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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

CABINET MEMBER FOR ENVIRONMENT

 

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY SAFETY

 

Report prepared by Jennifer Hunt – EMS Project Manager 

Date Issued: 03 February 2011

 

1.           Carbon Footprint 2009/10

 

1.1        Key Issue for Decision

 

1.1.1      To consider the Council’s carbon footprint for 2009/10 and its progress towards achieving the carbon reduction targets adopted in November 2008 and to consider actions to further reduce our carbon emissions.

 

1.2        Recommendation of the Head of Housing and Community Safety

 

1.2.1      That the Cabinet Member notes the reported figures for CO₂ emissions from the Council’s operations during 2009/10 which indicate a 9.97% reduction from 2008/09.

 

1.2.2      That the Cabinet Member notes the reasons behind the large reduction in emissions seen, and is aware of a likely increase in emissions from Maidstone Leisure Centre following a full resumption of services in 2010/11.

 

1.2.3      That the Cabinet Member notes the emissions for 2009/10 are 3.73% below the designated target for the year.  However had the emissions for Maidstone Leisure Centre have stayed the same between 2008/09 (when the centre was operational for a whole year) and 2009/10 then the target would not have been met.

 

1.2.4      That the Cabinet Member endorses and supports the development of the Carbon Management Plan in conjunction with the Carbon Trust.

 

1.3        Reasons for Recommendation

 

BACKGROUND

 

1.3.1      This report presents the Council’s carbon footprint for 2009/10 and compares it against the carbon footprint for 2008/09 and details progress against the Council’s annual carbon reduction targets.

 

1.3.2      In August 2009 the Council’s carbon footprint for 2008/09 indicated that the CO₂ emissions from the Council’s operations had increased by 3.48% from the previous year but that an overall 10.16% decrease since the baseline year of 2006/07 had been achieved.

 

1.3.3      In January 2010 the carbon footprint for the Council, at the mid-year point in 2009/10 was presented, which indicated that the CO₂ emissions from the Council’s operations over the first half of 2009/10 were 2.34% lower than in the equivalent period in 2008/09.

 

CHANGES TO REPORTING PROCEDURES

 

1.3.4      In November 2008 Cabinet agreed a set of carbon reduction targets for the Council in relation to its internal carbon footprint.  It was agreed that the Council would reduce its emissions below the 2006/07 baseline by 20% by 2015/16 and 30% by 2020/21. Furthermore interim annual targets of a 3% reduction year on year were agreed to help achieve these longer term targets.

 

1.3.5      In terms of monitoring against these targets all previously reported carbon footprints for the Council have been reported as ‘weather corrected’ emissions.  This is where the CO₂ emission from the usage of natural gas is corrected to take into account the weather over the period of the analysis.  This is known as the number of ‘degree days’ experienced, in relation to an average value.

 

1.3.6      The spreadsheets include the weather corrected emissions function as they have a value to local authorities in helping to understand the factors that might be influencing their emissions data.  However, since the last carbon footprint reports were agreed, the national NI 185 dataset was released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for 2008/09, the NI 185 reporting baseline year. The emissions published are absolute emissions and not weather corrected emissions for the following reasons:-

 

a)   The UK as a whole is assessed on its absolute emissions under the Kyoto Protocol so absolute emissions are the preferred standard;

 

b)   Weather corrected emissions are not all encompassing, other factors effecting CO₂ emissions, such as the price of fuel, are not included in the spreadsheet;

 

c)   The calculation used to calculate weather corrected emission is too simple to base any significant reporting on;

 

d)   Calculation does not take into account heat island effects associated with specific infrastructure at a sub-regional spatial level[1]; and,

 

e)   The calculation does not take into account the specifics of an estate e.g. whether a building is insulated or not, and this will also influence the effect of temperature.

 

1.3.7      As a result of this, it is felt that it would be prudent to emulate the stance taken by DECC, and base our reporting mechanisms on absolute emissions, rather than weather corrected emissions which can be misleading.

