Council approves action plan to cut carbon emissions
Ambitious plans to cut the Council's carbon emissions by 30 per cent within five years have been given the go-ahead.
Ambitious plans by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council to cut its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by a massive 30 per cent within five years were given the go-ahead by the Executive on Thursday 25 March 2010.
The ‘Carbon Management Plan’, developed in partnership with the Carbon Trust, is a detailed action plan which sets out how the Council plans to achieve its targets of a 10 per cent CO2 saving during 2010-11 and 30 per cent saving by 31 March 2014. The measures will also deliver significant financial savings.
Proactive role
Cllr Ellacott, Executive Member for Environment, said: “As a council it is important that we play a proactive, leading role in addressing the issues of climate change and energy security locally. This plan represents the Council's firm commitment to tackling its own contribution.
“To achieve the required CO2 savings the Council needs to invest £1.5 million, £1.1 million of which is already budgeted for through existing planned projects and maintenance such as lighting improvements and leisure refurbishment projects.
£2 million savings
Cllr Ellacott continued: “By cutting our carbon emissions we will make significant financial savings on our energy bills in the medium to long term, helping to keep Council Tax down in future. It will also give us some protection against fluctuating energy costs which are predicted to increase significantly into the future.
“We expect to save £390,000 per year by 2014 and £2 million by March 2020, meaning our investment will pay for itself within four years from completion.”
Early success
The Council has already invested in a number of projects to help lower its carbon emissions and energy and has achieved some early successes that will count towards our targets.
A reduction in gas use at Earlswood depot this year by just under 50 per cent through improved energy management led to savings of £8,235 and 38 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Fitting energy efficient lighting in Reigate’s Bancroft Road multi-storey car park, saved over £17,000 and 89 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Energy saving projects
Other projects that will result in energy savings include:
- the new Horley leisure centre - its carbon footprint will be some 30 per cent lower per square metre than that of the existing Horley Anderson Centre.
- the refurbishment of Donyngs leisure centre, Redhill
- improvements to the Harlequin Theatre
- improvements to heating and cooling controls and energy management
- further lighting improvement projects
- staff 'green teams' which encourage careful resource management amongst council employees.
Careful monitoring
The progress of the Carbon Management Plan will be carefully monitored including measurement of the Council’s total CO2 emissions each year and of the projects that have been implemented.
Where Council buildings, such as leisure and community centres, are managed by other organisations, the Council will work with them to ensure we benefit from the savings achieved from our energy investments.
Background
The Council’s Sustainable Energy Strategy, adopted in July 2009, set carbon reduction targets for the borough as a whole, including targets for our own estate and services of 30 per cent reduction over the five years 2009-2014. For more information see the Sustainable Energy Strategy page.
The Council also signed up to the 10:10 campaign in February 2010, which sets targets of 10 per cent CO2 saving in the 12 months from April 2010.
The Carbon Management Plan sets out how the Council will meet these targets.
The Council also endorsed the Surrey Climate Change Partnership Climate Change Strategy in November 2009.
The Climate Change Act 2008 created legally binding national targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 26% from 1990 levels by 2020. This is translated into county and district commitments within Surrey’s Local Area Agreement 2008-2011.
Carbon is useful as a measure as it enables the comparison of benefits across different energy types - the reduction in energy usage correlates directly to the reduction in carbon emissions.
Last updated : 08/04/2010
