Brighton & Hove City Council Carbon footprint report 2023 to 2024

1.1

This report provides a breakdown of Brighton & Hove City Council’s operational Greenhouse gas emissions for the 2023 to 2024 financial year.  The emissions in this report have been calculated using consumption data taken from utility billing as well as actual meter readings where available. 

1.2

The scope of this report covers the council’s internal operational emissions, from electricity, gas, and oil use in the following council assets: 

• corporate buildings (including offices, social care, libraries, park property, family hubs and museums) 
• schools and nurseries
• housing - communal areas and shared gas boilers only, housing offices
• street lighting and traffic signals
• fuel consumption from council owned vehicle fleet

1.3

Carbon emissions from tenanted commercial and housing assets, where occupants are solely responsible for utility consumption, have not been included in this report. A full overview of which emissions have been reported in this report are included in Appendix A. 

1.4

Emissions figures are presented in tonnes CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), the standard unit for measuring carbon emissions. The raw consumption data has been converted to CO2e using the annual greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors produced by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ). The published conversion factors for 2023/24 utilised in this report are included in Appendix B. 

1.5

The methodology applied in this report is defined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Standard (GHGP), which is the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standard. The emission types included in this report are classified under the GHGP standard as follows:  

• scope 1 - direct emissions - relating to activities owned or controlled by an organisation that release emissions straight into the atmosphere through combustion. This includes gas and oil consumption for heating and hot water, as well as fuel consumption from fleet vehicles
• scope 2 - energy indirect - emissions being released into the atmosphere associated with the consumption of purchased electricity from the National Grid

1.6

Emissions defined as scope 3 under the GHGP standard resulting from purchased goods and services, employee travel and fully leased out assets are currently not included in this report. A full summary of the emissions excluded from the reporting scope is included in Appendix A.

Figure 1 - Total annual CO2e emissions 2023/24 broken down by council area and fuel type (tonnes CO2e).

2.1

Brighton & Hove City Council’s total internal carbon emissions for 2023 to 2024 were 15,904 tonnes CO2e, Figure 1 shows a breakdown of the total footprint by fuel type and area of the council. When compared to the council’s 2022 to 2023 emissions footprint of 15,949 tonnes CO2e, this represents a total reduction of 45 tonnes CO2e (0.28%). A comparison of the Council’s emissions to the previous reporting year are outlined in Table 1 below. 

Table 1 - Year on year emission changes by council area (tonnes CO2e) 

2.2 Annual carbon emissions from corporate operational buildings 2023 tp 2024

Corporate operational sites showed a total year-on-year carbon emission reduction across all fuels of 5.61% (222 tonnes CO2e).

Corporate emissions resulting from electricity consumption increased by 0.48% (9 tonnes CO2e).  Whilst actual electricity consumption reduced by 6.16% (594 mWh), reductions in carbon emissions were tempered by a higher carbon intensity in the published grid emissions factors for 2023 to 2024.

Corporate Emissions from gas and oil consumption reduced by 11.21% (231 tonnes CO2e). This was due to a reduction in consumption of 1287mWh, most notably in the council’s main civic offices and life services sites.

2.3 Annual carbon emissions from housing communal supplies 2023 to 2024

Housing sites showed an increase in year-on-year carbon emissions of 7.12% (258 tonnes CO2e).  

Housing emissions from electricity consumption increased by 4.48% (36 tonnes CO2e). However, actual electricity consumption was slightly lower than the previous year by 2.43% (100 mWh), but the higher carbon intensity of grid electricity resulted in an increase in emissions.   

Emissions from gas consumption at housing sites increased by 7.87% in 2023/24 (222 tonnes CO2e). This is due to an increase in communal gas consumption of 1180 mWh across a small number of housing sites which required multiple system drain-downs for essential maintenance.The additional heat required to bring the systems back up to operational temperatures may have significantly contributed to the increase in consumption. The council will be monitoring this going forward to ensure that this increase in demand is temporary.

