Herefordshire Council celebrated Valentine’s Day by showing love for the planet with councillors and businesses attending a seminar aimed at tackling climate change.
Councillor Phil Edwards, cabinet member for the environment, who chaired the seminar said: “In rural Herefordshire we have a chance to take a lead and turn the challenges of climate change into opportunities.
”It is far better for us to respond now rather than wait until it is too late and events such as this are just the start,” he added.
Speakers from the council, the Herefordshire Partnership, county businesses and landowners, including a representative from the Duchy of Cornwall, explained both the global picture and how people in Herefordshire can make a positive difference.
Geoff Perrott, Herefordshire Partnership environmental co-ordinator, told how 2006 had been a record year since 1659 in terms of warm temperatures and, if the trend continues, this could result in some serious implications for people in Herefordshire, particularly more vulnerable groups. If global trends continue sea level rises of up to 6m, which would displace more than 100 million people worldwide, are not impossible.
Geoff said there were financial opportunities for businesses in reducing their carbon dioxide emissions and some simple and low cost measures for doing so.
All new homes built after 2016 will also have to be carbon neutral by using solar panels, wind turbines, insulation, under-floor heating and sustainable construction and this presents a massive challenge to architects, builders, policy-makers and the government alike.
Trish Marsh, Herefordshire Council’s sustainability manager, said Herefordshire’s comparatively high greenhouse gas emissions had much to do with it being a rural county. We use our cars more, have less access to public transport and also we have a large agricultural sector. Methane gas, which has 21 times the global, warming potential of carbon dioxide, is associated with agriculture and thus increases our overall emission count.
“Countryside is the jewel in the county’s crown and a major asset and the extensive farming we carry out in the county is far less damaging than intensive farming. Farmers also play a vital role in the rural economy and when one looks at the possibilities for locally sourced food, the picture looks a lot brighter,” Trish added.
Biodiversity is a huge strength for Herefordshire but a lot of the old orchard habitat will struggle to survive if it gets warmer as will some of the county’s other traditional crops.
Trish explained businesses, especially land-based ones, do have an opportunity to make a difference here by planting trees to help with carbon offsetting or by growing biomass crops or ‘farming’ water.
Simple measures like cycling to work during the summer months can also help to reduce the summer smog often seen in Hereford and Leominster.
Herefordshire Council also has a major role to play in tackling climate change through carbon management action plans, the Herefordshire declaration and eco-schools.
Future plans involving the council include a community renewables project, a film on climate change to be premiered at the Borderlines Film Festival and an environmental technology park near Ledbury.
Richard Heathcote, sustainable development manager for Hereford-based cider company Bulmers, said businesses had to make reducing their carbon footprint a major focus of their activities.
Bulmers, as the world’s largest producer of cider, is working hard at reducing carbon emissions by increasing energy efficiency and recycling.
David Curtis, land steward for the Duchy of Cornwall which has 5,394 hectares of land in Herefordshire, said they were exploring the use of biomass fuels such as timber and miscanthus together with renewable energy sources like geothermal and micro hydro power.
One of the first biomass heating systems in the county has been installed by the duchy at Upper Twyford Barns near Hereford, which has been converted into offices. This heating system uses a woodchip boiler as the sole source of heating and hot water for the property.
The Prince of Wales has also been given the green light to build an eco-friendly country house in the grounds of the Duchy of Cornwall's Harewood Park Estate, near Ross-on-Wye.
A 200-litre rainwater reservoir will collect and recycle rainwater to the house which will also have an eco-friendly reed bed sewage system.
Forty per cent of the lighting will be energy efficient, solar panels will heat the water in the summer, while a wood chip boiler using wood from the estate will heat the home in the winter.
Businesses interested in knowing more about how they can reduce their carbon emissions can contact Bridge-It.
This scheme run by Groundwork West Midlands EBS, offers companies updates on legislation, helpline support, assessment of energy use and sharing of information with other companies.
Georgina Smith of Bridge-It said the scheme was established in 2004 and in April 2006, the Herefordshire Business Environment Association was set up which has so far attracted 60 county firms.
For any further information about the above please contact Geoff Perrott on telephone 01432 260707 or email him at gperrott@herefordshire.gov.uk
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