Western Power helps Karridale winery go 'green'
Release Date: 13 December 2007
Photo's available upon request.
Western Power is helping an environment award wining Karridale winery reduce its carbon footprint.
Western Power installed a meter and electricity usage monitor in the wine cellar of Random Valley Wines last week which gives a real time read-out of the electricity usage per hour and the amount of carbon created by that usage.
Owner of the Random Valley winery Mr Peter Little said he was excited about the opportunities to be more energy aware provided by the meter.
"The meter will allow us to monitor not only electricity usage but also the carbon emissions resulting from the electricity consumption in the cellar door outlet. This will allow us to monitor and adjust our electricity usage to improve the environmentally sustainable practices of our business," Mr Little said.
Mr Little said the monitor also had the potential to educate customers.
"The monitor will help us educate customers about how their electricity usage impacts on carbon emissions by displaying variations in carbon output when electrical assets are turned on and off," Mr Little said.
Random Valley Wines won the 2005 National Banksia Award for Environmental Leadership in the Rural Sector, an award they credited Western Power in helping them achieve.
The winery also won a grant for sustainable energy use from the Minister for Energy, Francis Logan last year, providing funding for the development of time-lapse infra-red photography techniques to demonstrate the thermal characteristics of buildings to the public.
Western Power's senior environmental officer Ms Olivia Hertsted said Western Power had been working closely with the winery for the past four years under its Environmentally Sensitive Area Program.
"Western Power understands that organic farms need to meet certain standards to maintain their organic certification and we have worked with Random Valley Organic Wines to ensure this is achieved," Ms Hertsted said.
The meter and monitor were installed by Western Power as part of its commitment to sustainable environmental practices.
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