2.4 Annual carbon emissions from school sites 2023 to 2024 

School sites showed an increase in year-on-year carbon emissions of 3.39% (166 tonnes CO2e).  

Emissions from electricity consumption increased by 8.9% (134 tonnes CO2e). Whilst there was a small increase in consumption of 1.7% (132 mWh), the higher carbon weighting of grid electricity in 2023/24 resulted in an intensified increase in annual emissions.

School emissions from gas & oil consumption increased by 0.94% (32 tonnes CO2e). Whilst more than half of schools indicated some level of reduction in annual consumption this was offset by large increases in gas and oil consumption at a small number of larger schools. The council will be investigating the increased consumption and looking to improve efficiency at these sites going forward. 

2.5 Annual street lighting emissions 2023 to 2024

Street Lighting supplies showed a total year-on-year carbon emission reduction of 4.57% (48 tonnes CO2e). There has been a reduction in annual consumption of 10.88% (596 mWh) due to a further expansion of the ongoing LED retrofit programme. 

Delivered emissions reductions were diminished by an increase in carbon intensity in the published grid emissions factors for 2023 to 2024.  

In future reporting, year-on-year savings are expected to fall as the street lighting retrofit programme reaches saturation. Already, more than 9 out of 10 of the city’s lanterns have now been replaced, with work continuing to fit the rest with LED lights. 

2.6 Annual fleet fuel emissions 2023 to 2024

Carbon emissions from fleet fuel reduced by 8.23% (198 tonnes CO²e) due to reduction in fuel consumption of 66,000 litres, the majority of which can be attributed to the electrification of over 60 vehicles, including nine electric refuse collection vehicles.  

Whilst this resulted in slightly increased electricity demand on corporate property (18 tonnes CO²e), this was far outweighed by the net carbon saving from reduced fuel consumption.

3.1

Table 2 and Figure 2 below show the council’s total annual emissions since the baseline reporting year of 2009 to 2010. CO2e emissions within the operational scope have reduced by a total of 60% in that period, an average annual reduction of 4%. Annual emissions for each reporting year are shown in Table 3, including the aggregate impact of any changes.

Table 2 - Annual CO2e emissions (tonnes) and percentage change since baseline year 2009 to 2010

Figure 2 – BHCC Annual CO2e emissions Since baseline year 2009 to 2010

Table 3 - Annual CO2e emissions (tonnes) and annual percentage change since baseline year 2009 to 2010

4.1  Gas and oil - scope 1

Table 4 - Total annual CO2e emissions from gas and oil consumption 2023 to 2024

4.1.1

Total CO2e emissions from gas consumption in 2023 to 2024 increased by around 0.28% when compared to 2022 to 2023 figures. Whilst there was a very slight reduction in overall consumption levels this was offset by a moderate increase in fuel consumption at the two remaining oil-fed boilers in the council portfolio, which has a significantly higher carbon intensity than gas.

4.1.2

Moderate gas efficiency savings were realised across the council’s main civic offices, life services and vacated sites where existing operational services had been relocated. However, any delivered emissions savings were offset by a significant increase in gas consumption at a small section of housing blocks with communal gas boilers. A key contributor to the increased consumption in these blocks was essential maintenance to pipework, which required multiple system drain-downs and additional gas demand to bring each system back up to operational temperatures.

Figure 3 - Total CO2e emissions from gas and oil consumption since baseline year 2009 to 2010 

4.1.3

Whilst the total CO2e emissions from council gas and oil usage have reduced by around 40% since the baseline reporting year 2009 to 2010, reductions have proved less significant in recent reporting years. Additionally, the carbon intensity of natural gas is unlikely to improve on the supply side, and therefore emissions reductions will have to be driven by minimising consumption through retrofit energy efficiency measures and decarbonisation of fossil fuel heating.

