Windsor city council unanimously endorsed a Community Energy Plan Monday night that sets targets for reduction of greenhouse gasses and energy use by 40 per cent by 2041.
The plan calls for the expansion of district energy and the implementation of energy efficiency retrofits to homes and buildings - among other initiatives.
A report to council indicates Windsor homes emit 35 per cent more greenhouse gas than the average city in Ontario.
According to the report, if the city can fulfil the targets laid out in the plan, the city could stand to save between $8.6 billion and $12.4 billion over the next 24 years.
Report co-author Karina Richters says council can lead by example - and plan appropriately for the future.
The city’s supervisor of environmental sustainability and climate change says council can play an active role by making policy decisions that mesh with the energy plan.
“In the long term, it’s going to be reviewing the plan, and how do we bring the plan into other plans and other policies, and how do we look at energy in the decisions we make,” says Richters.
Report consultant Peter Garforth says the plan will only work if future councils buy into it.
"All community plans are challenging the interesting thing with any community plan is the quality of the engagement of the leadership," Garforth says.
While the 40 percent goal is lofty, the Co-ordinator of the Citzens Environment Alliance believes it is achievable.
"The technical capability to do that already exists," says Derek Coronado. "it's just a matter of coordinating and working on the implementation phase continually."
"It's not something you can start and stop on and set aside for a few years and then come back to," adds Coronado. "It's something that has to be worked on year in and year out."
