Council’s carbon emissions reduced by nearly half

South Oxfordshire District Council has made strong and positive progress in its goal to achieve net zero and has nearly halved its carbon emissions since 2009/10.

Cllr David Rouane, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council and climate lead, said: “The council’s carbon emissions are down by 47 per cent over the last 15 years – this is fantastic progress, which has been driven in recent years by our ambitious net zero targets. We are pushing forward our extensive programme of energy and carbon saving projects for our arts and leisure centres. We are doing this by improving insulation and installing technology such as solar panels and air source heat pumps. We have projects in Didcot, Thame and Wheatley underway.”

The council’s leisure and arts teams have received funding from the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and Swimming Pool Support Fund to help with this work. The council is also exploring similar plans for Henley and Berinsfield.

The council’s waste team has also purchased its first electric food waste truck which the crews will begin using this autumn. In addition, up to six other council vans are also expected to transition to electric vehicles in the next year, with two already on the road.

In 2019, the council set itself a highly ambitious target of becoming a carbon neutral by 2025 and also set an aspirational target of South Oxfordshire being a net zero carbon district by 2030.

Cllr Rouane, added: “We knew that there could be challenges to achieving our net zero targets both for the council and for the district. For the council we had anticipated that technology – especially regarding larger electric refuse vehicles – would have developed faster than it has proved. The rural nature of the district with its long waste collection routes has proved a struggle for larger electric vehicles. However, the council has a ten-week trial of an electric refuse collection vehicle planned in the coming months and we are hopeful of favourable results.

“Barriers for the district to reach net zero include the previous government’s chop and change policy regarding funding for projects, particularly around retrofitting domestic properties. This policy has made residents and providers uncertain when it came to investing in energy efficiency measures in homes.

“Our grant schemes and other funding we offer such as contributions from developers that are helping our residents, communities and businesses save energy and to make ‘green’ choices where they can. We know that people need housing and jobs, and through our forthcoming joint local plan [currently draft], we are aiming to achieve that without damaging the climate. We will do this by using robust, evidence-based policies on carbon emissions, nature recovery and biodiversity.

“So we call on the government and our Oxfordshire council partners to discuss how we can rise to the challenge of being an area of growth while also reducing carbon emissions.”

The council is accelerating its partnership with the other Oxfordshire authorities to help reduce district-wide emissions. It is supporting a number of projects including the decarbonisation of domestic housing, local area energy planning and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In addition, the council’s economic development team is encouraging businesses across the district to apply for its UKSPF-backed Business Decarbonisation Grant for up to £10,000 worth of support.

This month, cabinet members will discuss two reports on the council’s net zero targets – one for the council’s own operations and the other for the district. These set out the progress so far and options for the future, as well as considering the various challenges and barriers to achieving the council’s net zero goals.

• The reports recommend that the council recognises the progress that has been made so far and adopts a revised operational net zero target of 2030, and a revised target for the district of 2045. The revised targets better align with the other Oxfordshire councils and with the majority of other local authorities across UK.
• Revising the targets should enable a smoother and potentially more cost-effective transition to net zero as technological advances are made for example in the waste vehicle market.

The council’s cabinet meets to consider the reports on Thursday 10 October, you can read the agenda here.

For information about the Business Decarbonisation Grant see our website.