Decarbonisation

The Welsh Government have an ambition for the public sector to be Carbon Neutral by 2030 in response to climate change.

The effects of climate change are already shaping our lives. As Greenhouse gases have increased Merthyr Tydfil has experienced all of the key symptoms of man-made climate change including erratic weather patterns, air pollution, heatwaves and changes in biodiversity.

This has also come with associated economic and social costs as businesses and residents have struggled with issues like flood damage and interruption to their daily lives.

Merthyr Tydfil Council will be supporting this ambition by carrying out a number of Decarbonisation initiatives and projects that reduce the Carbon Emissions of its operations and impacts on Climate Change.

We’ve already started the journey. Many Decarbonisation initiatives are already underway such as the implementation of large-scale energy efficiency measures in buildings, piloting the use of electric vehicles and installing new energy efficient streetlights.

We are also working with an Energy Specialist to help prepare a Council plan and road map that will enable us to play our role in the Welsh Public Sector becoming Carbon Neutral by 2030.

Climate Change

If left unmanaged, climate change will affect the daily life of everyone on the planet; from increasing temperatures and sea levels, to more extreme weather conditions. The short video down below describes more details:

Doing our part

A brief overview of the current steps the council is taking to work towards becoming carbon neutral include the following:

Installation of Energy Efficiency measures in 32 council buildings via the Welsh Government REFIT Cymru framework.
Front line services now have a number of electric vehicles in operation, and our Fleet strategy aims to support a transition to an all electric fleet by 2030. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVM2S_Xb-Y4
The Countryside Team within the Council have committed to planting over 1000 trees in open spaces throughout the County Borough. A lot of nature, such as plants, trees and bushes naturally absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, hence preservation of land is vital in the decarbonisation process.
The Property Services Team are actively investigating the feasibility of building Net Zero Primary and Secondary Schools.
Solar PV has been installed in our Recycling Depots to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

For general enquires about decarbonisation in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council contact: Decarbonisation@merthyr.gov.uk