At their first meeting of 2018, the City Council Environment Committee focused their attention on the Clean Energy Resolution that came before the full council in November 2017. The resolution is an aspirational commitment to the goal of 100 percent clean, renewable energy for all energy sectors by 2050. In November, the full council referred the resolution back to the Environment Committee in order to include goals and an action plan. The scope of the plan is to include all energy usage, including transportation, within Charlotte City boundaries, not simply energy used for city operations.

Photo credit: Michael Zytkow

City staff are working with Duke Energy to calculate the type and amount of energy currently used in the city limits and perform a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions inventory. This is part of a three stage process:

1. Form an emissions / energy baseline
2. Form scenarios to reduce emissions
3. Set an energy / climate strategy

The data will be used to develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), to be presented to the Environment Committee at their April 2nd meeting. Most importantly, the SEAP will include action steps to reach a GHG reduction goal!

The same process Charlotte is employing has been applied in 15 countries around the world. Cities like Edinburgh, Scotland have gone through a similar process with their SEAP including work in 5 areas: Energy Efficiency; District Heating; Renewables; Resource Efficiency; and Sustainable Transportation.

The Environment Committee meets on the first Monday of each month, beginning March 5th, from 12-2pm. You can check the committee calendar here for updates.

February 19, 2018 Environment Committee Agenda and Handouts.