Carbon footprint revealed for York neighbourhoods
Posted on 28 October 2009
The study by the Stockholm Environment Institute identifies the York neighbourhoods which not only have the greenest attitudes, but how effectively they put them into practice.
The study provides a detailed understanding of York contribution to carbon emissions
Dr Gary Haq
The report was produced as part of the York Green Street Challenge - a joint project between City of York Council, York Environment Partnership and the Stockholm Environment Institute in the Department of Biology at the University of York.
It revealed that the carbon footprint of an average York resident is 12.58 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, slightly higher than the UK average of 12.12 tonnes, but lower than that of residents in Harrogate (13.69 tonnes). Housing and transport make up 60 per cent of York’s carbon footprint.
Neighbourhoods which have the highest footprint are Dringhouses Central and Woodthorpe, each with a footprint of 14.51 tonnes, while Heslington has the lowest carbon footprint of York's neighbourhoods.
The reports identifies households in the Groves, Clifton Hospital Area, Heslington, Nicholas Fields and Fishergate West areas as having the 'greenest' attitudes. Those in Westfield Central, Westfield North West, Westfield East, and Tang Hall and Clifton North West were the least 'green'.
But the researchers discovered a tendency for those neighbourhoods with a strong level of green attitudes to also have a large carbon footprint. Clementhorpe has a high carbon footprint despite having a strong level of green attitudes. On the other hand, Heslington has both a strong level of green attitudes and a low carbon footprint.
The report is part of a 15-month "York Green Streets Challenge" campaign funded by the Without Walls Partnership Local Area Agreement Delivery Fund. The findings will be used to target selected households in York to help them reduce their carbon footprint by 10 per cent in 2010. This will be achieved by introducing measures to reduce home energy use and to promote walking and cycling.
Dr Gary Haq, co-author of the report said: “The study provides a detailed understanding of York contribution to carbon emissions. It identifies those neighbourhoods of the city which have a greater potential to save money while helping the city to tackle climate change.”
Mike Slater, Chair of York Environment Partnership Board said: “The city is committed to tackling climate change and this report and campaign will assist residents to take practical actions in their homes. “
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The carbon footprint is the total amount of CO2 emissions which result directly and indirectly from the individual use of goods and services. It is measured in tonnes of CO2 per person per year with the average UK resident having a carbon footprint of 12.12 tonnes of CO2
- The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is an international, independent environment and development research institute. It is a part of an international network of centres with the York centre based in the Department of Biology at the University of York.
- The University of York’s Department of Biology is one of the leading centres for biological teaching and research in the UK. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, it was ranked equal first among broad spectrum bioscience departments in the UK for quality that was judged to be world-leading. The Department both teaches degree courses and undertakes research across the whole spectrum of modern Biology, from molecular genetics and biochemistry to ecology. Its biomedical research includes an Immunology and Infection Unit (jointly with the Hull York Medical School), work on infertility and three research professors funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and York Against Cancer.
- ‘Without Walls’ is a group of people who are working together to develop a shared vision and look at ways to improve quality of life for people in the city. This partnership (officially the Local Strategic Partnership or LSP) is made up of representatives of public, voluntary and business organisations in York. Partners include the police, council, health, voluntary agencies and local businesses.
- The result of their work is the Sustainable Community Strategy, based around seven ‘themes’ - areas we want to concentrate on to improve the quality of life for everyone in the city over the next twenty years or so.
The themes are:- A Sustainable City
- A Thriving City
- A Learning City
- A City Of Culture
- A Safer City
- A Healthy City
- An Inclusive City
- The partnership responsible for the Sustainable City chapter of the Sustainable Community Strategy is the Environment Partnership. This partnership’s aim is to reduce our impact on the environment while maintaining York’s special qualities and enabling the city and its communities to grow and thrive. It is also currently creating a climate change Framework and action plan for York.
Contact details
Dr Gary Haq
Tel 01904 432917
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