Carbon Management Helps Gwynedd Council Save Over £3 Million Since 2010

Pupils at Ysgol Dyffryn Dulas, Corris, with Councillor John Wynn Jones and local Councillor John Pughe Roberts with Council Energy Conservation Officer Ffion Mai Jones, with the school’s biomass boiler ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Gwynedd Council has shown that careful planning to reduce its carbon emissions is worthwhile, as the authority has saved £3.09 million in costs over the past six years. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Thanks to a series of projects set out in Gwynedd Council’s Carbon Management Plan, the authority has reduced electricity and heating fuel bills in its buildings, as well as electricity used for street lighting, and fuel for its fleet of vehicles. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Council is now saving £886,005 a year on its energy and fuel bills, which is extremely positive news in a time of cuts and constraints on Local Authority budgets. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

As well as these cost savings, the Council has saved a total of 35,000 tonnes of Co2 since starting to implement the Carbon Management Plan in 2010. That’s the equivalent of 210,000 double decker buses filled with Co2. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Councillor John Wynn Jones, Gwynedd Council Cabinet Member for Environmental matters said: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“We are extremely pleased with these results. They highlight the importance of taking ownership of our actions in order to manage our environmental impact as a result of the Co2 we emit into the atmosphere. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“This sets a good example for us all to try and reduce our energy and resource use at home so that we can reduce our carbon footprint and costs at the same time.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Council has its own dedicated Energy Conservation Team, who is responsible for implementing the Carbon Management action plan projects throughout the Council’s activities. These range from replacing old inefficient equipment, investing in new innovative energy technology and renewable energy, improving inefficient buildings, and raising awareness and staff training on energy management. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

In addition, primary school pupils have been learning about energy conservation thanks to an awareness raising campaign called ‘Sbarci & Fflic’ (www.sbarciafflic.org) with a number of exciting schemes developed with pupils to reduce carbon emissions from the county’s schools. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The next step for the Council will be to use monitoring and targeting software to carefully monitor energy use at sites, and to identify any unnecessary energy use. This has been trialled with the Council’s 12 leisure centres, who have successfully managed to reduce their carbon emissions by 5.5% over the past year, saving £25,000. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​