Catholic Church to export energy

THE Catholic Church in Australia hopes to be contributing electricity to the national grid and to be mostly self-sufficient in water in 25 years.

The goal of the Greening Communities project, launched last week, is to have solar panels and water tanks on most church properties, including schools, aged-care facilities, welfare services and non-profit agencies.

It is run by Church Resources, a Catholic trust established to help church groups co-ordinate their efforts and leverage their buying power, originally in telecommunications. According to director Michael Kelly, it handles turnover of more than $250 million a year.

"I look forward to churches being net energy exporters. We have properties with considerable acreage in urban and rural Australia," Father Kelly said yesterday.

"With smart use of places and spaces, we can send electricity into the grid and become self-sustaining for water. But it's a 25-year project."

Church Resources has established teams who can undertake environmental audits, create networks and advise on suppliers and installers for everything from water tanks and solar panels to light bulbs and energy converters, according to Father Kelly.

He said many churches and agencies were already taking action