New Link Added

A new link to the Links page has been added - National Efficiency Energy Network - and other links have been tested and updated.

What can the church do to reduce its carbon footprint?

Stephen Webb talks about where the churches should be going to make a real difference in their ecological footprint and what some churches are already doing. . . .

In a report to Synod Standing Committee (Uniting Church in NSW) last November, David Freeman, Chair of the Mid North Coast Presbytery, said, “Travel concerns us greatly, not only as wasted time — for example, seven hours on the notorious Pacific Highway for a 20-minute presentation — but also how can it be done smarter with technology, such as video conferencing and Skype, thus minimising the environmental demand of the church footprint?”

The Rev. Elenie Poulos, National Director of UnitingJustice Australia, also thinks it’s time that the church’s councils thought hard about travel and meetings.

“Some of it — the meetings — we need to do: we are in the relationship business after all and we need to share meals, grasp hands and physically stand next to each in solidarity and friendship.

“But I don’t think we need to do it as much as we think we do. I’m sure we can be more efficient and more focused.”

Ms Poulos said, “We can certainly reorganise some of our business pretty easily around Web 2.0, video-conferencing and so on if we bite the bullet on the necessary building, infrastructure, IT services and software costs.

“It will pay for itself in the long run.”

She said the Assembly office did a carbon audit a few years ago and realised that, without travel, the Assembly had a tiny footprint.

“Travel is, then, the big one for us.”

That point was highlighted by Dr Steve Douglas, a consultant ecologist and researcher in religion and ecology, who prepared a report for the Assembly in response to its carbon audit and the document For the sake of the planet and all its people: A Uniting Church in Australia statement on climate change.

He found that the impacts of the Assembly’s heavy use of air travel were such that they undermined the intent of mission work and church fellowship and the Assembly’s credibility in advocating for carbon pollution abatement within and beyond the church.

He recommended that the Assembly undertake a comprehensive assessment of the extent to which staff needed to fly in order to meet their work objectives.

“The issue is one of distance, not nationality,” he said. “The aim is to minimise if not eliminate air travel or indeed any sort of fossil-fuelled travel.”

He also recommended reducing motor-vehicle related emissions, “Green” purchasing and ethically screened investments.

Dr Douglas said, “The churches have worked out that capitalism is the ecological equivalent of parasitism but at some point they are going to need to move beyond the relatively comfortable game of formulating sensible policy statements that direct others how to do things.

“They need to translate their commendable policies into institutional action — they have to be seen to lead by example.

“Until they are prepared to put eco-justice before the narrowly-perceived interests of the institutional church, there will remain plenty of scope for others to dismiss the church’s progressive policy statements as hollow rhetoric.”

Dr Douglas is keen to point out the contradictions between environmentalist sentiment and policy and the challenge of changing lifestyles.

The issues are similar for Christian denominations, other faiths and organisations in the secular domain, he says.

Dr Douglas and Dr Almut Beringer, from Monash University’s Sustainability Institute, last year submitted a journal article dealing with the question of whether international religious gatherings and academic conferences on pro-environmental themes could be justified given the huge carbon emissions associated with participants’ use of aviation.

Using the 2009 Parliament of World Religions as a case study, they asked how organisers and auditors might thoroughly assess the costs and benefits of such events. They raised the issue of carbon offsets and the fact that most such schemes had ethical and technical limitations, including revegetation-based schemes that took decades to sequester the carbon emitted in a few hours of air travel — they were just too slow.

Climate justice

In November last year a consultation on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology in Europe, organised by the Conference of European Churches and the World Council of Churches in cooperation with churches in Hungary, adopted a “Budapest Call for Climate Justice”.

Some 80 representatives of churches and church-related agencies working on poverty reduction and development discussed the links between the creation and accumulation of wealth on the one hand and ecological damage and poverty on the other.

The group’s final statement says that climate justice and therefore both social and ecological values should be a central goal of policy making.

The EU was asked to live up to its ambitions with regard to reducing greenhouse gas emissions independent of policies by other large economies.

Participants in the consultation called for the joint preparation of a global ecumenical conference to propose a framework and criteria for a new international financial and economic architecture that is based on the principles of economic, social and climate justice.

Dr Douglas responded, “How often do international church organisations fall into the trap of ‘flying around the world to save it’!

“How often do participants instead consider holding a series of regional meetings, which they can attend by using public transport, linked by internet conferencing, rather than doing the tired old thing of sticking everyone in one room?”

