A net-zero Newcastle

Decarbonisation is a fancy way of saying 'reducing carbon'. Carbon is the nasty product that contributes to many of the climate change issues including air and water pollution.

We focus on the carbon dioxide (CO2) we emit, as it is the largest contributor to climate change and is the one greenhouse gas we emit the most. However, there are other gases such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases that we must also reduce to ensure we become net zero and decelerate climate change.

To 'decarbonise' we have to think of better ways to do our day-to-day activities as a council. They could be:

• encouraging our employees to walk or cycle instead of driving, or find more suitable 'climate friendly' vehicles such as electric or hybrid vehicles

• replace our heating systems with renewable alternatives such as using air source heat pumps instead of traditional gas boilers

• produce electricity from energy from the sun through installing photo voltaic (PV) panels (solar panels)

• swap diesel used for our refuse collection vehicles to hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO)