News and Events
The Zero Carbon Tatura website and Plan were officially launched by local primary school representatives on April 22 2021 - World Earth Day.
The development of the website, and launch day resources including development of brochures for all Tatura residents, was funded by the Greater Shepparton City Council through the Community Sustainability Grant program.
Click here to see coverage of our launch in our local media
Got a dark roof? You’re spending almost $700 extra a year to keep your house cool.
If you visit southern Greece or Tunisia, you might notice lots of white rooftops and white buildings to reflect the intense heat and keep residents cooler.
It’s very different in Australia. New housing estates in the hottest areas around Sydney and Melbourne are dominated by dark rooftops, black roads and minimal tree cover. Dark colours trap and hold heat rather than reflect it. That might be useful in winters in Tasmania, but not where heat is an issue.
The full article by Sebastian Pfautsch and Riccardo Paolini can be found on The Converstaion website linked below
Battery Storage for Moyola Lodge
In partnership with Future Energy and with the support of Zero Carbon Tatura, GV Community Energy has designed two battery storage systems to be installed in Tatura.
This is a part of one of six projects announced by Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, who plans to deliver more than 4.2 megawatt hours of storage capacity through 25 batteries across 20 towns.
Tatura’s Moyola Aged Care will be the first to receive a battery, a change that is expected to save it close to $7000 a year on electricity costs. This is money that will then be invested back into the community.
The batteries work by absorbing and storing large amounts of cheap and clean renewable energy when it is plentiful and dispatching it when it is needed most, such as at night or during power outages.
This will lessen the amount of energy that needs to be pulled from the grid during peak times, which will improve grid stability and increase the number of people who can benefit from the production and consumption of solar energy.
The batteries have been designed with Zero Carbon Tatura’s focus on decreasing the town’s carbon footprint in mind, as well as the goal of helping residents to save as much money on energy as possible.
As the battery stores energy away from the grid, the number of Tatura residents able to contribute energy to the grid and receive financial returns from feed-in tariffs will also increase.
Neighbourhood batteries are easy to operate, with no buttons needing to be pressed or switches flipped.
Zero Waste Tatura convener Terry Court described the change as “a seamless operation with no changes for the consumer”.
Future Energy hopes to install the battery within the next few months.
The next round of applications for the 100 Neighbourhood Batteries grants will open in August.
Driving force: Terry Court, Moyola Aged Care chief executive Polly Devine, GV Community Energy chief executive Geoff Lodge, Future Energy staff member Luke Pearson and Moyola Aged Care board member Martin Ward all worked hard to secure the battery for Tatura.
Energy efficient homes reduce waste energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and demands on non-renewable resources while offering healthier living conditions and financial savings. See how a Home Energy Efficiency assessment can identify ways to improve your homes energy efficiency.
Counting down: Solar thermal equipment on the roof of Unilever’s Tatura factory is helping the company move towards its net zero-goal.
A British multinational with billions of dollars in sales worldwide each year has chosen Tatura to unveil an Australian first for the company.
Unilever’s Tatura factory is the company’s first Australian site to install solar thermal technology to replace the use of natural gas.
The company said the decision will result in 169 tonnes of CO2 emissions being cut every year, or about the same amount of energy used by a car to drive around the earth 12 times.
“Businesses have a huge role to play in reducing emissions, and I feel proud to be part of a business that has set out a clear pathway to take action against climate change,” sourcing unit manager at Unilever’s Tatura factory Gary Smith said.
“This is just the start for us, and we’re now exploring how we can roll out solar thermal across our facility to further reduce our emissions.”
The Tatura factory employs about 150 people at peak production times, producing dried foods such as Continental Cup-A-Soup.
The company said one of the highest energy uses in the factory is maintaining a low-humidity and temperature-controlled environment in the mixing room where dry foods like Cup-A-Soup are stored and prepared.
That process previously relied on a natural gas-fired hot water system, but that has been replaced by a new energy-efficient solar thermal-powered hot water system.
Solar thermal involves tubes of water drawing heat from the sun via metal collectors. The water is then stored in an insulated tank until it is needed.
Unilever has installed 800 tubes on the roof of the Tatura factory as part of the measure and, as of May 2023, the company is no longer using gas to heat its mixing room, paving the way for it to roll out solar thermal across the entire factory.
It also moves the company towards its goal of eliminating fossil fuel use by 2030.
“At Unilever, we’re transitioning to renewable energy across our factories as set out in our climate transition action plan,” Unilever’s head of nutrition for Australia and New Zealand Katherine Anderson said.
“In January 2020, we switched to 100 per cent renewable electricity to power our Australian factories. In order to reduce our emissions further, we need to transition to 100 per cent renewable heat.
“This means transitioning away from using gas in our factories, and using renewable energy alternatives instead.”
Unilever said the Tatura factory is leading its sites in the innovation.
“Our Tatura factory is the first of our Australian sites to start the switch from gas to solar thermal technology,” Ms Anderson said.
“Our focus now is to install solar thermal technology across the entire site.
“This milestone is an important step towards Unilever achieving our target to reduce emissions from our operations by 100 per cent by 2030.”
Beneath the Wisteria
Discussion on the Duty of Care Bill with Hannah Vardy
What is the Bill? How can you help?
New Victorian homes to go all electric.
From 2024, new Victorian homes will save up to $1,000 off their annual energy bills while reducing household emissions, as part of the Government’s landmark decision to phase out gas in new homes
Search for Renewable Energy Project near you
Click and zoom to find the Renewable Energy projects near you and across Victoria. This includes solar, wind, batteries and bioenergy.
The map includes all the energy generation facilities in Victoria that are operational, approved, in process and under construction
Freja from Friends of the Earth presented a plan to ZCT for communities to Get Off Gas. The plan can be accessed below