Thursday 18 November 2021

Devon County Council to invest £3.3m in going net zero by 2030

Devon County Council has announced a £3.3 million investment scheme to slash its carbon emissions and help it achieve net zero.

The money will be spent to cut down the energy use and emissions from its buildings in Exeter, Barnstaple, Tavistock and Honiton.

It will install solar panels, heat pumps and LED lighting throughout the buildings to drastically reduce the environmental impact of its operations.

The council is aiming to become net zero by 2030.

Councillor Andrea Davis said: “By the end of next year, we will have installed 400 electric vehicle charging bays across Devon and we’ve bought 28 acres of land to work with the Woodland Trust on planting trees to offset our emissions.

“We’re committed to converting half of our vehicle fleet to electric by 2030. It’s half because we want to convert the vehicles as they come to the end of their life because the carbon required to build a new vehicle is equivalent to the emissions created by driving 100,000 miles.

“This is an ambitious programme because we know we have to make significant improvements in our emissions.”