operators to encourage them to implement innovative fuel and emissions savings devices on their vehicles (such as improved vehicle aerodynamics, idle-off devices, low roll resistant tires, or driver training).

Sustainable Land Use

Research is being undertaken to:
- reduce methane emissions from cattle and sheep by improved breeding and feed efficiency;
- build the stock of carbon in soils by changing grazing patterns, improving ground cover, revegetation, and adding composts and char to soil; and
- maximize carbon sequestration in trees.
The Government is piloting a system which allows a Catchment Management Authority to bring together revegetation projects to seek to realise their carbon value.

Waste Management

The NSW Government is providing credit under the NSW Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme for emissions abatement due to avoided waste disposal.
The NSW Government has a Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy which sets recycling targets for 2014 as well as goals to hold waste disposal steady over a 5 year time frame, reduce littering, toxicity in materials and guidelines on minimizing environmental harm from waste disposal, recovering resources through recycling. Progress against the strategies targets is reported every 2 years at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/warr/WARRStrategy2007.htm
Waste reduction is also driven through the Governments economic instrument, the Waste and Environment Levy, which is applied to waste disposed to landfills. This levy, with annual increases scheduled into the future, enables recyclers to be more cost competitive and encourages further investment in resource recovery.

Promoting low carbon technology

The Sydney Carbon Market Taskforce is advising the NSW Government on actions to establish Sydney as the national and Asia-Pacific carbon market hub. The Taskforce has developed a Strategic Action Plan which will be released for stakeholder consultation in October 2009.
The AU$5 million (US$4.5 million) NSW Energy Challenge Prize for research into innovative clean energy initiatives was announced in July 2009. The prize is available to international research collaborations which include a NSW University and a company with its headquarters in NSW.