Wednesday 28 July 2021

Oxford City Council announces roadmap to reach net zero by 2040

Oxford City Council has announced a roadmap for the city to reach net zero emissions by 2040.

Working alongside the Carbon Trust, it has pledged to reduce its emissions by 88% by 2040 from 2018 levels and offset any that remain.

To tackle domestic emissions, it will install rooftop solar on existing homes, aiming to have 55% of existing homes and 75% of all new homes. solar-powered by 2040.

For commercial emissions, it aims to install 6.6MW of rooftop solar on commercial buildings by 2040.

It is targeting 24% of industrial fossil fuel processes to be electrified by this time, as well as 100% of cars in Oxford to be electric by 2035. It will install 576 electric vehicle (EV) chargers in workplaces and 1,233 domestic on-street chargers by 2040 to facilitate this.

As part of the decarbonisation of transport, it is aiming for half its buses to be hydrogen-powered by 2040.

Councillor Tom Hayes commented: “This Roadmap is a uniquely detailed and comprehensive tool, that shows us what needs to be done if we are to achieve that.

“The complexity of specifying what is scientifically necessary has been huge, but that piece of work will be infinitesimal in comparison to the complexity of implementing the plan.

“We now have to focus on how these sorts of measures could be implemented, share knowledge and skills as a partnership and seek the additional resources from government we will all need to achieve that.

“We’re transforming our whole way of life. What’s good for the environment will be great for high-skilled jobs in the places where we live but such change will involve constant citywide conversations and they will be as challenging and necessary as any we’ve ever had.”