Greenhouse Gas Report

A requirement from Government is for Local Authorities to publish their greenhouse gas emissions in the form of a greenhouse gas report on an annual basis. This differs from previous reports as it is greenhouse gases and not just carbon emissions that we are considering.

View detailsof the requirement for local authorities to publish their greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse Gas Report 16/17

This report details Tameside MBC's Greenhouse Gas emissions from 2008/09 (Baseline Year) to 2016/17 and shows that we have reduced our emissions by 12121 tonnes(42%)from our baseline year - 2008/09 (Scope 1+ 2 emissions).

The report may change slightly in future years and we will publish revised documents with supporting explanations when they become available.

Summary Data

Tonnes CO2e
2008/09 Baseline / 2009/10 / 2010/11 / 2011/12 / 2012/13 / 2013/14 / 2014/15 / 2015/16 / 2016/17
Scope 1 / 11679 / 11037 / 10705 / 8276 / 9319 / 7951 / 7774 / 7080 / 6802
Scope 2 / 17272 / 16692 / 16054 / 12954 / 13392 / 12259 / 12605 / 12413 / 10028
Scope 1+ 2 / 28951 / 27728 / 26760 / 21230 / 22711 / 20210 / 20379 / 19494 / 16830
Scope 3 / 1436 / 1322 / 1293 / 1107 / 1058 / 1048 / 1102 / 1033 / 907
Total Emissions 1+2+3 / 30387 / 29050 / 28052 / 22337 / 23769 / 21258 / 21482 / 20527 / 17737

Organisational Information

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council is situated in the borough of Tameside which lies to the east of Greater Manchester, stretching inland from the urban hub of Manchester to the moors of the Peak District; there are 223,189 people living in the borough at present.

Reporting Periods

Reporting periods relate to the financial year from 1 April to 31 March. The baseline year is 2008/09.

Operational Scope and Data Collection

We have measured our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions as shown below. Data has been collated from all the Council estate and state primary and secondary schools but excludes academies (at the start of the year they move to Academy Status), PFI schools, Sports Trust buildingsand buildings that the Council own but lease out to other users (estates buildings). Street lighting has also been included under scope 2 and 3. We have followed the GHG protocol for the measurement and reporting of our emissions and have used DEFRA’s GHG conversion factors within the report. The carbon emissions for gas, oil and natural gas have not been corrected for the weather.

There have been some amendments to the data. The advice to amend both historical and future methods of reporting and conversion factors has come from instruction from National Government (DEFRA). The separating of electricity consumption (from solely scope 2) into scope 2 (electricity generation) and scope 3 (transmission and distribution) has also been requested and figures have been recalculated due to these changes in methodology.

Scope / Description / Relevance to TMBC / Source of Data
1 / Direct emissions – activities owned or controlled by TMBC that release emissions straight into the atmosphere. They are direct emissions. / Gas and oil fired boilers in TMBC buildings and schools / Information from supplier statements and utility bills.
Fuel consumed by vehicle fleet / Fuel management system and fuel cards providing vehicle-specific data
2 / Energy Indirect emissions – emissions that are a consequence of Council activities but which occur at a source not owned or controlled by the Council / Electricity generated for use in buildings and from street lighting. / Information from supplier statements and utility bills
3 / Other Indirect – emissions that are a consequence of the Council’s operations that occur at sources the Council does not own or control and that are not classed as scope 2. / Transmission and distribution of the Council’s purchased electricity / Information from supplier statements and utility bills

Breakdown of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Tonnes CO2e)
Scope 1 / Baseline Year 2008/09 / 2009/10 / 2010/11 / 2011/12 / 2012/13 / 2013/14 / 2014/15 / 2015/16 / 2016/17
Total Gas (Corporate /Schools) / 8149 / 7873 / 7694 / 5812 / 7012 / 5707 / 5627 / 4891 / 4678
Total Oil / 1098 / 756 / 738 / 348 / 242 / 204 / 118 / 113 / 106
Total Fleet Fuel / 2433 / 2408 / 2273 / 2116 / 2065 / 2040 / 2030 / 2076 / 2018
Total Emissions Scope 1 / 11679 / 11037 / 10705 / 8276 / 9319 / 7951 / 7774 / 7080 / 6802
Scope 2
Electricity Generation (Corporate / Schools) / 10912 / 10408 / 9883 / 6978 / 7209 / 6235 / 6000 / 6308 / 4875
Electricity Generation (Streetlighting) / 6360 / 6284 / 6171 / 5976 / 6183 / 6023 / 6605 / 6105 / 5153
Total Emissions Scope 2 / 17272 / 16692 / 16054 / 12954 / 13392 / 12259 / 12605 / 12413 / 10028
Total Emissions Scope 1 + 2 / 28951 / 27728 / 26760 / 21230 / 22711 / 20210 / 20379 / 19494 / 16830
Scope 3
Electricity Transmission and Distribution (Corporate and Schools) / 941 / 824 / 796 / 596 / 569 / 533 / 525 / 529 / 441
Electricity Transmission and Distribution (Streetlighting) / 495 / 498 / 497 / 511 / 488 / 515 / 578 / 504 / 466
Total Emissions Scope 3 / 1436 / 1322 / 1293 / 1107 / 1058 / 1048 / 1102 / 1033 / 907
Total GHG Emissions (tonnes CO2e) / 30387 / 29050 / 28052 / 22337 / 23769 / 21258 / 21482 / 20527 / 17737

N.B please note – our carbon footprint has been restated for all years in order to account for material changes to the conversion factors provided by DEFRA for company reporting purposes.

Achievements and Future Targets

The figures above show a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in 16/17 compared with the previous years and there has been an overall reduction of 42% GHG emissions since the baseline year. These reductions have been made by employee awareness programs; carrying out walk round energy audits of the main Council buildings and through the introduction of voltage optimization equipment across a number of Council sites. Over recent years we have also made significant reductions to the Council’s own building portfolio. Reductions in fleet fuel usage are thought to be due to fleet reductions; the use of a chemical fuel additives as well as improved driver operating effectiveness achieved through training schemes.