Carbon emissions
The following summaries show a quarter-by-quarter view of emissions back to Q1 2019-20 (April to June 2019) for the different Council activities responsible for direct CO2 emissions. They show both seasonal differences, e.g. energy consumption and emissions peak in winter, as well as overall trends.
Summary #1: Council buildings
Emissions from energy use in Council buildings in Q4 2020-21 are 15% lower than Q4 in the previous year (2019-20). This reduction is driven by the installation of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy generation capacity, the decarbonisation of the national grid and changes to building use due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Summary #2: Streetlights
Emissions from streetlights are on a downward trend, despite seasonal variation, due to the large-scale retrofitting of LEDs over the last few years. Q4 2020-21 emissions are 22% lower than Q4 in the previous year (2019-20). The streetlights replacement programme is now complete, and the full impact of this work will be seen in 2021-22.
Summary #3: Waste collection fleet
Emissions from the waste fleet have remained relatively consistent over the past eight quarters; however, this is due to change in 2021-22 as the Council’s £9.8m investment in new electric refuse collection vehicles (eRCVs) converts 50% of the fleet to electric vehicles.
Summary #4: MCC vehicle fleet
Emissions from the Council’s operational fleet have reduced due to switching around 13% of vehicles to electric (as part of a rolling replacement programme) and because the Covid-19 pandemic has restricted certain activities normally involving the use of diesel vehicles. Figure 4 shows Q4 emissions are 7% lower than the same period the year before. Emissions from business travel by council officers and elected members reduced significantly throughout 2020-21 due to Covid-19 and the changes it created to working patterns, for example, shifting to video conferencing.
Summary #5: MCC staff travel
Q4 emissions are 57% lower than the same period last year. Within this, the miles travelled by car (i.e. staff mileage in their own vehicles, taxi and car club) reduced 41% and miles travelled by rail and air were down by 90% and 98% respectively compared to the same period the year before. All air travel was undertaken by Social Services in relation to client work. Following a review of data management systems for travel, minor revisions have been made to air travel (Q2) and rail travel (Q1-Q3), resulting in an increase of 1 tonne CO2 being reported.
Totals
Total emissions in Q4 are 15% lower than for the same period in the previous year