Council has now installed over 3 megawatts of solar power across its facilities. These systems generate approximately 3.8 gigawatt hours of renewable energy each year, providing for nearly 10 % of Council's electricity needs and saving over 3,000 tonnes of CO2e (greenhouse gas emissions) annually.

* Wastewater Treatment Plant
** Materials Recovery Facility

Council tracks its energy use, costs and greenhouse gas emissions for electricity and vehicle use with monitoring software. This is important to identify areas for improvement and to track cost-savings from energy efficiency works and solar power generation.

‘Fugitive emissions’ are losses and leaks of greenhouse gases, typically methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides. Sources of these emissions include landfill, wastewater treatment plants and refrigerant gases used in HVAC systems.

Methane, which is generated through wastewater treatment, is more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. In landfills, methane is generated by the breakdown of organic matter such as food scraps and garden waste. Methane from Cairns’ de-commissioned Portsmith Landfill has been captured and flared since 2012, delivering a 30% reduction in Council’s annual emissions.

Each year, an average of 5,500 carbon credits are created for Council from landfill gas management at the Portsmith Landfill and other organic materials is commercially composted.

Prompted by home-grown campaigns, Straw No More & The Last Straw on the Great Barrier Reef, Council resolved to remove single use plastics from its operations and transition its functions and events to reusable or compostable alternatives. Since 2018 Council has:

• Introduced single use plastic free conditions for stallholders for Council-run venue hire, events and markets.
• Partnered with Plastic Free Cairns to support our food businesses to phase out single-use plastics.
• Supplied several thousand  re-useable coffee cups for cup-exchange programs used by Cairns cafes
• Successfully trialled large scale dish re-use systems and water cafes at major events - the Cairns Ecofiesta and Cairns Children's Festival.
• Amended catering practices and stocked items (including switching to commercially compostable dog waste bags - avoiding over 2.1 million plastic items).
• Developed a Single Use Plastics Management Policy.
• Delivered education for businesses and the community and provided grant support for community-led initiatives.
• Successfully called on Local Government Association Queensland to produce a state-wide program to phase out single use plastics from council operations and events and to help support local communities and industry to transition away from these items.

Council offers two sustainability-focussed grants to help community groups and schools improve their sustainability outcomes:

• Through the Sustainability and Climate Action Grant, not-for-profit groups can apply for up to $5,000 for projects that deliver emissions reductions, improve ecosystem health or strengthen community resilience and capacity.
• Council's Nature based Learning Grant provides up to $2,000 for school excursions that connect children with nature in a way that results in greater awareness and appreciation of sustainable living and the natural world.