Sunshine powered transport depot saves first tonne of emissions
Date: 27/10/2008
Solar panels, which help power Camden Council’s transport depot have now saved their first tonne in CO2 emissions.
The roof of the York Way building was fitted with solar panels in July 2008.
They help lower the electricity the transport depot uses from the grid and therefore contribute to reducing Council’s carbon dioxide emissions.
The solar panel display monitor has now shown the depot had reduced its CO2 emissions by its first tonne.
Solar panels are a type of renewable energy technology made up of individual photovoltaic cells (PV) that turn daylight into electricity. When light shines on the cells, it creates an electric field across the layers and causes electricity to flow.
The more light a cell receives, the more electricity it can generate. As the depot is south facing PV was the ideal renewable energy to use.
Cllr Chris Knight, Camden Council’s Executive Member for Environment, said:
“Not only have the solar panels cut Camden Council’s carbon emissions, they are helping us save money, which is particularly important as energy costs continue to rise. It’s fantastic that we can harness the sun’s energy this way to help power our depot.”
The solar panel project is just part of Camden Council’s overall commitment to protecting the environment for present and future generations with ambitious plans to create a low carbon and low waste borough.
The goal is to reduce C02 emissions by the equivalent of 10 per cent per Camden resident by 2012 and household waste by 20 per cent.
The Council set out exactly how it plans to achieve this goal with its widest reaching environmental sustainability strategy to date in Camden’s 'Environmental Sustainability Delivery Plan 2008-12, Delivering a Sustainable Camden.'
Delivering a Sustainable Camden, agreed this July, includes investing an extra £3m to tackle climate change at a local level through a number of of wide-ranging new proposals to reduce carbon emissions at good value for money.
These include: making homes in Camden as efficient as possible through a domestic insulation programme and increasing our support for car clubs in the borough.
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Page last updated Oct 28, 2008 9:36 AM
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