Half a million awarded to council to improve carbon footprint

The funding, from the government Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, will also deliver efficient hot water taps, variable speed drives to control the flow of energy from the mains and double glazing at the New Art Gallery in Walsall.

The council said the changes will result in substantial energy savings and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 89 tonnes per year. The buildings are one of Walsall Council’s main sources of carbon emissions.

It’s the third lot of funding the council has received as part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. Darlaston Baths benefitted from the first round of funding and the Council House and Civic Centre benefitted from the second lot of funding.

Walsall Council is one of 222 recipients which have been awarded money during the latest round. The scheme is being delivered by Salix Finance which supports public bodies such as councils, schools and hospitals to boost their energy efficiency.

Councillor Adrian Andrew, associate leader and portfolio holder for economic growth and regeneration at Walsall Council, said: “This is a really exciting project for our area.

“We have again been successful in gaining funding through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is critical to ensure we can install measures to improve energy efficiency in our public buildings, reducing our energy bills and carbon footprint towards our net zero 2041 target.”

Councillor Gary Flint, portfolio holder for health and wellbeing at Walsall Council said: “This project will ensure more of our public buildings lead the way in our community to tackle climate action.

“With 60% of our residents saying they are concerned about climate change and 90% wanting to see organisations work together to help tackle this crisis, we are proud to be taking action again on climate change.”