He said conferencing software now allowed for nodal and regional conferencing formats and some universities that specialised in distance education already used it to good effect.

“The churches and other faith organisations are only beginning to catch up with the progressive parts of secular society. They still tend to think that they’re on the radical, cutting edge of pushing for eco-justice when, in most cases, they’re at least a decade or more behind the wider movement.”

Of the Catholic Church’s approach to the environment he has said, “The current and past Pope have advocated for a reduction in carbon emissions and consumer lifestyles to minimise impacts on ‘Creation’, particularly on the many poor people who are suffering and are likely to suffer further because of global climate change.

“Such teachings were apparently forgotten by the reportedly 8,000 Australians who flew to Rome for recent Canonisation of Mary MacKillop. A return flight from Melbourne to Rome generates roughly 10.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per person — roughly three times the supposedly sustainable three tonne per person annual carbon budget.

“Multiply that by 8,000 and you have a lot of greenhouse gases emitted for a religious ceremony that in part celebrates the worthy deeds of a woman dedicated to serving the human poor.”

But Dr Douglas is no more sympathetic regarding the Uniting Church’s addiction to air travel, questioning a presumption that its activities are of a nature that justifies the carbon emissions associated with staff’s use of aviation; that those works are “special” in a religious sense and thus exempt from ecological ethical scrutiny.

He asked if staff really needed to attend international ecumenical and multi-faith events in person. Did the notional benefits to the Uniting Church outweigh the ecological and even the economic costs?

“Do staff really need to attend international mission projects, or can the church sensibly delegate authority to local supervisors, or perhaps just fund agencies with adequate supervision and project management of their own?”

Wouldn’t it be better, he wondered, to use the funds currently spent on international air travel to achieve more tangible benefits consistent with the church’s mission, both locally and internationally?

Ecological conversion

As Dr Douglas observes, God is putting down a mighty carbon footprint in Australia. But the churches are attempting to lighten God’s tread.

The Catholic Church is attempting a carbon audit of thousands of churches and parish buildings, about 1,500 schools and more than 300 hospitals and aged-care facilities.

Catholic Earthcare Australia is offering a low-cost, automated data collection tool for tracking, monitoring, benchmarking and reporting each Catholic organisation’s ecological footprint.

It is aimed at developing a spirituality of communion, ecological conversion and sustainability.

Thea Ormerod, President of Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, said ARRCC would love to see it accepted as normal that faith communities take action to reduce their carbon footprints.

“Although it cannot honestly be said that this is the general practice yet in Australia, a range of faith communities and religious organisations have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints.

“A stellar role model is the Uniting Church community in Maroubra Junction with its Project Green Church initiative.”

To encourage widespread recognition that caring for the environment is part of an authentic religious life, ARRCC promotes the work of individual faith communities and religious organisations.

At its 2010 Eco-Awards night, prize-winners included Caloundra Uniting Church in Queensland, the al-Ghazzali Centre in Lakemba and the Anglican Diocese of Canberra/Goulburn.

Ms Poulos thought it would be impossible for the Uniting Church to conduct a church-wide audit. But she knew synods were working on it in various ways.

Stephen Webb is Deputy Editor of Insights and Media Officer for the Synod of New South Wales and the ACT.

http://www.unitingearthweb.org.au

 

A vision realised

At last I  have seen two churches in Adelaide with solar voltaic cells on the roof. The churches of Galway Avenue, Broadview Uniting and St Philip's Anglican dedicated their solar panels yesterday before a combined audience from both churches and guests from afar. A member of the Prospect Council spoke, the Mayor unfortunately being unavoidably absent, about the support provided by the council in the submission process for funding from the Federal Government. Then the Rev Caroline Pearce (Anglican) led the prayers of dedication for the Broadview UC panels. The group then walked across the road to St Philips and gathered in view of the other set of panels. The Rev Rebecca Purling (Uniting Church) led the prayers for the St Philip's Anglican panels. A number of us then entered the church and viewed the inverter.

I have emailed Rebecca and requested a copy of the prayers which I shall hopefully add here.

Rev Rebecca Purling and Rev Caroline Pearce

Clean power from the sun.