 

1.3.8      As such, from this point forward in this report, the absolute CO₂ emissions will be reported and the previous carbon footprints will be presented in absolute emissions for comparison.  The ‘weather corrected’ emissions can be found in Appendix A.

 

THE COUNCIL’S CARBON FOOTPRINT

 

1.3.9      The following carbon footprint data has been calculated using the latest NI 185 spreadsheet toolkit (provided by DECC) and has been calculated in-line with the National Indicator 185 methodology. However, at present the DECC website is asking local authorities to hold this information until further details are released with respect to this indicator.  As Maidstone has an internal commitment to monitor their footprint, the latest spreadsheet has been used to calculate the carbon footprint for 2009/10.

 

1.3.10   As discussed above, the carbon emissions presented below, are presented as absolute carbon emissions.  The weather corrected emissions can be found in Appendix A.  The footprint for 2008/09 is also shown for comparison, and is also presented in absolute emissions format (therefore the footprint will be different from that reported in November 2008).  In addition to this, since the 2008/09 footprint was published, more accurate information has been collected with respect to the gas emissions from Maidstone House, which has slightly amended the emissions.

 

Table 1: Absolute Carbon Emissions (tonnes)

 

	Absolute Annual Emissions		Comparison
CO2 Emissions (tonnes)	2008/09	2009/10	Change	% Change
Buildings
Examples:
Mote Park Leisure Centre Gas	1,033.44	712.00	-321.44	-31.10%
Mote Park Leisure Centre Electricity	184.87	248.51	63.63	34.42%
Hazlitt Theatre Gas	104.33	89.50	-14.82	-14.21%
Hazlitt Theatre Electricity	118.24	118.18	-0.06	-0.05%
Maidstone Museum Gas	73.23	79.62	6.39	8.73%
Maidstone Museum Electricity	82.99	83.51	0.52	0.63%
Public Conveniences Electricity	59.49	56.90	-2.58	-4.34%
Main Offices Gas	82.08	75.02	-7.05	-8.60%
Main Offices Electricity	561.33	634.75	73.43	13.08%
Total Emissions from electricity use	2,244.01	2,179.53	-64.48	-2.87%
Total Emissions from fossil fuel (gas and oil) consumption	1,560.35	1,190.65	-369.70	-23.69%
Total Emissions from buildings	3,804.35	3,370.18	-434.17	-11.41%
Vehicles
Examples:
Waste Collection Service	1,092.71	927.73	-164.98	-15.10%
Maidstone Borough Services	499.96	483.06	-16.90	-3.38%
Pool Cars	3.66	3.60	-0.06	-1.51%
Casual, Essential and Lease Car users	60.35	67.88	7.53	12.48%
Total Emissions from service vehicle fleet	1,956.78	1,799.13	-157.65	-8.06%
Total Emissions from business travel	67.05	77.80	10.76	16.04%
Total Emissions from vehicles	2,023.82	1,876.93	-146.89	-7.26%
Total Emissions	5,828.18	5,247.11	-581.06	-9.97%

 

1.3.11   Table 1 above compares the carbon footprint for 2009/10 with that for 2008/09.  It can be seen that the carbon footprint for 2009/10 was 5,247 tonnes of CO₂ compared to a carbon footprint of 5,828 tonnes of CO₂ for 2008/09.  This equates to a 9.97% reduction in the carbon footprint for Maidstone Borough Council over this time.  In terms of electricity usage, the carbon footprint for 2009/10 was 2,179 tonnes of CO₂, a 2.87% reduction on 2008/09, and the footprint from fossil fuel (gas and oil) usage was 1,191 tonnes CO₂, a 23.69% reduction on 2008/09. In terms of vehicles, the carbon footprint of the service vehicle fleet was 1,799 tonnes of CO₂, an 8.06% reduction on 2008/09, and the footprint from business travel was 78 tonnes of CO₂, a 16% increase on 2008/09.

