Carbon footprint falls but ‘more to do’

The total amount of climate harming gases generated on Kent County Council’s large estate has dropped by 50% over the last 10 years, it has emerged. Nearly 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases, notably caused by heat and electricity, were emitted from county council land and property, which includes hundreds of roads and buildings, over a 12-month period from 2010 to 2011. However, latest figures show that around 30,000 tonnes of C02 were emitted from its estate between March 2019 and March 2020. This reflects a decline in car travel and electricity usage for Kent’s street lights, according to KCC. Environment cabinet member Cllr Susan Carey (Con) said: “The environment has always mattered to the county council and in recent years we’ve stepped up the pace to reduce our carbon emissions.” However, County Hall’s Green Party group leader Cllr Martin Whybrow said: “KCC should be much more aggressive than it has been.”

KCC’S estate includes more than 1,000 assets and buildings, including offices, libraries, children’s centres, adult education centres and country parks. A strategy to make Kent carbon neutral was discussed in May last year, including creating actions to eliminate poor air quality and deliver a clean and affordable energy supply. In the last decade, a total of 123,000 Kent street lights have been converted to LED bulbs, significantly reducing KCC’S carbon footprint and saving £5.2 million in energy bills for the taxpayer, the county authority said.

County Hall plans to convert 29,622 illuminated bollards and signs while 2,500 solar panels have been installed on several KCC buildings and schools. Of the 2,500, hundreds have been fitted onto Cranbrook’s Swattenden outdoor activity centre and two specialist hubs for disabled children and their families, Swale’s Orchards Centre and Green Banks Centre in Thanet.

In addition, the three-month coronavirus lockdown has seen a significant drop in the number of vehicles on the road between March and June. This is likely to have a positive impact on greenhouse gas emission levels across KCC’S estate this year.

Cllr Carey said: “We are committed to a zero carbon Kent and as part of that we have a programme to decarbonise KCC’S own operations and buildings.” However, KCC’S latest carbon emission data sourced from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs show that the county council has been failing to meet its own carbon emission targets since June 2019.

A total of 30,267 tonnes of greenhouses gases were emitted from its estate, excluding schools, from March 2019 to March 2020. However, KCC’S target was for 29,600 tonnes to be generated over the same period. Cllr Whybrow said: “I have long argued that the 2050 target does not go far enough. “I recently wrote to KCC’S leader Cllr Roger Gough (Con) and said we should not be hung up on dates and instead get to net zero as quickly as possible,” KCC’S Green party leader added. Cllr Carey said: “There’s still much to be done but I’m proud of our achievements and I’m confident we can achieve zero carbon for both KCC and Kent.”