Nottingham City Council has been named the overall winner in the Guardian’s Public Service Awards. He Council announced in January that it intended to become the UK’s first carbon-neutral city by 2028. It has already met its 2020 target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 26% four years early; more than 40% of all journeys in Nottingham are made on public transport and solar panels have been installed on more than 4,000 council houses. Energy consumption of council buildings has been cut by 39% and it is on track to generate 20% of its energy from low-carbon sources by next year. And last year the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs concluded that the city’s air pollution had fallen so much that a Clean Air Zone was not needed.

Making the carbon neutral commitment was only possible, says Sally Longford, the Labour council’s deputy leader and portfolio holder for energy and environment, because of the work that had gone before. “We got a lot of stick over the years. People thought we were anti-car, because we introduced various schemes to try and reduce car usage and congestion.” But it has paid off. “When I was talking to the officers about how far we could push this they were confident we could go further than other councils because of all the work we’d already done.”

One policy in particular, its workplace parking levy (WPL), was a “gamechanger” according to Longford. Introduced in 2012, the WPL is aimed at employers providing 11 or more commuter parking spaces, with an annual rate of £415 per space. It is still the only such scheme in the UK and has not only tackled congestion and pollution but netted the council £61m for improving and “greening” public transport. That money has helped with the redevelopment of Nottingham station, an expansion of the tram network that runs on green electricity from the council’s own energy company, and the council’s fleet of 58 electric buses that has reduced carbon emissions by more than 1,050 tonnes. “We have a positive attitude to these things because they pay for themselves,” says Longford. “We’re putting solar panels on anything that doesn’t move, really, because it saves us money in the long run and helps support other work we’re doing.”

The energy and transport teams have won funding from central government, Europe and other sources, and the savings the energy team generates means it actually makes a profit for the council that can be used to cross-subsidise crucial departments such as children’s services.

Guardian »

Bristol City Council – controlled by Labour – was the first council in the country to declare a climate emergency in November 2018. That motion was unanimously passed and now acts as the foundations for the City’s transformative commitment to become carbon-neutral by 2030.

In 2015, Bristol became the UK’s first European Green Capital. And, having already recorded a 71% reduction in carbon emissions from its direct activities against a 2005 baseline – surpassing a target to reduce emissions by 65% by 2020 – it now has the lowest carbon footprint of any UK city.

The City’s Energy, Transport and Green New Deal Lead Kye Dudd stresses the importance of the unitary authority continuing to lead the climate movement in a way that he hopes will create something of a domino effect of climate action among businesses, citizens and policymakers alike. “We need to extend our influence into the business sphere and to bring other people with us.”

The Council recently partnered with Manchester-based blockchain technology company EnergiMine to reward council employees who partake in sustainable actions by using the EnergiToken (ETK) platform. ETK uses blockchain to incentivise actions that promote energy reduction, clean transport use and social cause initiatives. Employees can now earn tokens to spend on rewards – or donate the equivalent value to a registered charity – by acting in an environmentally sustainable way.

Great progress has also been made outside of the Council’s own operations – particularly in the area of renewable energy. More than £50m has been invested in low-carbon and renewable energy projects in the region since 2012, and to great effect: Bristol sourced 21GWh of energy generation from solar, wind and biomass in 2018 – enough to power 24,000 homes for a month.

Through the Council’s City Leap Strategy it hopes to attract a further £1bn of global investment in the city. Local partners already supporting the project include the University of Bristol, University of the West of England, Western Power Distribution, Bristol is Open, Invest Bristol and Bath, Bristol Green Capital Partnership and Bristol Energy. The signs are already looking positive: since its launch last year, the City Leap initiative has already garnered interested from almost 200 local organisations, international firms, investors and energy and infrastructure businesses.

Dudd notes that district heat networks and community renewable energy projects are two areas where smaller local businesses can get involved. A 5MW community-owned solar project, has installed roof-mounted solar panels on public buildings. And a new network of underground pipes that will deliver affordable, low-carbon heat and energy across the city – is already benefitting more than 1,000 social housing properties and is continuing to expand.

The Council voted in October to make Bristol the first UK city to ban public use of diesel cars from its streets to combat air pollution. While still requiring government approval, that scheme is set to start from 2021. Bristol’s Eastville Park is the first of four planned charging hub for the region, each hosting four to eight rapid-charge connections that can charge an EV up to 80% from 30 minutes’ charging. In total, four local authorities will install 120 new or replacement charge point connections across over the next year. The majority of the charge points will be supplied with 100% renewable energy provided by Bristol Energy.

Edie »

An innovative plan to use hydrogen produced at island wind farms to power the ferry network has been announced by Point and Sandwick Trust. Yesterday, the trust published a feasibility study to assess the suitability of using hydrogen produced from local wind farms to power future ferry services operating in the Western Isles. The project looked at the practical and economic feasibility of using new island wind farms to produce zero-carbon “green” hydrogen fuel for future types of clean emission ferries operating on the established Caledonian MacBrayne routes.

Press & Journal »

Two of the UK’s largest cities have this week moved to strengthen their decarbonisation plans, as the city councils of Manchester and Bristol both voted to bring forward their target dates for securing ‘carbon neutral; or ‘zero carbon’ status. On Tuesday, Bristol City Council unanimously backed a motion put forward by Green party councillor Carla Denyer to make the city ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030 – a full 20 years earlier than the previous target. The move came as Manchester City Council’s Executive formally adopted a new target to become a ‘zero carbon city’ by 2038, 12 years earlier than the target it replaces. Denyer hailed the vote as “a fantastic day for Bristol”, adding that it provided further evidence cities and sub-national governments can lead the response to the escalating climate risks highlighted by the recent IPCC report. Manchester City Council’s Executive backed a plan developed by the Council’s Climate Change Board with input from the University of Manchester’s Tyndall Centre. The plan, dubbed Playing Our Full Part, would introduce a science-based ‘carbon budget’ for the city that caps total emissions at 15 million tonnes from 2018-2100. To meet the target the city will be required to cut emissions 13 per cent year-on-year from 2018 onwards, making it a net zero carbon city by 2038. The Manchester Climate Change Board will now develop a draft action plan by March 2019, ahead of producing a final plan by 2020, detailing how the city can stay within its carbon budget.

Business Green »

Residents in south Cumbria have another opportunity to invest in a community-owned renewable energy scheme. Burneside Community Energy has already raised £250,000 from local shareholders to install 250kW of solar PV on the roof of paper manufacturer James Cropper’s factory. Now the group aims to raise a further £330,000 for a second installation, again in partnership with the Kendal-based firm. Organisers say the shares, which will be £1 with a minimum investment of £250, will generate annual interest of over 4.5 per cent. Gill Fenna, director of Burneside Community Energy, said: “On the back of the over-performance of the first phase of our installation, which was commissioned nearly three years ago, we were encouraged to go for this second phase.

In Cumbria »

West Sussex County Council has launched its second solar farm which features battery storage technology. The Westhampnett solar project near Chichester is expected to generate enough electricity to power around 2,400 homes a year. The battery is used to store surplus electricity which can be released to the grid when consumer demand is high. It follows the launch of the Tangmere solar farm in 2015, which already produces power for 1,500 homes a year. The council has also installed solar panels on its buildings, including offices, schools and fire stations. Islington Council will be showing how it used CHP and heat recapture techologies to make a different to the community at Energy Live Expo on 31st October, with Energy Minister Claire Perry headlining the event.

Energy Live News »