By Oliver Thompson
Kirklees Council’s scheme to combat carbon emissions is in full motion.
The scheme which involves replacing street lights across Kirklees to make them more environmentally-friendly has had a significant impact on the borough’s carbon footprint.
In the latest report, the Kirklees Council have replaced 60% of the lighting network across the region, which is 6380 lights. Consequently, this has reduced the carbon footprint by 1,600 tonnes CO2.
In the last five years, there has been an overall reduction of 32% of the carbon generated due to this scheme.
The council have formed a cross-party Climate Emergency Working Party in response to the declaration of a Climate Emergency with the aim to make the borough a greener place.
The UK Government recently announced that they are committing to cut greenhouse emissions to ‘almost zero’ by 2050 in a bid to tackle climate change, which includes the introduction of technological improvements like LED light bulbs across the country.
Nationwide, there has been a steady decrease in household emissions. In the latest study from the Climate Change Committee, in 1990, there were 14,752 KG CO2 emitted from households with a major contributor being heating. In 2017, this has reduced by nearly half to 8798 KG CO2
Cllr Rob Walker, Cabinet Member for Culture and Environment, said:
“Street lighting forms a highly visible and vital role, enabling the safe use of the highways for road users and pedestrians so it’s essential we do this effectively.
“We are also identifying new opportunities where we can reduce emissions and are continuing to work internally with staff to get our own house in order and lead by example, reducing carbon emissions across the organisation.”