Issue - meetings

The Committee received the Net Zero Carbon Plan Progress Report presented by the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Decarbonisation and Sustainability.

The County Council approved a Net Zero Carbon (NZC) Plan on 12th February 2020 and Action NZC-28 of the Plan required performance reports on progress towards becoming a net zero carbon local authority by 2030 to be published annually.

The following queries were raised in relation to the report:-

·       Reference was made to the table, summary of progress – Carbon Footprint on page 3 of the report.  It was felt that it would be beneficial to include a monetary figure to the table which would show in financial terms how much energy was being saved.  The Head of Place and Sustainability stated that the Auditor General of Wales, having recently completed a review on climate change plans in Wales, had identified that the inclusion of financial costs attributed to the carbon footprint would be beneficial.  Therefore, the inclusion of financial cost will be included in the next iteration of the plan.

In addition, the Committee was informed of the work that would be injected into developing the plan further making it more informative by including trajectories in consideration of the programmes and plans that the Council had committed to date.

·       In commending the content of the report, it was commented that an area of opportunity would be to consider the generation of electricity.  It was felt that the rooftop solar panel installations were too small for the energy demand of the buildings they were sited on.  It was cited that the overall annual generation of the Council was 1-megawatt hours (MWh) which was 50% less than the community sector currently produced in Carmarthenshire.  With this information mind, it was asked if there were any plans to increase the amount of electricity generation through solar panels, batteries and possibly wind turbines?  The Sustainable Development Manager explained that getting to ‘zero carbon’ was impossible and that ‘net zero carbon’ could only be achieved through compensating by way of offsetting through the increased generation of renewable energy and carbon sequestration. In specific response to rooftop solar panels, the Sustainable Development Manager reported that whilst the Council was amongst the largest local authority producers of rooftop solar energy in Wales, further investment is required in order to reach the goal to be net zero by 2030.

In response to the comments raised, the Head of Place and Sustainability added that there was a significant amount of work being carried out at a strategic level to develop renewable energy sites including the Nantycaws site which was the flagship site around the circular economy.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Decarbonisation and Sustainability acknowledged that there was an urgent need to be more agile with more emphasis on working with the third sector.

·         It was asked if there were any grants or support available for local village halls to install solar panels?  The Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Decarbonisation and Sustainability that there may  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8