Nottinghamshire County Council goes green and saves money

More than £90,000 worth of carbon emission savings were made by Nottinghamshire County Council last year, helping plough money back into local services and boost the authority’s green credentials.

The figures were released as part of the 2015/6 annual report on the council’s energy spending and carbon emissions.

The savings come on the back of an annual 5,000 tonne reduction in carbon emissions - estimated to be worth around £90,000 - following a £2.1m investment in LED street lighting and light dimming as well as in other environmental measures such as solar energy.

The report also reveals the longer-term benefits of the council’s energy-saving LED lighting and dimming initiatives. These have resulted in a 30 per cent cut in carbon emissions from the county’s 93,000 street lights and traffic signals over the last five years, reducing energy consumption by 7.5 million kilowatt hours per year - enough to power the council’s County Hall headquarters for almost three years.

Carbon dioxide emissions from both buildings and street lighting are now more than 27,600 tonnes lower than five years ago. This saving is equivalent to the average yearly carbon emissions from more than 2,000 households. There are currently 31,500 LED street lights across Nottinghamshire and 36 council sites across the county with photovoltaic (PV) roof-mounted solar panels including libraries, outdoor activities centres and other council buildings.

Councillor Jim Creamer, chairman of the environment and sustainability committee said: “This latest report of our energy spending and carbon emissions highlights our positive attitude to the green agenda.

“The reduction of emissions from street lighting is due to our significant investment in LED lighting and dimming programme. This is vital as every tonne of carbon which we are able to cut, is worth an additional £239 in saved energy costs. This is not only good news for the public purse, but is helping towards an improvement in air quality.

“Better lighting, more efficient heating and improved heating control has also led to energy savings in many of our buildings. For example, at the Mill Adventure Base, we are on track to make energy savings of around one third after introducing air source heat pumps.”