UK Climate Change Programme 2006 - JNCC - Defra

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Public sector
Government Estate has already met its renewable
electricity target of 10 per cent by 2008. All nine
of the departments that have initiated new estate
management contracts since August 2004 have
included clauses to ensure opportunities are
identified, and measures are taken to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions, leading to greater
improvements in the management of the Estate in
the future. Departments have already met, or are
close to meeting, their transport carbon dioxide
emissions reduction target.
37. Key targets on reducing absolute carbon
emissions and electricity use per unit floor area
are not currently being met. The Government
is therefore reviewing the existing targets
in the Framework to deliver strengthened
strategic targets by summer 2006, to ensure
a step change in the way that Government
departments manage their own energy and
emissions is achieved. Making sure that the
correct set of targets is in place and issues with
the collection and quality of data are tackled is
necessary to guarantee a high level of confidence
in the progress of this sector. Equally important is
securing commitment to changing behaviour. To
tackle the issue of engaging top management
attention, new annual reporting procedures are
being developed, and larger public sector
organisations are being encouraged to sign up
for the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management
programme 11 . Defra was the first department to
do so. The Sustainable Development Commission
already provides an independent report and
commentary on the performance of central
Government departments. In the future, each
Secretary of State will be required to sign-off
their department’s annual progress report.
38. However there are significant challenges ahead.
For example the Civil departments, excluding the
Ministry of Defence, have experienced a 7 per
cent increase in total floor area since 1999-2000;
their electricity consumption per unit floor area
has also been increasing with the introduction of
open plan working, increased IT and air
conditioning, flexible and extended working
hours. Sustainable Development Ministers 12 have
agreed that all central Government
Departments will sign up for a Carbon Trust
energy audit to identify cost effective
savings and develop the action plans needed
to deliver them.
The wider public sector
39. The whole public sector estate, including the
devolved administrations, is responsible for about
5 per cent of the total UK carbon dioxide
emissions. Since central Government is
responsible for only about 15 per cent of this
total, it is necessary to extend focus on the wider
public sector.
40. In December 2005 Sustainable Development
Ministers committed to establishing reporting
mechanisms on activity to improve energy
efficiency for all parts of the public sector. To
deliver this the Government will carry out an
examination of energy management information
in the wider public sector with a view to making
recommendations for improvements in the
completeness and quality of energy data before
the end of 2006. This will help Government
achieve its own public sector target of achieving
a 0.5MtC reduction in emissions from it’s own
operations, by 2010 which was set in 2000.
41. All sectors of the Government Estate will review
their carbon emissions reduction strategies. While
a raft of energy efficiency measures are currently
being deployed to good effect across the Estate,
further opportunities exist to reduce emissions
from fossil fuels. A key approach is by using
renewable fuels in place of gas and oil. This
approach goes further than buying renewable
electricity from the grid, it looks to the
Government to produce its own renewable
electricity and heat. Regarding heating for
example: if 20 per cent of the heating boilers,
which annually are replaced or refurbished on the
Government Estate, were replaced by boilers
equipped to run on biomass, the annual carbon
savings from the replacements by 2020 would be
between 0.12 – 0.15MtC by 2020. 13
11 Carbon Management is a tool developed by the Carbon Trust to help large public and private sector organisations develop effective management
procedures for the efficient use of energy.
12 www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/government/ministers.htm
13 Assumes 20-year replacement/refurbishment cycle; total Government Estate heat demand of 17.7TWhth/a (of Public Estate total heat demand of
59.1TWhth/a); 2.65TWh/a replaced; and carbon saving of 0.05 – 0.06 MtC per TWh.