Herefordshire Council has been tackling the challenges posed by climate change for many years with some significant success, and we have ambitious aims for the future that align well with SWMs vision. The council is a unitiary authority that covers the whole of Herefordshire.
Herefordshire Council has been tackling the challenges posed by climate change for many years with some significant success, and we have ambitious aims for the future.
Some of our achievements include:
The council’s carbon footprint has seen a reduction of 43% in emissions between 2008/09 and 2018/19.
In September 2019 the council commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2030, and to lead the development of a countywide carbon reduction strategy also aspiring for carbon neutrality by 2030. This will be done by switched our electricity supply to 100% renewable sources.
We believe Herefordshire was the first county in the UK to have 100% LED street lighting. Since 2011/12 there has been a 65% reduction in the electricity used for street lighting, from around 4.7 million kWh to an estimated level of 1.7 million kWh in 2018/19, saving an estimated £1.5 million between 2016/17 and 2020/21. The council has also installed LED lighting into offices and car parks to reduce emissions and costs.
In 2013/14 the council was awarded government grant money for the installation of electric vehicle charge points in 11 locations across the county including Hereford city and all the market towns. Before these installations there were no publically available electric vehicle charge points in the county. The Council is currently working with Highways England to install rapid chargers along the A49 corridor.
In October 2018, the council purchased six new electric and five new petrol hybrid pool cars for staff to use for business travel. Their use will reduce the CO2 emissions and help reduce levels Nitrous Oxide (NOx) which will contribute to improved local air quality.
The council has committed to invest £2.1 million in solar photovoltaic (PV) panels across council buildings by 2021. To date we have installed 928kWp across our operational estate.
There is ongoing work to explore other renewable and low-carbon energy opportunities such as Heat Networks.
Our key contact: Ben Boswell, Energy & Active Travel Manger; and Richard Vaughan, Principal Energy & Active Travel Officer