Energy use in Bouddi

Our survey of energy use

Our first project has been to work out how much energy we consume in Bouddi and what we use it for. This has enabled us to calculate our greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs.

Quantifying these for our area gives us a better understanding of how best to cut our carbon footprint and energy bills, and provides a baseline against which to measure future improvements.

Our current estimate is that we consumed around 34GWh of energy as a community in 2023, or 24MWh per household. This comprises all forms of energy used in our homes, businesses and for transport.

Six key findings

45 local residents took part in a lively discussion on the subject of ‘How we use energy in Bouddi‘ at the Hardys Bay Community Club on the 14th March.

This event presented the results of 4 months of research into our community’s consumption of all forms of energy, including grid and solar electricity, gas, wood, petrol and diesel, as well as how we use this energy in our 1400 homes.

Knowing how we currently use energy is important so that we can begin to work out which strategies we might take to decarbonise, and what their potential impacts might be.
Following the presentation by members of the Electrify Our Community working group, audience questions led to a broad discussion of many important issues, including what are the most important steps to tackle climate change. This topic will be addressed in our next Forum on 4th April.

The full presentation can be viewed here.