4.1.4

Whilst the total CO2e emissions from council gas and oil usage have reduced by around 40% since the baseline reporting year 2009/10, reductions have proved less significant in recent reporting years. Additionally, the carbon intensity of natural gas is unlikely to improve on the supply side, and therefore emissions reductions will have to be driven by minimising consumption through retrofit energy efficiency measures and decarbonisation of fossil fuel heating.

4.2 Fleet fuel - diesel and petrol - scope 1.

Table 5 - Total annual CO2e emissions from fleet fuel consumption 2023 to 2024

4.2.1

Fleet Fuel emissions have reduced by 8.23% (198 tonnes CO2e) in 2023 to 2024 due to a reduction in fuel consumption of 66,083 litres.

This can mostly be attributed to the ongoing electrification of the council’s vehicle fleet from 2022. 

4.2.2

The additional EV charging points installed at Hollingdean depot, required to enable the transition to electric vehicles, has increased electricity demand and therefore emissions by 18 tonnes CO2e in 2023 to 2024. This has been recorded against ‘Corporate’ electricity emissions in the annual reporting.

Figure 4 - Total CO2e emissions from fleet fuel usage since baseline year 2009 to 2010 

4.3 Electricity emissions - scope 2

4.3.1

Total CO2e emissions from electricity consumption in 2023 to 2024 increased by 2.49% when compared to emissions in 2022 to 2023. Whilst electricity consumption actually reduced by 4.62% on the previous year any reduction in emissions was tempered by an increase in the carbon intensity of grid electricity.

Table 6 – Total Annual CO2e emissions from electricity consumption 2023 to 2024

Figure 5 - Annual total CO2e emissions from electricity consumption since baseline year 2009 to 2010

4.3.2

Total CO2e emissions from council electricity usage have reduced by 77% since the baseline reporting year of 2009 to 2010. In real terms, actual electricity consumption has fallen by 42% over the same period but reductions in emissions have been boosted by significant decarbonisation of electricity from the national grid.

4.3.3

Since October 2020 all electricity procured through council contracts is deemed to be ‘100% renewable’ by the supplier and backed by Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) Certificates. Whilst this does not directly impact the level of emissions stated in this report, it does signal the council’s support for the development of additional renewable generation capacity across the UK’s grid.

4.3.4

The UK government currently have a target for the national electricity grid to be fully decarbonised by 2035. Therefore, it is likely that reductions in electricity consumption will have a declining impact on the council’s overall emissions as the carbon intensity of grid delivered power diminishes. However, further efficiency measures and deployment of renewable technologies will be required to reduce the demand on the grid, releasing electrical capacity for future low carbon heating and EV charging projects and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

5.1

Table 7 below gives a breakdown of the current generation capacity of Solar PV installations commissioned on council buildings. Generation data has been collected from actual meter reading data where available, or from stated yields from commissioning certificates if not.

5.2

When a building uses power directly from Solar PV generation, this is not recorded through metered billing and therefore results in a reduction in reported emissions. An estimate of the carbon reduction impacts of the total Solar PV generation is indicated below.

5.3

PV installations on school buildings encompass arrays that are owned outright by the schools, as well as community-owned systems provided via a third party ‘rent-a-roof’ arrangement.

5.4

PV arrays on housing property are also split into two categories; installations that provide electricity to communal areas and standalone systems that are connected to the tenant’s power supply. The latter category is outlined in Table 8 and does not have a direct impact on the council’s emissions, as tenanted supplies are outside of reporting scope.

Table 7 - Annual impact of solar PV generation on council buildings 2023 to 2024

Table 8 – Estimate Solar PV generation on tenanted housing stock in 2023 to 2024

Appendix A – Detailed breakdown of scope of emissions included and excluded in this report

Scope 1 - direct

Scope 2 - energy indirect

Scope 3 - other indirect

Appendix B – Annual carbon emissions factors for 2023 to 2024 produced by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ)

Read the Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2023 by GOV.UK.