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According to Professor Newman, the need to go beyond carbon neutral is being recognised as a way of enabling poorer nations to grow in their carbon use. However, only recently has the concept of carbon free urban development (100% renewable energy in buildings and transport) emerged through the use of plug-in electric vehicles connected to a Smart Grid enabling a two-way flow of energy between the batteries and the grid.
NPQ proposes to demonstrate this carbon free approach. Its concept is to be a 100% renewably powered development using wind, waves and sun technology linked through a Smart Grid to electric vehicles. The aims are to:
- Gather world best practice in carbon free urban development;
- Analyse and evaluate the carbon implications in the NPQ development; and
- Provide a set of guidelines for carbon free urban development and accreditation.
Carbon neutral has become a part of the policy arsenal on climate change. Many groups such as ING, Marks and Spencer, Vivo, the Commonwealth Games Village in Melbourne, the Canberra Investment Corporation's development of Googong and the Armadale Redevelopment Authority's Champion Lakes in Perth, claim to be carbon neutral.
The accepted framework for evaluating whether these claims are true varies across the world. Australia's Greenhouse Friendly system certifies whether a project can claim this status. Most often 'carbon neutral' is used only for stationary energy (electrical power) and does not include transport fuels associated with the project, the natural gas used by people in the buildings, the embedded energy in the materials or the greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with the water and waste used or produced in the project.
No Australian subdivision, no matter how green, has yet been certified as a carbon neutral project though some work toward this has been done on the Commonwealth Games Village in Melbourne (Ark Resources, 2003) and in the City of Adelaide's Carbon Neutral Strategy (City of Adelaide, 2005).
Around the world there are many subdivisions that are considered green but only Bed Zed in London and a few small groups of houses in Salt Lake City and Sacramento claim to be carbon neutral; however without any of the above considerations. There is no US or UK process yet for evaluating claims of carbon neutrality, though some technical reports are available.
The importance of considering a large scale urban or regional land development rather than just a few houses is that it potentially can allow consideration of the urban and regional structure including the provision of infrastructure in either traditional centralised forms or in distributed forms where there would be potential for considerably more savings in fuel.
Carbon neutral and what it means for the built environment can be assessed by examining all of the following characteristics of each urban and regional land development. It will include the:
- Greenhouse gases (GHG) used in the materials of the buildings and the infrastructure including the variations when regional and recycled materials are used;
- GHG used in the construction process and how this varies with different approaches;
- Electrical power and natural gas used in the buildings including the differences within building types and their variations when provided from centralised or distributed sources;
- Transport fuels used in the construction and the on-going use of the area by residents including the variations with different urban and remote area designs;
- GHG produced in the full water cycle (pumping water in and out) including GHG linked to gardens, public landscaping and different forms of water infrastructure (centralised or distributed); and
- GHG associated with the solid waste generated by the community and its variations when there is more re-use and recycling.
By quantifying and analysing the above characteristics across various development designs ranging from current practice to those that appear more sustainable, a benchmark can be developed for how a low carbon urban or regional land development can be designed and built.
This can then be framed for a carbon neutral or carbon free development by considering how to:
- Reduce all fossil fuels to minimal levels;
- Generate more renewable energy inputs into each aspect of development; and
- Sequester any remaining carbon in the form of accredited tree planting.
The possibilities of doing all of these within the urban or regional land development will be examined as part of establishing a carbon neutral urban and regional land development model.
Against a background where there has been very limited academic research related to carbon neutral concepts and initiatives, the significance and innovation in the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute (CUSP) sustainability project relates to the following:
- There is no framework for defining a carbon neutral urban or regional land development. Other innovative planning frameworks could be adapted once we understand how carbon neutral could work;
- There is no project that has developed such a framework and then implemented it within the bounds of a normal urban or regional land development process; and
- There is no evaluation of such initiatives that can enable the planning process and the developer to gain from the experience, thus providing professional guidance for future carbon neutral development.
The research project will provide a solution to all three of these aspects. In particular it will provide a unique collaboration between the researchers, at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute and the Environmental Technology Centre at Murdoch University and private and government partners, ensuring the project is both practical and innovative. The significance of this project, however, expands to the global scale, as it will be the first attempt to fully conceptualise carbon neutral and carbon free within urban and regional land development in all of its characteristics.
The project will also be significant for the Australian Government as it will help fulfil the goal set by the Federal Department of Climate Change's Greenhouse Friendly Initiative to develop carbon neutral products. The Greenhouse Friendly Initiative: "aims to help meet the challenge of climate change" by:
- Providing businesses and consumers with the opportunity to sell and purchase greenhouse neutral products and services;
- Broadening the basis for investment in additional greenhouse gas abatement; and
- Engaging consumers on climate change issues.
Through the Greenhouse Friendly Initiative, Australian businesses can market greenhouse neutral products or services, deliver greenhouse gas abatement and give Australian consumers greater purchasing choice.
The NPQ project will seek to develop Greenhouse Friendly accreditation through the established processes that have certified many other industrial products. However there has never been anything like the complexity of an urban subdivision, redevelopment or regional land development submitted for this carbon neutral certification. Moreover, no land development product has ever sought to be classified as 'carbon free'".
The project will also enable Australia to compete in the global innovation stakes on decarbonising development. This is rapidly becoming a defining point for post-industrial, post-carbon economies. Australia has a chance to show leadership in the urban and regional land development innovations associated with climate change through this project. It will also be extremely costly for this country if we miss the opportunity to challenge and change the existing patterns in land development.
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