BENDIGO'S council must act now if it wants to "electrify everything" and drive its carbon emissions as close to zero as possible by 2030.
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It is not going to be easy or cheap for the City of Greater Bendigo, which is the area's second largest carbon emitter, council staff say.
But the "significant" costs would be worth it, as they have told the nine councillors expected to rule on a proposed strategy on Monday.
"It is critical that the city commence the transition to electrification in earnest as soon as possible to enable the costs and workload to occur over several years," council staff said.
"This will enable the transition to occur in a well-considered, collaborative, orderly manner."
The council would need to recoup its costs through cheaper power and petrol bills, council staff said.
The upfront price tag is hard to know without time and outside expertise, council staff said.
Some things are already more or less clear.
Shifting buildings off gas could alone cost $6.9 million.
Battery powered vehicles might be the logical step for the city's fleet but uncertainties remain, council staff say.
The technology for heavy vehicles is still emerging, for example.
They also cost more upfront.
"Zero carbon heavy vehicles and plant generally cost approximately 50 per cent more than current models and cost approximately 50 per cent less to operate," council staff said.
By far the biggest emissions the council must deal with will come from the Eaglehawk Landfill.
The facility should close this year but the impact of greenhouse gasses pooling underground there - and threatening to escape into the atmosphere - are "difficult to quantify and model into the future", council staff said.
They have called in outside experts to help them work those sums out.
The council should look for state and federal government money to help offset the costs of electrifying everything, staff recommended.
It could also team up with other councils to get better deals, they said.
Some of the technology needed to electrify everything is still emerging and the council may need to offset carbon or postpone parts of the plan as 2030 nears, council staff said.
They say councillors should sign off on the "ambitious" plan regardless.
"The risk of doing nothing is that the city will be exposed to volatile prices for fossil fuels and will not achieve its goal of zero carbon from council operations by 2030," council staff said.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
