Agenda item

This report provides Members with the details of the Local Area Energy Plan.

The Committee welcomed Karl Sample from Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) who had produced the Local Area Energy Plan’s for North Yorkshire and had done a specific plan for York. The Committee were introduced to the report and informed of the challenges to decarbonising York’s energy system. It was confirmed that the plan had been developed in conjunction with North Yorkshire who aimed to reach their carbon negative goal by 2040, therefore, York would need to move at a faster pace to achieve its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Members discussed the outcome of the modelling which provided a framework for when and what should be done to achieve net zero. The estimated £3.8 billion investment required to decarbonise the energy system was discussed as it was noted that funding external to the Council’s budget would be required. Officers noted that the cost, while high, included inherent costs such as replacements of boilers and it was agreed that improvements in areas such as retrofitting would be both a benefit to decarbonisation as well as reducing household bills. The Committee enquired about the possibility of including case studies of work undertaken elsewhere as reference points for specific programmes that could be undertaken to meet objectives outlined by the model.

Supporting residents to reduce emissions was discussed around support for retrofitting in the HUG scheme and access to electric vehicle charging. It was noted that York had more electric vehicle charging points than anywhere in the UK outside of London, however, York remained behind many other European cities. Support for charging at the 52% of York homes which don’t have access to off street parking was considered, the Council’s Eclectic Vehicle Charging Strategy was cited with its plans for hyper hubs and charging in Council car parks to support homes unable to charge from home.

The Committee enquired about potential options for decarbonisation which had not been identified by the modelling or not included within the report. Geothermal heating from the North Selby Mine it was noted could be an option for discussion but could not be included in the model due to their being too many variables for the ESC models to see it as a worthy inclusion. It was also confirmed that officers would review the regional plans to see if heating from Allerton Waste Recovery Park  and whether this could form part of York’s Local Area Energy Plan. Offshore wind farms were also discussed and their role in producing hydrogen energy. It was confirmed that the model for York had not identified offshore wind as part of its plan, but due to the potential of the Yorkshire coastline the Committee requested that work be undertaken to explore joint working with North Yorkshire to use offshore wind production.

Resolved:

                      i.         That the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change be requested to call for the Local Area Energy Plan to provide clear figures for the projected carbon emissions saving that would be delivered if the proposed Building Upgrade referred to in the plan are implemented, so that these can be measured against the annual carbon emissions saving required by the Climate Change Strategy and the council’s commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2030.

                     ii.         That Officers check the role of geothermal energy and Allerton Waste Recovery Park in nearby Councils regional local area plans.

                    iii.        That the Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change be requested to explore with North Yorkshire Council the potential of using offshore wind production to support energy generated for the benefit of the region.

Reason:     To support the accelerated delivery of decarbonisation to achieve the council ambition for York to be net zero by 2030.