Durham County Council has unveiled plans to spend up to £50m tackling climate change, including LED streetlighting and electric and low emission vehicles.
The plans, which involve more than 100 projects in the county, will be discussed by council’s Cabinet next week.
The council is also proposing increasing targets for carbon reduction as part of the two-year-plan, which includes spending of £13.2m to reduce its own carbon emissions.
Cllr Carl Marshall, cabinet member for economic regeneration, said: ‘The council has an excellent track record for delivering reductions in carbon emissions. Between 2008/9 and 2018/19, we have managed to reduce CO2 levels by just under 47% through a programme that has included building retrofits, renewable energy schemes and lower energy streetlights.
‘However, more still needs to be done and this action plan demonstrates exactly how, working with the community, we plan to do it, with wide-ranging projects that will result in a reduction not just in the council’s carbon emissions but also emissions across the county.
The plan outlines a wide range of initiatives to tackle council emissions, including:
- Greater use of electric and low emission vehicles across the council’s fleet
- Conversion of an additional 17,000 streetlights using energy-saving LEDs.
- The development of a scheme to harness heat from minewater as a form of renewable energy
- A major programme of energy efficiency improvements across council buildings, including schools
- Installation of solar panels in addition to already planned energy efficiency measures at the council’s new HQ, subject to planning permission.
- The carbon-costed plan also proposes that the council sets an even more ambitious target for reducing its own emissions, with the original 60% reduction by 2030 increased to 80%.
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