Staffordshire County Council is planning to power itself with green energy, including greater use of solar panels, solar thermal energy, micro-hydro, and biomass-based power generation and heating.
The cabinet has adopted a new green energy policy which is designed to accelerate the authority’s use of alternative energy sources and slash energy bills, without building large-scale wind farms.
The authority says that this will reduce its carbon footprint to help in the global fight against climate change and that it will provide a boost to the economy through the creation of so-called ‘green jobs’ which will aid the economy, and save taxpayers’ money.
County councillor Mark Winnington, the authority’s cabinet member for environment and assets, said: "The fundamental fact is that we need to power public services more efficiently."
"We have made excellent progress in making our buildings more energy efficient through modernisation. This policy goes much further than that and looks at how we can pursue the use of alternative means of creating our own power."
Further information:
Burton Mail
Staffordshire County Council