Cambridgeshire County Council is on track to reach its organisational net zero goal for its direct emissions by 2030.

Councillors on the environment and green investment committee made the announcement on Thursday October 3 as the organisation reported its annual carbon footprint.

This year’s report shows that direct emissions from the county council’s own assets are down 42 per cent compared to 2018-19 figures.

This marks the sixth time the organisation’s carbon impact has been outlined to politicians.

Over the last financial year, the county council as an organisation has been responsible for less than 1000 tonnes of tCO2e.

‘tCO2e’ means ‘tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent’ and is the formal measure for greenhouse gases (GHGs) which make up environmentally harmful emissions.

The carbon footprint report also estimates the council’s indirect carbon emissions created through its supply chain and operations.

It is estimated that indirect emissions, excluding the rural estate, were around 111,000 tCO2e – 39 per cent lower over the last financial year than in the baseline year of 2018-19.

The reduction in direct emissions is due to a programme of retrofitting works and low carbon heating projects.

This has involved new insulation, LED lighting and other measures introduced in many buildings as well as fossil fuel-based heating systems (like gas or oil boilers) replaced with low-carbon air source heat pumps.

Retrofit works have taken place over the last year at council buildings including March Community Centre, Tennyson Lodge and St Neots library, bringing the total number of buildings retrofitted up to 25.

The council buys electricity through a zero-carbon tariff for all its buildings and street-lighting.

The authority also generates clean electricity on some buildings from on-site solar panels.

Further research is underway to assess the council’s indirect GHGs and how the council can continue to reduce emissions.

On its rural estate, the council is undertaking surveys and workshops with our farm tenants to understand and encourage sustainable farming practices and highlight best practices.

Meanwhile, council suppliers are being encouraged to sign up to the 'climate charter', with 47 companies having agreed to take action on their own GHG emissions so far.

The committee also heard an update on the progress of the council’s actions as an energy generator.

The council runs its own solar farm in Soham and a range of further renewable energy initiatives have been delivered or are in progress including smart microgrids at Park & Ride sites and the roll out of UK’s first rural heat network at Swaffham Prior.

Chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Environment & Green Investment Committee, Councillor Lorna Dupre said: “It’s fantastic to hear about the progress we’ve been making towards our visions for a greener Cambridgeshire at committee.

“There’s no doubt that our work is paying off in reduced emissions and lower energy costs, meaning we can ensure more of our budget is spent on critical statutory services like caring for the more vulnerable in our society.”

“However, we also recognise that we have a long way to go, which is why I’m pleased to see us influencing our suppliers to make environmental changes and empowering council staff to make changes to help us ensure we achieve our net zero goal target by 2030.”

Data was also presented to the committee outlining Cambridgeshire’s ‘journey to green’.

Unlike the latest council information, the most recent data available across the UK’s geographic counties is collated by central government and is from 2022.

A midpoint target will be discussed to help the area become a Net Zero county by the council’s ambitious target of 2045 – five years ahead of the legally binding national commitments.

Case study: New Shire Hall HQ carports

The council’s Alconbury Weald-based HQ has solar carports which provide electricity to the building alongside the rooftop solar photovoltaic panels on top of New Shire Hall.

The carports power EV charging points for the council’s pool cars and charging points are also available at a competitive rate to staff and visitors.

The carports exported more than £50,000 worth of electricity in 2023-24 and are projected to provide £1.5m worth of electricity during the infrastructure’s lifetime.

Case study: Schools

There is an ongoing education buildings retrofit programme to help county schools save carbon and cut energy bills.

Works have involved installation of LED lighting and solar photovoltaic panels. Over the past 3 years works have also included installation of air source heat pumps.

So far it is estimated that the 69 schools involved have saved a combined total of over £5.8m on their energy bills.

Over the lifetime of the works it is estimated the schools will have avoided around £26m in energy costs which would otherwise have had to be found from the school budget.