Queensland’s Moreton Bay Regional Council is purchasing two solar power assisted ride-on electric mowers to help maintain its green spaces.
Part of Council’s commitment to going green and Mayor Pete Flannery’s vision of the organisation becoming one of the most environmentally friendly councils in Australia, funding for the two mowers has been allocated in Council’s 2022-23 Budget after having tested the mowers.
“They have seven hours of battery life, no emissions and less than half the noise of regular mowers, so people living near our green spaces will quickly notice the difference,” says Mayor Flannery.
While the brand/model of mowers acquired isn’t mentioned in Council’s media release, a video indicates it’s the Rival from US company Mean Green Mowers. We recently reported Sydney’s Camden Council purchased one of these beasts. The difference with Moreton Bay Council’s mowers is they’ll have solar panels on their canopies.
Solar Energy *Assisted* Mowing
“The great thing about these mowers is they’re fitted with solar panels on the roof. So, they actually power the mower while our workers mow the grass of our parks, our green spaces, our verges and more,” says Mayor Flannery in a video about the acquisition posted yesterday.
That needs a bit of clarification – “help power” may have been a better choice of words. The rooftop solar panel is a rather pricey addition offering 200W capacity, and apparently only adds an extra 20 minutes of mowing time each day assuming good conditions. The cost vs. benefit of the canopy panel is debatable, but it certainly sends a very visible and positive green message.
But Mayor Flannery also mentions the “use of solar roof panels for their overnight battery charging”. Assuming this isn’t just the mower canopy panel he’s referring to, rooftop solar panels won’t be putting any charge into the mowers’ batteries overnight of course, but perhaps a Council PV installation will be offsetting the electricity used for charging.
These mowers will certainly see a good workout, helping Council manage and maintain the 100 million square metres of parks, gardens, trails, fire breaks and nature reserves across Moreton Bay.
“In summer, parks and gardens are mowed an average of once every two weeks!,” says the Mayor.
As well as the mowers, Council is investing in new electric pruning saws, an eBike for inspecting footpaths and a Hyundai Ioniq electric vehicle.
“I’m sure that residents will appreciate not only the peace and quiet that comes with these investments – but also the emission reductions that flow from the technology.”
Council’s green power ambitions aren’t limited to grounds maintenance. It has installed solar panels on 16 community buildings to date, has a program to convert methane gas to electricity at its waste facilities, and has held discussions with Tesla about installing a Tesla Megapack battery system at the Bunya Waste site. A Tesla Megapack has 3 megawatt-hours of storage capacity per unit.
Moreton Bay Council is a member of the Cities Power Partnership, and as part of that partnership has pledged various commitments relating to renewable energy.
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So two mowers, electric pruning saws, an ebike, and an EV. Seems like Moreton (I’m assuming you mean the Moreton Bay Regional Council which covers the northern third of Moreton Bay plus more territory inland) is trying to get as much green publicity as possible for as little expenditure as possible.
Residents would probably prefer it if the council spent more on services and less on ego stroking buildings, fads, white elephants etc.
Thanks for the note re: “regional” George. I’ve updated the article.
George Kaplan,
“Seems like Moreton (I’m assuming you mean the Moreton Bay Regional Council which covers the northern third of Moreton Bay plus more territory inland) is trying to get as much green publicity as possible for as little expenditure as possible.”
Perhaps the council sees cost reduction opportunities and a change in local resident views that you don’t see, George?
Moreton Bay Regional Council straddles the federal electorates of:
* Longman – some primary vote swings away from major parties towards minors
https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/long
* Petrie – 4% 2PP swing away from Liberal to Labor, primary vote swings to minors
https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/petr
* Dickson – Dutton had 2.9% 2PP swing against him in 2022.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/dick
With petroleum fuel prices likely to continue to rise I’d suggest it makes good business sense to find solutions that reduce petroleum dependency (and solar-PV reducing council’s electricity costs) and thereby reducing the council’s energy operating costs, so that there’s more money available to spend on other important services.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/ev-interest-sa-mb2520/#comment-1474952
Its a statement, not a money saving exercise.
Spending 100K on a mower that would normally cost 10k, and will likely have a lower lifespan is not to save money to spend on other services.
Realistically a 10K mower and 90K in solar panels and batteries would have provided a better outcome, but thats what everyone else is doing, so there is no statement there.
Geoff, I know the council in question. It was created via mashing together 3 functional councils back when local councils were giving QLD Labor too much grief. Service levels plummeted, staff morale plummeted, autocracy and bullying exploded, and that’s not counting the corruption allegations – though I think the mayor beat the charges? Not really a surprise. When was a Labor politician or a developers’ special friend last found guilty of something?
The council doesn’t seem interested in cost reductions – I understand they’re facing a huge rate rise. Not sure if it’s the largest in Australia, QLD, or ‘merely’ high, but I’m glad I don’t live there!!!
As for the federal electorates, did you miss they’re clear LNP? Young’s held his seat since 2019, this time with a 38.2% 1st preference vote, Howarth’s had his seat since 2013, this time with a 43.5% 1st preference vote, and Dutton his since 2001, this time with a 42.1% 1st preference vote. Federally it’s LNP territory. Perhaps you mean the state electorates which are Labor aligned? No I can’t explain the disparity.
Fuel costs aren’t really a major council expense item. Thus savings via them are likely to be limited. You’d probably be better of arguing for council to install solar farms on all their building roofs, especially since some of them use a lot of electricity during daytime. Oddly enough that doesn’t seem to be a capital expense they’re interested in. I guess multimillion dollar university campuses are more prestigious.