Exeter City Council has made a commitment to become a leading authority for sustainability. The goal is to deliver environmental excellence and reduced emissions, with long term financial and carbon savings, as Exeter strives to become a zero carbon city. The ambition is supported by an innovative programme of energy efficient and renewable initiatives, financially supported and delivered by a team of two who have already produced substantial savings.
To date the team has reduced the base load energy consumption, cut carbon emissions and delivered financial savings to support services for the council. Carbon emissions have reduced from 3,456 tonnes in 2012 to 2,508 tonnes in 2018, an overall reduction of 29%. Energy consumption has dropped by 37% and last year the carbon emissions of the council’s fleet saw a 34% reduction after the introduction of electric vehicles (EV) and EV pool cars.
The £3million programme is fully supported by members, who were engaged by the team to oversee a new fast track business case approval, and rapid project generation to ensure quick implementation of projects. This is shown to have been very effective and the self-financed model used has in turn brought significant savings and long term income streams to support council services.
