City-wide emissions drop announced by council

A SWITCH in the equipment providing street lighting in Edinburgh has helped the city achieve a reported encouraging drop in its greenhouse gas emissions.

Says the local authority, Edinburgh has recorded a sixth consecutive annual drop in greenhouse gas emissions – the main one being carbon dioxide, which creates an enveloping effect in the earth’s atmosphere, leading to warming.

Says the council, as well as a switch to LED street lighting, there has been a drop in emissions from its fleet of vehicles.

Says a city council announcement, here: “The findings, which have been released as part of the latest Public Bodies Climate Change Duties (PBCCD) report, reveal that council emissions have been cut by 11 per cent in the past financial year – supporting the council’s ambition of becoming a net zero organisation by 2030.

“The reduction, which also includes emissions from Edinburgh Leisure, is mainly thanks to a fall in electricity consumption, achieved through lighting or other energy efficiency upgrades, property closures during the pandemic and greening of the electricity grid.

“The upgrade in LED street lighting across the city also contributed to a third of the drop in overall electricity use. A decrease in the use of the heavy vehicle fleet and a drop in business travel during the lockdown also helped emissions fall.”

The announcement adds: “In 2020-21, emissions from buildings made up 66 per cent of the council’s carbon footprint. Meanwhile, emissions from waste totalled nine per cent, fleet ten per cent, business travel one per cent and other energy consumption, such as street and stair lighting, alarms and traffic signals made up 14 per cent.”

Pictured: Portobello, Edinburgh, Picture credit: Place Design Scotland