 

1.3.12   In terms of the carbon footprint for 2009/10, 64% of the emissions came from buildings, and the remaining 36% were emissions from vehicles.

 

         BUILDINGS

 

1.3.13   Overall, emissions from buildings fell by 11.41% between 2008/09 and 2009/10.  In 2009/10 emissions from electricity usage reduced by 2.87% and emissions from fossil fuel (gas and oil) consumption reduced by 23.69%.

 

1.3.14   Of the emissions created from buildings, 65% of these were generated through the consumption of electricity, and 35% were from the consumption of oil and natural gas.  Maidstone Leisure Centre accounted for 40% of the buildings’ emissions and Maidstone House and Maidstone Gateway together accounted for 21% of the buildings emissions.

 

1.3.15   The buildings highlighted in the table below were the highest contributors to the building consumption figures for 2009/10.

 

Table 2:

 

Building	Total Emissions CO2 (tonnes) 2008/09	Total Emissions CO2 (tonnes) 2009/10	% change 2008/09 to 2009/10	% of emissions from buildings for 2009/10	% of total emissions for 2009/10
Mote Park Leisure Centre	1689.47	1336.29	-20.90%	39.65%	26.11%
Maidstone House and Gateway	643.403	709.77	10.31%	21.06%	13.87%
Hazlitt Arts Centre	222.569	207.68	-6.69%	6.16%	4.06%
Vinters Park Crematorium	170.35	164.88	-3.21%	4.89%	3.22%
Maidstone Museum	156.224	163.17	4.45%	4.84%	3.19%
King Street Car Park	147.404	141.01	-4.34%	4.18%	2.76%

 

 

1.3.16   The major reason that such a decrease in emissions from buildings was seen in 2009/10 was due to an overall decrease of 20.90% in emissions from Mote Park Leisure centre.  This was due to a major refurbishment which resulted in the centre operating a much reduced service during parts of 2009/10.  Overall for Mote Park Leisure centre, emissions from fossil fuel usage decreased by 31.10%, emissions from Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generated electricity decreased by 20.2% and emissions from grid electricity increased by 34.42%.

 

1.3.17   Should the emissions from Mote Park Leisure Centre, have remained the same as 2008/09, the carbon footprint for 2009/10 would have been 5,600 tonnes, which equates to a 3.91% reduction from 2008/09 as opposed to the 9.97% reduction reported.  In this scenario the emissions from buildings would have reduced by 2.13% as opposed to the reported 11.41% reduction.

 

1.3.18   In terms of Maidstone House and the Gateway, the overall emissions have increased by 10.31%.  Looking further into this, the emissions arising from electricity consumption at the Gateway increased by 87.1% which is due to that fact that the Gateway was only fully operational for three months of the 2008/09 footprint, and was operational for all of 2009/10.  In terms of Maidstone House, the emissions rising from the consumption of electricity increased by 3.7%.  The footprint in 2008/09 was based on approximately nine months of occupation, and a large number of problems were experienced in controlling the lighting and air conditioning. Maidstone House was fully operational for the whole of 2009/10, and the lighting and air conditioning problems were rectified, and an increase in emissions of only 3.7% shows a marked improvement in control over the building energy consumption.  Furthermore, the gas usage at Maidstone House and the Gateway fell by 8.6% due to an increased level of control over the heating system.  It is hoped that this will decrease markedly in 2010/11, with the recommissioning of the biomass boiler, which was essentially non-operational for the majority of 2009/10.

 

1.3.19   Other notable features of the carbon footprint of various buildings are below:-

 

·         The emissions arising from electricity consumption at Cobtree Golf Club decreased by 16.5% (equates to 1.76% of total footprint);

·         The natural gas consumption at the Hazlitt Theatre fell by 14.2% (equates to 1.71% of total footprint); and,

·         The natural gas consumption at Lockmeadow Market increased by 56.3% (equates to 0.43% of total footprint).

