Herefordshire Council has hit its 2020 carbon reduction target early, an outcome the authority says shows their ‘commitment to tackling the climate emergency’.

The council had aimed to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40% by the year 2020, but has already managed to deliver a 43% reduction.

This reduction of over 11,875 tonnes of CO2 has been achieved through a number of ‘invest to save’ projects, including LED lighting, renewable energy generation and use, greener vehicles, and wider energy efficiency projects.

‘Herefordshire Council is committed to leading a local reduction in carbon emissions,’ said Cllr Trish Marsh, cabinet member for environment, economy and skills.

‘As a local authority, delivering a wide variety of services across the county, our carbon emissions come from many sources including running council buildings, contractor fleets, street lighting, staff travel at work and schools' gas and electricity.

‘This presents many opportunities to deliver reductions in our carbon emissions.’

‘Projects such as the solar PV at the HARC and LED street lighting are great examples of projects that both deliver environmental benefits and help to reduce the council’s running costs,’ Cllr Marsh continued.

‘I am delighted to see such excellent progress to date and look forward to addressing the significant but exciting challenges posed by our latest aspirational target of being carbon neutral by 2030.’