Electric cars and LED streetlights plans to meet emissions targets

GREEN street lighting and an electric car strategy are part of a five-new year plan to reduce carbon emissions in the Scottish capital.

Edinburgh City Council will this week consider the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) to make a 42 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020.

The council will work with a range of community-based groups, businesses and other organisations from across the city to develop new schemes.

Amongst the proposals put forward in the plan are the replacement of street and tenement stair lights with energy efficient LED systems, the new electric vehicle strat- egy for the city and the establishment of an energy services c omp a n y , Energy for Edinburgh.

Lesley Hinds, city transpor t and environment convener, said: “Climate change and the rising cost of energy are huge issues, affecting each and every one of us, so it is absolutely necessary that we make every effort to address our own impact.

“We are already making moves to tackle carbon emissions and fuel poverty in the city, with a number of initiatives in place, and the SEAP will not only build on these, but will inspire and encourage new ways of reducing emissions.”

It will enable Edinburgh’s participation in the EU Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative, allowing the council to benefit from EU funding schemes and share best practice with other European cities and towns.

While the main focus of SEAP is reducing carbon emissions, other benefits could include alleviating fuel poverty, the development of new skills and jobs for those delivering projects and the potential for promoting the city as a leading authority in sustainable energy.

Plans to go before the council include the launching of a large scale energy retrofit programme.