 

VEHICLES

 

1.3.20   Overall, the emissions from vehicles fell by 7.26% between 2008/09 and 2009/10.  In 2009/10 the emissions created by the service fleet reduced by 8.06% and those from the business fleet increased by 16.04%.

 

1.3.21   Of all the vehicle emissions, 96% were generated by the service fleet which includes the waste collection services and Maidstone Borough Council depot fleet, with the remaining 4% generated through business travel.

 

1.3.22   The reason for the increase in emissions from the business fleet is generally unknown, but may be a result of the current economic climate, and employees being more diligent with their mileage claims.

 

1.3.23   The emissions reduction from the service fleet was in part due to the reduction of emissions by the waste collection service by 15.10% and a reduction of 5.09% in the emissions from the Maidstone Borough Council fleet.

 

PERFORMANCE AGAINST TARGETS

 

1.3.24   In November 2008 Cabinet set an annual target of a 3% reduction in carbon emissions, with the aim of achieving a 20% reduction by 2016 and 30% by 2021.

 

1.3.25   Further to the changes to reporting as outlined above, the baseline data has been revised to show the targets based on absolute emissions.  Table 3 below shows the targets, based on a 3% reduction from the baseline, compared to actual emissions.

 

Table 3: CO₂ emission’s compared to target emissions

 

Year	Tonnes of CO2 (absolute emissions)
	Target	Actual
2006 / 07 (baseline)	5972	5972
2007 / 08	5793	5478
2008 / 09	5619	5825
2009 / 10	5450	5247

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          Figure 1: Total CO₂ emissions since baseline year vs Target Emissions

 

          Figure 2: Total CO₂ emissions from buildings and transport

 

1.3.26   It can be seen that the increase in emissions experienced in 2008/09, which meant that we did not meet the target for that year, has been reversed, and the 9.97% reduction in emissions experienced means that the emissions for 2009/10 are 3.73% below the designated target for this year.

 

1.3.27   Therefore at present the council is ahead of target with respect to achieving the 20% and 30% targets by 2016 and 2021 respectively.

 

1.3.28   It should be noted that a large part of the reduction in emissions is down to the refurbishment at Mote Park Leisure Centre and the major reduction in emissions seen in its footprint for 2009/10 as a result of this, which will not be replicated in the footprint for 2010/11 when the building is fully operational again.

 

1.3.29   In section 1.3.18 the emissions were re-calculated using the figures for Mote Park Leisure Centre for 2008/09 when it was operational for the full year.  Under this scenario, the carbon footprint for 2009/10 would have been 5600 tonnes of CO₂, and although an improvement in the emissions would have been experienced, the target for 2009/10 would have been missed.

 

1.3.30   As such, it is important that the emissions reduction momentum that has been generated during 2009/10 is carried forward into 2010/11, to ensure that the emissions targets are met into the future. It is hoped that the Council’s participation on the Carbon Trust Local Authority Carbon Management Programme (see below) will help to provide a structured plan to ensure that these targets are met into the future.

 

CARBON TRUST – LOCAL AUTHORITY CARBON MANAGEMENT (LACM) PROGRAMME

 

1.3.31   Maidstone Borough Council is currently participating in the Local Authority Carbon Management (LACM) Programme (Phase 8),run by the Carbon Trust, which provides technical and change management support to help Local Authorities realise carbon emissions savings from the services they provide.  The result of the council’s participation on this programme will be the development of a Carbon Management Plan, which will detail the activities that will be carried out over the next 5 years, to ensure that carbon reduction targets are met and carbon management is embedded into the organisation.