 

Sign outside St Philip's Anglican Church

Ecumenical Solar Panel Launch

The churches of Galway Avenue are launching their photovoltaic cells on
TUESDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2010 at 3pm:
In the courtyard of Broadview Uniting Church
(61 Galway Avenue)
followed by afternoon tea at St Philip's Anglican Church
(84 Galway Avenue)
His worship Mayor David O’Loughlin, the Mayor of Prospect will conduct the launch.

Broadview Uniting Church

St Philip's Anglican Church

RSVP Friday 19th February for catering purposes
For further enquires or to RSVP please contact
Rev Rebecca Purling on 8342 1583
Anethea Ulvestad on 0417 084 414 (messages only)

Matrix Tool to assist Uniting Church properties

The Uniting Church in South Australia has commissioned a tool to assist Uniting Church congregations to plan for and / or review energy use in their buildings. The tool is available on a CD and when loaded onto a computer will provide advice, particular to the site, to congregations about how to minimise their energy footprint.

Further information on the tool, how to use it and availability can be obtained from the Synod Office: 8227 0822 or go to http://resources.sa.uca.org.au/environment.html for downloads and information on purchasing the CD.

Other resources available from the Uniting Church as pdf file downloads are:
  * Resources for increasing the energy & water efficiency of church properties - booklet
  * Reducing Energy Consumption in the Home – booklet

Will $10,000 loans be available for manses?

On July 1, the Federal Government's new interest free loans scheme will begin. details and eligibilty information can be found on the Department of Environment.... website at http://www.environment.gov.au/greenloans/index.html.

It would seem on my reading that church manses would be eligible for the interest free loan of four years. If not repaid by that time, market interest rates kick in. This may be of assistance to churches wanting to ease their cash flow and achieve energy savings in the manse?

Let us know if anyone follows this up.

Gross Metering Needed?

Michelle Drummond, a member of this group, has joined Phoenix Solar as sales manager and has contributed the following article which argues the need for gross metering if solar is to progress in Australia. Currently our churches are finding the solar option a little too hard, but the opportunity to share in a solar farm concept is gaining some interest. Over to Michelle................

A world in which renewable energies help to secure a higher standard and quality of living is our world

Solar power has established itself internationally as a safe and sustainable source which will meet our future electricity needs. There will be no toxic legacy for future generations as an operating solar power system produces zero waste. Even the payback period on the energy used to produce individual modules has been set at a moderate 5 years, with many companies now incorporating end-of-life recycling to further reduce energy and resource use.

Good environmental sense aside, considerable debate continues about the ability of solar power to meet the increasing power demands of Australians.

German-based Phoenix Solar, a leading European Solar company which plans, builds and operates large photovoltaic plants and is a specialist wholesaler for complete power plants, solar modules and accessories, has no such doubts about the future of the Australian Industry, having recently established its Adelaide-based subsidiary, Phoenix Solar Pty Ltd.

Managing Director Christian Bindel cites Germany’s commitment to its solar industry as a stunning example of what we can achieve in Australia. According to the Germany Ministry for the Environment, solar power produced 4000 GWh (4000 million kWh) of electricity in 2008, allowing over 1 million German households to use an average of 9.87 units/kWh per day each (this correlates to a bill of approximately $180 AUD per quarter) and reducing carbon production by 4 million tons. And all this from a country with shorter summers and snow which covers the panels in winter. The average output from a German solar system is less than two thirds of the Australian average!

However, the German success story is directly related to good Government policy. Crucially, the implementation of a generous Gross Feed-in-Tariff enabled the steady and sustainable development of the industry independent of government support, resulting in substantial investment from business, industry, and the residential market.

In Australia only the ACT has instituted a Gross Feed-in-Tariff, and while many other States offer a reasonable buy back of excess power generated there is still no real incentive for larger investment.
Australia needs to adopt a Gross Feed in Tariff and institute legislation that requires renewable energy to form an integral part of any building process.

• Gross metering will allow commercial investors to create secure investment strategies, thereby encouraging private investment in large scale projects. Independent of government cash rebates and other funding programs, a budget-neutral industry will open up and stand on its own merits.

• Planning certainty for industry participants will enable a strong and sustainable Australian market to be created. Currently, single project opportunities appear, companies with the capability move in, do the work, and then withdraw from the Australian market taking skills and knowledge with them.

Michelle Drummond, Sales Manager for Phoenix Solar Pty Ltd, states ‘The solutions we institute today need to create a safe and sustainable future. Inappropriate solutions will leave a long lasting and toxic legacy for our future generations’.