Calderdale commissions net zero roadmap

Four years after declaring a climate emergency, Calderdale Council has appointed a consultant to develop a Local Area Energy Plan, as it attempts to reach net zero by 2038.

The LAEP will cover the whole of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, population 206,600. The council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and the plan will underpin its climate emergency response, acting as a framework for investment decisions, informing planning and policy, and driving community engagement and stakeholder collaboration.

Glasgow-based carbon impact modelling specialist, IES, will deliver the LAEP and make recommendations about “costed…evidence-backed interventions required to decarbonise the borough.”

Aspects covered by the plan will include heat and transport, energy efficiency of buildings and renewable energy.

These changes may include retrofit options for domestic and non-domestic buildings, opportunities for low carbon heat networks or district heating, use of rooftop solar or wind turbines for local renewable energy generation and the implementation of EV charging infrastructure. Collectively, these interventions will set out the most affordable, effective route for Calderdale to meet its 2038 net zero target.

Calderdale Council’s cabinet member for climate change and resilience, Cllr Scott Patient, said: “This is a major piece of innovative work which will give a whole-borough overview of where we can focus our efforts to reach our net zero targets and inform wider climate action.

“As the first borough in the region to develop a Local Area Energy Plan, we’re leading the way in our fight to tackle to climate emergency, using data, evidence and available technology to inform and subsequently instigate real change.

“The LAEP would also act as a framework to inform further policies, including planning and investment decisions, putting carbon efficiency at the heart of Council-decision making.”

The Calderdale plan is due to be produced by February 2024.