 

1.3.32   The council has signed up to be part of this programme as it was felt that although good work was being undertaken to ensure that the carbon reduction targets were met, a more formal approach looking over a 5 year period was needed to ensure that these targets were met, and to enable longer term projects to be structured into reaching the targets.  It is intended that the Carbon Management Plan will be signed off by Cabinet by the end of March 2011.

 

DATA LIMITATIONS

 

1.3.33   The limitations of using the collected data to establish a carbon footprint have been explained in previous reports.  It should be re-iterated however that much of the data used in the report of the Head of Housing and Community Safety has not been recorded for the specific purpose of compiling a carbon footprint and in some limited cases data has had to be estimated.

 

1.4        Alternative Action and why not Recommended

 

1.4.1      The Council could decide not to develop a Carbon Management Plan in conjunction with the Carbon Trust.  However such an approach would make achievement of the Council’s targets for carbon reduction very unlikely.

 

1.5        Impact on Corporate Objectives

 

1.4.1      This decision is directly related to achieving the following Key Objectives from the current Strategic Plan which sits under the ‘Environmental Excellence and Climate Change’ topic:

 

           “Reduce carbon emissions across the borough and improve air quality.”

 

           “Reduce the Council’s carbon footprint and improve the use of other natural resources whilst ensuring the Council is planning to adapt to climate change.”

 

1.6        Risk Management

 

1.6.1      The risk of not achieving reductions in the Council’s carbon emissions has been identified.  This will be managed by developing, implementing and maintaining a robust Carbon Management Plan in association with the Carbon Trust, through which carbon reduction activity will be monitored.

 

1.6.2      The reputational risk associated with not achieving carbon reduction is being managed by maintaining a systematic and evidence based approach to carbon reduction target setting, basing decisions on robust data and best practice, and setting challenging and measurable targets.

 

1.7        Other Implications

 

1.7.1    

1.      Financial	X
2.           Staffing
3.           Legal
4.           Equality Impact Needs Assessment
5.           Environmental/Sustainable Development	X
6.           Community Safety
7.           Human Rights Act
8.           Procurement
9.           Asset Management	X

 

 

1.7.2   Financial:  Energy saving actions arising from this decision and the recommendations made in the Carbon Management Plan are likely to lead to financial savings.  However, initial up front investment may be required to enable projects to go ahead.

 

1.7.3   Environmental / Sustainable Development:  This decision will increase the Council’s ability to deliver improved environmental performance from its own operations.

 

1.7.4   Asset Management:  This decision will have an impact on asset management as the buildings are assets of the Council and any projects involving improving their environmental performance will require management.

 

1.8        Relevant Documents

 

1.8.1   Appendices 

 

1.8.2   Appendix A: Weather Corrected Emissions

 

1.8.3   Background Documents

 

1.8.4   Record of Decision of the Cabinet Member for Environment, dated 15^th January 2010, “Quarter 1 & 2 Carbon report 2009/10”.

 

1.8.5   Record of Decision of the Cabinet, dated 12^th August 2009, “Carbon Footprint 2008/09”.

 

1.8.6   Record of Decision of the Cabinet, dated 11^th February 2009, “Review of the Environmental Sustainability of the Waste Collection Service”.

 

1.8.7   Record of Decision of the Cabinet, dated 12^th November 2008, “Reducing The Council’s Carbon Footprint”.

 

IS THIS A KEY DECISION REPORT?   Yes                                         No     If yes, when did it first appear in the Forward Plan?   …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..     This is a Key Decision because: ………………………………………………………………………..   …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….     Wards/Parishes affected: …………………………………………………………………………………..   ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

How to Comment   Should you have any comments on the issue that is being considered please contact either the relevant Officer or the Member of the Executive who will be taking the decision.   Cllr Ben Sherreard                                              Cabinet Member for Environment                                                               E-mail: bensherreard@maidstone.gov.uk   Jennifer Hunt                                                                       EMS Project Manager                                                                                   Telephone: 01622 602 471                                                               E-mail:  jenniferhunt@maidstone.gov.uk