The government is urging residents to use council web
services to help cutCO2 emissions.
Residents who use the internet to contact their local council
could help save the equivalent of millions of air miles in carbon
emissions, according to new research issued today by the
Department of
Communities and Local Government.
The department commissioned an
independent study
report by environmental specialists Best Foot Forward, to
discover how big a contribution councils could make to tackling
climate change, by encouraging local people to turn to their
website for routine transactions.
The report found that not only are online services more cost
efficient in staff time than the use of paper, but that there are
also parallel savings in terms of CO2 emissions because
of the reduced number of journeys.
Contrary to what was expected in some quarters, the survey found
that these carbon savings are significantly in excess of the
negative impact of extra IT server capacity.
The research was based on real life data supplied by Sunderland
City Council, which covered five key local authority services -
planning, schools admissions, registrar's certificates,
environmental services enquiries and council tax payments.
The results revealed the city council could save 80,000 kg of
CO2 each year. Rolled out nationally this is the
equivalent of over 14,000 tonnes of CO2, or 5,362 return
air flights from Heathrow to Malaga each year.
Parmjit Dhanda, e-Government minister said, "We know that
driving to the town hall to carry out a transaction uses 20 times
more energy than doing it online. That's why it's so important that
we encourage people to talk to their local authority through the
web."
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