Sustain Traders Oceania

By Madeline Cooper

Tamburlaine Wines has undergone an energy audit that is set to significantly reduce the winery’s energy usage, reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to the fight against climate change.

The award-winning winery is one of 110 businesses throughout NSW taking advantage of the Energy Saver Program delivered by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW (DECCW).

Mark Davidson, the Managing Director of Tamburlaine Wines, thought he had misheard his
Environment Manager when an energy audit of its Hunter Valley operations revealed how much money the winery could save each year.

But there was no mistake.

By making some practical, targeted changes to how it uses electricity, Tamburlaine could reduce its
annual consumption by more than half – a saving of about 700 megawatt hours, almost 740 tonnes of carbon pollution, and more than $110,000. Better still, the payback timeframe would be less than two years.

“The consequence for our business is not just feeling better about pumping 740 tonnes less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, but also what this is worth to our bottom line,” says Davidson. “And it was easy.”

The major area of savings for Tamburlaine is in refrigeration, which accounts for about 75 per cent of its electricity use.

Simple things - running time and thermostat controls, upgrading heat exchangers, pipe work modifications and compressor rack control system improvements – are ways Tamburlaine will save money on refrigeration and enhance its already impressive green credentials.

“The Program offers a subsidised energy audit and free technical support to help businesses measure and understand their energy use, cut power bills and reduce carbon pollution,” says DECCW Senior Manager of Sustainable Business, David Trewin

“The audit, conducted by an independent energy specialist, provides a business case with payback
periods and a practical implementation plan.”

Davidson says the biggest difficulty for many business managers is finding time away from day-to-day matters to investigate changes within their operation. He says the DECCW program was the trigger that allowed Tamburlaine to break some old and wasteful energy habits.

“Getting professionals to look at specific areas of energy use enabled us to make extremely well informed decisions about where we should invest money to achieve the best return.

“The refrigeration engineer we work with and the energy consultant from DECCW said we are not unusual. Like many other businesses, we were spending way too much on energy.

“We now have the chance to save serious money, reduce our carbon footprint, and in our own small way increase our contribution to the fight against global warming. It’s a no-brainer.”

This article was first published in Australian Certified Organic Magazine, Summer 11 edition, published by the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA). For further information regarding organics, visit www.bfa.com.au or contact the BFA, the voice of Australian organics, on ph 07 3350 5716; email info@bfa.com.au.