Gateshead Council
Summary
A bold new strategy to deliver zero carbon heating for Gateshead in just nine years has been approved by the council's cabinet today.
Nationally, the Government is aiming for the UK as a whole to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050 and has adopted a Clean Growth Strategy to deliver that.
Gateshead is aspiring to achieve that goal for all council buildings and homes by 2030 - a full 20 years earlier.
This is a key element of the council's Climate Emergency Action Plan, following the authority declaring a climate emergency in 2019.
The council recognises that decarbonisation of heat is essential to achieving its goal, as heat is the largest component of the council's carbon footprint, accounting for 45% of measured carbon emissions - currently around 17,500 council homes in Gateshead operate on gas boilers, which is 92% of the council's total housing stock of 18,995 homes.
So the cabinet has now adopted a 'Zero Carbon Heat Strategy' with the ambition to:
- deliver up to £240m of heat networks, where Gateshead is already leading the way in the North East
- decarbonise the existing gas network which delivers gas to businesses and people's homes, with support for using hydrogen as an alternative fuel
- install of heat pumps, using small scale pilot projects to research their impact on fuel poverty, and support for installation in new build homes.
As well as reducing carbon emissions, the strategy aims to create the conditions for growth in jobs and skills in the supply chains for zero carbon heat, stimulating the green economy - a key strand of Gateshead's Economic Development Strategy.
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