Wirral Council's vision for a greener future has taken another step forward after announcing a switch to renewable energy, starting next month.

From Thursday, April 1, the local authority will only be using electricity from renewable sources for all operations – including buildings and streetlights.

In line with the council's recently published Environment and Climate Emergency Policy and its commitment to reduce energy consumption and switch to greener energy, all council-owned offices, streetlights and buildings (including children’s centres and libraries) will operate on electricity from renewable sources.

This change will reduce the organisation’s carbon emissions by over 5,000 tonnes – which equates to 39% of its carbon emissions.

Cllr Liz Grey, Chair of Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee at Wirral Council, says: “Moving to greener energy sources is an essential step for the council to take in order to operate in a more environmentally-friendly way.

“Significant changes, to both the source of our energy and the amount that we use, can help us reach the ambitious target set in the Environment and Climate Emergency Action Plan – of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

“By choosing electrical energy from renewable sources, instead of from fossil fuels, the council will be able to reduce its carbon emissions by approximately a third and help lead the way to a more sustainable future.”

Switching to green electrical energy will not only help reach the targets set out in the authority’s Environment and Climate Emergency Policy but will also be a significant local contribution to the council endorsed Cool 2 climate strategy for Wirral.

To find out more about Wirral’s Climate Strategy and create your own action plan, visit www.wirral.gov.uk/climatestrategy

Green electricity will cost the council 0.32% more than it would to continue using non-renewable electricity. The additional cost will be funded through the authority’s Climate Emergency budget.

Green electrical energy from certified renewable sources has been purchased by the council from April 2021 up until March 2022.

The local authority says that this is a short-term solution to decrease the council’s carbon footprint and help to reduce emissions whilst a longer-term solution for maintaining a renewable energy source continues to be investigated.