Saving energy not only makes sense for the environment but it also makes sense for the pocket too. Halton Borough Council (HBC) has already made a good start by making changes to ‘greener’ options such as ‘green’ electricity for street lighting, recycled paper and using biodiesel in some vehicles

As you can imagine, Halton Borough Council uses quite a lot of energy, in fact last year their CO2 emissions were over 24,000 tonnes costing over £3.5million. This includes running 19,500 street lights; 300 vehicles; 57 traffic signals; 52 schools; 4 one-stop shops; 2 markets; 1 stadium and 1 bridge…plus much more.

That is why with the help of the Carbon Trust the Council is taking action now to reduce the amount of energy they use.

The council has already made a good start by making changes to ‘greener’ options such as ‘green’ electricity for street lighting, recycled paper; using biodiesel in some vehicles and helping staff to work more flexibly to avoid unnecessary journeys.

In addition, Halton Borough Council is one of a small number of local authorities across the country chosen to get free-of-charge support from the Carbon Trust – an organisation set up by the Government to help the UK reduce its carbon emissions.

The Council will be using the Trust’s expertise and experience over the coming years to help cut emissions by a target of 30%. This includes simple measures like remembering to turn computers and lights off at the end of the day and looking at how we use our printers and photocopiers – the Carbon Trust estimates this could cut energy bills by 10%.

They will also tackling bigger issues like how to make buildings more energy efficient and how technology can help to reduce the amount of energy used for things like street lights and office heating.

For more information about the Carbon Management Local Authority Programme, please call Jim Yates on 0151 471 7392. To find out more about ways to save energy visit www.carbontrust.co.uk