WORCESTERSHIRE County Council will be purchasing ‘green’ electricity to power all of its street lighting, schools, libraries and all council buildings from April 1.

Through purchasing green electricity, the council can record most of its greenhouse gas emissions from electricity as zero emissions in its annual greenhouse gas report.

Councillor Tony Miller, cabinet member with responsibility for the environment, said: “This change is one of many we are making to support our road to zero carbon emissions.

“Our newly formed zero carbon and sustainability board have met and together we remain committed to reducing emissions, and reducing our direct impact in this area.

“The council will not rest on its laurels - we know we have much more to do to achieve net zero emissions and we continue to develop our plan to reach this stretching target.”

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The council said atmospheric emissions have already reduced by 36 per per cent since 2009/10, and it is expected that changing the type of electricity we buy will help to decrease our emissions even further.

The green electricity will be purchased through West Mercia Energy, and is REGO accredited, meaning it originates from renewable energy sources.

Green electricity will come from a variety of renewable sources, including solar power, wind power and hydro/wave power.

The current UK standard fuel mix for standard ‘brown’ electricity is made up of 29 per cent renewable sources, whereas the ‘pure green’ standard that the council will be purchasing is solely made up of accredited renewable sources.

It follows on from a significant investment in both LED street lighting and tree planting being approved as part of the Worcestershire County Council’s budget for 2020/21.