Buckinghamshire Council to hit 25% renewable electricity target
As part of its commitment to tackling the climate crisis, Buckinghamshire Council is pleased to announce that from October of this year, 25% of the electricity it uses will come from renewable sources. We have finalised the details of how we will procure the energy for council buildings and assets like streetlights.
Buying renewable energy is one of a number of ways we’re tackling climate change in Buckinghamshire and is directly related to action 33 in our Climate Change and Air Quality Action Plan. It helps support the renewable generation sector, reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, and our dependence on fossil fuels. The extraction, processing, and transportation of fossil fuels has various negative environmental impacts so this purchasing decision helps improve the Council’s environmental performance overall.
We will also be increasing the number of places where we will generate our own energy- we have twenty solar photovoltaic system installations so far and more are planned for the future.
Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment said: “With high energy prices and budgetary pressures, this shows just how important having renewable energy suppliers is to us.
“This change is forecast to save nearly 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year in Buckinghamshire. 25% is not 100% as we are aware, and this is a balance between our commitment to address climate change and our need to balance the books. We will look to see this percentage increase in the coming years.
“Even though it’s only a year since the Council’s Climate Change Strategy was released,
Buckinghamshire Council has already reduced its estimated carbon emissions by over 60% from the 1990 baseline.
Today’s announcement will accelerate that reduction to about 65% for next years’ reporting, putting us in a strong position to achieve our 2030 target of a 75% reduction target ahead of schedule.
“This is just one strand of many in our overall strategy which takes in all kinds of fully costed actions, from our Bucks Tree Mission to investing in more electric vehicle and walking and cycling infrastructure across the county.”